ROUND 19 - RICHMOND lost to GEELONG - M.C.G. (Home) 09.08.04 RICHMOND 3.2 4.9 7.14 11.17 (83) GEELONG 5.4 7.10 11.13 16.18 (114) Goals: Richmond: Brown 2 Fiora 2 Richardson 2 Rodan 2 Bowden Fleming Krakouer. Geelong: S.Johnson 4 Ablett 3 Chapman 3 Graham 2 Gardiner King Ling Mooney. Best: Richmond: Krakouer Rodan Brown Hartigan Gaspar Bowden Richo. Geelong: Bartel S.Johnson Ling Scarlett Milburn Corey Chapman. Richmond Injuries: Newman (bruised kidney). Umpires: M Stevic S McInerney D Margetts. Attendance: 33,176 Just over 33,000 fans made their way to the 'G on Sunday to see whether second from bottom Richmond on the back of a narrow loss to Collingwood last week could upset a Geelong side whom had won twelve of their past fourteen matches and were vying for a top 4 spot. The Tigers had lost Ottens to a broken tibia and Kayne Pettifer to a slight knee injury and included Shane Morrison and Nathan Brown, the latter returning from injury, into the final 22. In the absence of a key ruckman, Richmond began with Hall in the ruck up against Steven King. This meant the Tigers had to re-organize their key defensive posts with Zantuck on Graham, Bowden on Steven Johnson and Gas on Kingsley. Up forward Richo was on Harley and Morrison at CHF against Scarlett. The match began fairly evenly with both sides winning their share of the footy through the midfield. However the Tigers despite a great long snap to Brown were falling down across CHF with Scarlett outmanoeurvering and outmarking Morrison on a number of occassions and providing plenty of rebound footy for the Cats who skipped way to a 3 goal lead. Schulz replaced Morrison and indirectly Richmond were able to pinch a couple of goals back to creep within a kick before a late goal to Geelong made the margin at the first break 14 points. So far Geelong's fluency going forward and forward line pressure were the difference between the two sides and this continued into the early stages of the second quarter as the Cats began dictating terms and were able to stretch the lead out to roughly four goals. Fortunately for us Tiger supporters, Richmond lifted its workrate and intensity as the quarter progressed and began forcing its Geelong opponents into errors as a result of the added pressure in the game. Hall was at least providing a contest for King at the centre bounces and the Tiges began setting up numerous forward forays through the good work of Krakouer, Rodan, Bowden and Hartigan. However many of these were squandered as behinds when they should have easily resulted in goals. Richo was the main culprit with three straight points. The yips then started affecting the Geelong side as well and if the Tigers had made the most of their opportunities they could have been much closer on the scoreboard than the actual 19 point margin at half time. The Tigers needed to keep up their efforts from midway through the second term and finish off attacks with goals. However the third quarter ended up being just a repeat of the second with Geelong on top around the ground early on but unable to put Richmond way as the Tiges fought back to keep within a threatening distance yet still couldn't bridge the gap due to wasted shots at goal and basic skill errors. The status quo remained at the final change with the Cats extending their lead ever so slightly to 23 points. Richmond needed to kick the first goal to have a chance of causing an upset. However, as had happened all game, Geelong once again kicked the first major of the term and then put the result beyond doubt. To their credit Richmond kept on fighting until the very end and prevented the scoreboard from blowing out. The final margin of 31 points being a true reflection of the difference in class and skill between the two sides. < BACK TO 2004 FIXTURES >