Round 9 - Richmond Match Review

Essendon performed a Dreamtime miracle as they came back from Essendon 19 points down heading into time-on in the last quarter to overrun a stunned Richmond by eight points, 12.20 (92) to 12.12 (84), in front of 61,837 people in their Dreamtime at the ‘G clash in AFL Round 9.

After Tiger forward Matthew Richardson marked and goaled to give his team an 18 point buffer with only 6 minutes to play, another disappointing Bomber loss was on the cards and mount further pressure on coach Kevin Sheedy with a loss to the 0-8 bottom of the ladder team.

However, it all changed in the space of 5 minutes.

Ricky Dyson, who had a quiet night was the beneficiary of a rare Scott Lucas handball as he ran into goal to reduce the margin to 13 points. Lucas had the chance to narrow it further moments later after a strong mark but could only register a behind creating an even two goal margin.

Lucas however atoned for his miss, picking up the ball after a James Hird tackle caused a Tiger turnover allowing Lucas to pickup the goal and bring the deficit back to a solitary goal.

A minute later, the scores were level after Adam McPhee kicked a goal from outside 50 near the boundary line and the Bombers had all the momentum going into the final two minutes of the match.

In what would become a controversial finish, Richardson looked to have kicked his 5th goal for the night and sealed the match for the Tigers but maggot Brett Allen ruled that the Tiger forward had placed his hands in the back of opponent Mal Michael disallowing Richardson’s goal but also awarding Michael a 50-metre penalty that allowed the Bombers to sweep the ball into their attacking 50 where they capitalised with match-winning behinds to Jason Johnson and Bachar Houli before the siren blew with the ball in Bomber skipper Matthew Lloyd’s hands.

Lloyd poured more salt into the Tiger wounds, kicking a goal after the final siren giving the Bombers and 8 point victory to keep them in touch with the AFL Top 8.

Richardson however will be donating to the AFL’s end-of-season pissup fund with his after-match comments regarding the match-turning decision.

“I probably haven’t been that disappointed after a game in my whole career. I nearly lost it. I’ve been playing footy for 15 years and in any other year it’s a mark. I think it’s a pathetic rule.” Richardson said. “I think it’s spoiling the contest. It’s not in the spirit of how the game’s played and I think the crowd like seeing two bigger guys going for a mark.”

Earlier in the game, the Bombers looked in control leading by 19 points midway through the second quarter, but once again errant kicking at goal stopped them from blowing the Tigers away and sealing the match.

The Tigers capitalised on the Bombers inaccuracy booting eight of nine goals either side of half-time to take the lead with Richardson and Daniel Jackson doing the damage up forward and Brett Deledio dominating in the midfield.

But this match will forever remembered by the final 15 minutes of the contest.

Lucas and Lloyd finished with thee goals each for the Bombers as James Hird did the damage when moved into the centre in the last quarter, finishing with 21 disposals and earning him the best-on-ground medal. Brett Stanton was the highest ball-winner on the ground with 26 possessions while McPhee chipped in with 24 possessions and 10 marks.

“We tried to use the ball better and tried to get the ball through and pass to our leading forwards. But they pretty much held sway when it did get in there.” Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said after the game. “But we never gave up and we finally broke them in the last five minutes of the game.”

“We’ve lost a number of those games over the last year and a bit and I’d say even this year we could be sitting there probably sixth. But we’re not, so we’ve got to keep learning from that, and maybe tonight we did,” he added.

The immediate fate of the Bombers AFL Top 8 hopes could be known in the next three weeks with an away trip to Sydney on the agenda next week, before a Friday night match up with reigning AFL Premier West Coast followed up with a trip to Adelaide for a twilight game against Port Adelaide.

Game Details
Ground	MCG
Home / Away	Away
Attendance	61,837
Umpires	Farmer, Allen, Meredith

Scores
	1 / 4	2 / 4	3 / 4	Full Time
Essendon	3.4	5.9	7.14	12.20.92
Richmond	2.3	6.6	10.9	12.12.84

Best Players
Essendon	McPhee, Lucas, Stanton, Peverill, Hird, Watson
Richmond	Deledio, Polak, Richardson, Bowden, Tivendale

Goals
Essendon	Lucas, Lloyd 3, Hille 2, Davey, Fletcher, Dyson, McPhee
Richmond	Richardson 4, Jackson 3, Krakouer 2, Tambling, Deledio, Pattison

Injuries and Reports
Injuries	Davey (concussion)
Reports	Nil

The Team
B:	M. Johnson	Michael	Slattery
HB:	Fletcher	Ryder	Winderlich
C:	McVeigh	Watson	Stanton
HF:	Hird	Lucas	Houli
F:	Davey	Lloyd	Monfries
R:	Hille	McPhee	Peverill
INT:	Camporeale	Cole	Dyson
	J. Johnson
EMG:	Bolton	Bradley	Hislop

Posted 26 May 07 in Match Review News