ROUND 13 - RICHMOND lost to CARLTON - Telstra Dome (Home) 21.6.04 RICHMOND 2.2 5.3 13.5 14.9 (93) CARLTON 5.2 12.7 16.10 18.16 (124) Goals: Richmond: Richardson 3, Krakouer 3, Ottens 2, Stafford, Bowden, Gaspar, Blumfield, Newman, Chaffey. Carlton: Fevola 8, Whitnall 3, Koutoufides 2, Scotland, Prendergast, Lappin, B.Johnson, Camporeale. Best: Richmond: Bowden, K.Johnson, Hyde, Pettifer, Krakouer, Stafford, Ottens. Calrton: Fevola, Lappin, Stevens, Scotland, Camporeale, Prendergast, Norman. Richmond Injuries: Brown (cut eye). Umpires: M Ellis, K Nicholls, D Margetts. Attendance: 46,618. On a very cold and windy June night just over 46,000 fans packed into Docklands to witness the battle between arch-enemies Richmond and Carlton thankful that they were protected from the outside elements within the modern indoor confines of Docklands. A late change for Richmond saw Fletcher replace the ill Kelvin Moore. Still no Shane Tuck we all replied ???. The match began with Richo, Schulz and Brown up forward, Otto in the ruck, Bowden on Whitnall and Hall given first crack at Fevola. Richmond were sluggish early as they struggled to get the ball forward in their familiar slow and directionless manner while Carlton got into their rhythm early winning the footy through the midfield and showing more system in the way they played as a team. As a result the Blues were able to score the first two goals of the game before Richmond against the run of play were able to peg one back. The quarter continued in this pattern with the Tigers showing nowhere near the purpose and steadiness of their opponents. After Fevola bagged his third Zantuck replaced Hall. At the first change Carlton should had found themselves further in front given the amount of footy they had but fortunately for the Tiges we were still in the game despite trailing by 3 goals. It was simply a case of Richmond needing to get their hands on the footy however too make matters worse Brown had to leave the field due to concussion after a run in with Fevola. He would miss the whole quarter. The second stanza left off where the first had finished with Carlton dominating possession with little or no pressure from their Tiger opponents. As has happened many times in recent years Richmond's whole structure crumbled and they were reduced to an inspid and spiritless side. The Blues were basically doing as they pleased with the margin blowing out to a whopping 55 points on the back of a eight goal run before out of nowhere the Tigers bagged 3 in a row. A late goal to Fevola on the siren, his sixth, had the Tigers behind by 46 points at half time and looking like they were heading for another massive flogging. It was impossible to see Richmond, based on their first half showing, competing let alone getting back into the match. However the Tigers surprising knuckled down in the third quarter and started to slowly but surely work their way back into the game by being first to the contest. Stafford was moved into the ruck and Ottens to CHF. As Richmond's workrate lifted we became more direct in our movement of the footy forward. Pettifer, Johnson, Hyde and Bowden were generating plenty of run off the half-back line and through the centre. At this stage the standard of umpiring went into free fall which benefitted the more desperate Tigers. Although Carlton still scored four goals of their own, Fevola's influence was reduced (with Hall now back on him) and in what must have been Richmond's best scoring quarter in a very long time, the Tiges piled on eight goals of their own. Although we were still trailing on the scoreboard, the margin had been halved and Richmond had all the momentum heading into the final quarter. Despite being out of match for most of it, the Tigers now had a sniff. Richmond needed to keep up their workrate in the final quarter and that they did. However Carlton lifted theirs and as we needed to score and the Blues didn't, they smothered the contest and the match turned into an arm-wrestle with little scoring. Both sides did have chances to kick goals as the quarter progressed but each one was squandered with behinds until a late (and unfortunately for the Tiges too late) goal to Krakouer broke the drought. With time running out Carlton sealed victory with the last two goals of the match to run out 31 points victors. < BACK TO 2004 FIXTURES >