RICHMOND bowed out of the NAB Cup on Friday night after St Kilda defeated the Tigers by 40 points in front of 23,329 fans at Telstra Dome.
The Tigers didn’t lead at any stage, but trailed by just 14 points midway through the third quarter before the Saints accelerated away to record the 1.15.12 (111) to 2.7.11 (71) win.
Nathan Foley was the leading possession winner for the Tigers with 23 with Shane Tuck (22 disposals) and Jake King (20 touches) also prominent, while Nathan Brown and Brett Deledio each scored two goals.
Jordan McMahon gathered 16 possessions off a half-back flank in his first game for the club, while fellow off-season pick-up Mitch Morton had eight touches and kicked one goal.
Kelvin Moore finished with 18 possessions and provided an early contender for mark of the year with a towering grab over Jarryd Allen in the centre of the ground in the third quarter.
The Tigers were soon on the back foot as the match got underway with St Kilda jumping out to an early 18-point lead with goals to Stephen Milne, Robert Eddy and Fraser Gehrig.
Soon after taking a relieving mark in defence, Mathew Richardson found himself in more familiar territory, slotting his side’s first goal after Mitch Morton found him on a strong lead.
It marked the start of a brighter period for the Tigers with Brown converting from 50m and Deledio reacting quickly to snap a goal after Richardson’s nine-point attempt hit the post and bounced back into play.
Trailing by five points as the second term got underway, Richmond again found itself under pressure, but the Saints were wasteful in front of goal allowing Deledio to narrow the margin further with his second.
It was to be his side’s only major for the quarter, however, as St Kilda gained the upper hand around the stoppages leading to three goals in succession to Milne, Allen and Justin Koschitzke.
A super goal to Leigh Montagna blew the margin out to 28 points at the main break, but Kayne Pettifer replied with a six-pointer shortly after the restart.
It was a sign of things to come as the Tigers worked back into the contest with Greg Tivendale knocking nine points off the deficit with a long-range effort from inside the centre square.
Richardson turned provider to help Brown boot his second as Richmond moved to within 14 points, but the Saints were equal to the challenge and put on a three-goal burst to move clear once more.
Chris Newman clawed back nine points with just six seconds remaining in the third stanza, leaving the Tigers a 23-point margin to tackle in the final term.
It wasn’t to be Richmond’s night, however, as couple of critical errors deep in the defensive 50m led directly to St Kilda goals, effectively ending the Tigers’ challenge.
Richmond will now head to Cairns next weekend to take on the loser of the Geelong-Melbourne match in the NAB Regional Challenge.
ST KILDA 0.4.1 1.7.5 1.11.9 1.15.12 (111)
RICHMOND 0.3.2 0.4.4 2.6.7 2.7.11 (71)
Goals:
St Kilda: Nine-point goals: L Montagna. Goals: F Gehrig 3 S Milne 3 J Koschitzke 2 J Allen 2 R Eddy X Clarke D Armitage S Birss C Gardiner.
Richmond: Supergoals: G Tivendale C Newman. Goals: B Deledio 2 N Brown 2 M Richardson K Pettifer M Morton.
Best:
St Kilda: N Dal Santo L Montagna J Koschitzke X Clarke C Gardiner S Fisher C Jones.
Richmond: N Foley C Newman J King N Brown M Richardson.
Umpires: D Goldspink H Kennedy T Keating J Armstrong.
Crowd: 23,329 at Telstra Dome.
Injuries: Nil.
Reports: Nil.
