The Richmond Tigers withstood a ferocious Carlton comeback at the MCG on Thursday night to collect the club’s first win of the 2014 AFL season.
Threatening to steal yet another miracle victory from Damien Hardwick’s Tigers, a hard fought final 10 minutes saw Richmond escape with the 14.14.(98)-12.14.(86) victory after a hot first half in which they kicked 10 of the team’s 14 goals.
Richmond dominated the early proceedings to kick four goals in the first nine minutes, the highlight coming when Dustin Martin stiff armed a would-be tackler to stroll inside 50 a kick a beautiful goal on the run.
Tom Bell got one back for the Blues, their efforts were hindered by atrocious kicking on goal and sloppy disposal. Ty Vickery added another courtesy of some fine body work and Brett Deledio thumped through another to extend the margin to 29 points, but Kade Simpson managed to atone for poor misses from Marc Murphy, Bell and Dayle Garlett and give the Blues a second major ahead of quarter time.
The easy scores continued to pile in for Richmond as Ellis kicked another ridiculous effort from the right 50 boundary and Ben Griffiths added a second 30 seconds later. Jack Riewoldt took the margin out to a game-high 37 points, but some Yarran crumbing in the form of two goals on the run helped keep the Blues within touch at the half.
Carlton began the third quarter in far better fashion, receiving goals from Andrejs Everitt and a third from Yarran, but the Tigers had a response for just about everything. Another push saw Jeff Garlett kick a beauty at full speed around the corner before Everitt cut the lead to down to 22 points, however opportunities to cut the lead to under three goals from Jarrad Waite and Bryce Gibbs went begging during a vital last couple of minutes.
The Blues peppered the goals in the fourth, but David Ellard produced the only goal from seven early attempts. Gibbs then dribbled one through before Troy Menzel made it a one-point game at the 17-minute mark. Vickery proved to be the difference maker; incepting a shocking Robbie Warnock turnover out of the last line of defence to give the Tigers some breathing space before Martin won out one-on-one inside 50 against Zach Tuohy in the dying seconds to squash any hopes of a draw.
“They came out and really brought the pressure after halftime and got they got back into it. It’s just great they we could grind it out and get the win,” Vickery said.
“I wanted to bounce back after a subpar week. I was in good form in the NAB Cup, but it just didn’t come for me last week so I’m really pleased to have played my role and help the team and get the win for us,” he added after receiving media criticism for his poor game in round 1.
Top Performers
Trent Cotchin- 25 disposals, 9 clearances
Ricky Pettard- 24 disposals, 6 marks, 9 inside 50s
Ty Vickery- 7 disposals, 4 marks, 4 goals
Marc Murphy- 28 disposals, 9 clearances, 5 inside 50s
Ed Curnow- 25 disposals, 9 tackles,
Chris Yarran- 21 disposals, 16 kicks, 8 inside 50s, 3 goals
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Photo: Michael Dodge/Getty Images
