LAST year the annual Dreamtime match ended in heartbreak for Richmond and Matthew Richardson as a late and controversial free kick allowed the match to be snatched from their grasp.

The nightmare was exorcised last night as the Tigers and their superstar took to centre stage and strutted their stuff.

The Tigers' 38-point victory over the Bombers in front of 60,333 people could have been more after a dominant first half left the match well in their control.

The Tigers had all the run, Nathan Foley, Brent Deledio, Matthew Richardson, Jordan McMahon and Chris Newman were getting plenty of the ball and they were creative, helping to set up attack after attack for Richmond.

They had winners all over the field and, in the opening half at least, the only thing lacking for the Tigers was a contest.

While the lopsided scoreboard meant the game was always in Richmond's favour the match did become a more entertaining contest in the third quarter when the Bombers, trailing by 50 points, decided to throw caution to the wind.

They sent their best players into the middle of the ground and started finally to win some contested possession. They had been smashed in the first half by the Tigers, and in the third quarter David Hille became valuable in the ruck.

Mark McVeigh started showing his muscle in the middle of the field and a crunching tackle from Leroy Jetta had the Bomber faithful cheering.

Goals from Jay Neagle, Angus Monfries and two from the skipper Matthew Lloyd — including the goal of the night, where he backed away from Will Thursfield, turned and sliced through a grubber goal — remarkably had the Bombers within 26 points of Richmond and finally turned a pedestrian stroll into a solid contest.

Richmond had started the third quarter like a team with the four premiership points already in its pocket. It looked like it was content to sit on its substantial lead and not get dirty but Essendon's lift in intensity forced Richmond into a new gear. Kane Johnson's snap from close to the boundary line and a goal from Nathan Brown less than a minute later pushed Richmond back out to a 38-point lead. Late goals to Essendon courtesy of Hille and Monfries had underlined the Bombers' dominance in the third quarter. Richmond's lead had been cut in half in just one quarter of the match and a game that had threatened to end in a whimper at least had an element of contest at the last change.

Challenged for the first time in the match, Richmond was not to be denied. When Henry Slattery gave away a free kick to Brown 20 metres in front of the Tigers' goals, the classy forward went back and slotted through the goal — his third of the night — to re-establish a 31-point lead.

The Bombers continued to show the tenacity that had been lacking early and responded with a goal through Jay Nash. But while to prepared to run harder than they had shown earlier in the night, they could not get any closer than 24 points. The Tigers always had the answers and when the hard-working Deledio kicked his first goal of the night at the 13- minute mark of the final quarter, he took the lead out to 34 points and shut the door on the Bombers.

Essendon fans are entitled to ask why their team could not play with that level of intensity in the opening half of the match. Richmond had kicked the opening eight goals of the night and dominated every line of play. After conceding the last 13 goals of their match against Sydney last week, such an opening robbed Essendon of what little confidence it had left and by half-time it looked like a shell of a team.

The Tigers' dominance of the opening half showed up in just about every statistic. They had the ball on 217 occasions compared with Essendon's 126 touches. Richmond had taken 73 marks to Essendon's lowly 20 grabs. They had gone inside their 50-metre attacking zone on 27 occasions compared with Essendon's 17, and what was impressive what their scoring ability. They were making Essendon pay for their many mistakes.

The Bombers' lack of defensive pressure was evident from the first minutes of the game. The Tigers' forwards had just too much space.

Much has been made of Richmond's improved football so far this season but for all the accolades, the Tigers had not won a match for more than a month.

Last night they converted that improvement into four premiership points.


RICHMOND 5.3 10.8 12.10 16.14 (110)
ESSENDON 0.5 2.6 8.8 10.12 (72)
GOALS: Richmond: N Brown 3, Edwards 3, Richardson 2, Pettifer 2, Deledio, Johnson, Pattison, Hyde, White, Foley.
Essendon: Lloyd 4, Neagle, Stanton, Monfries, McVeigh, Nash, Hille.
BEST: Richmond: Foley, Deledio, Richardson, Brown, Moore, Edwards.
Essendon: Lloyd, McVeigh, Hille, Nash, Watson, Stanton.
UMPIRES: Donlon, Vozzo, Ryan.
CROWD 60,333 at the MCG.

THE UPSHOTWith yet another cracking midfield performance, Nathan Foley won the boomerang for best on ground in the Dreamtime at the 'G match. Come Brownlow night, teammate Matthew Richardson will know that he missed out on votes.

TALKING POINTEarly on fans were pondering the record for the number of consecutive goals a team had conceded. The actual figure will be one for the statisticians, but Essendon conceded 21 when you combine the 13-straight kicked by the Swans last week to close out their match, and the eight majors the Tigers opened with last night.

HOT AND COLDPretty much both teams at different stages. The Tigers looked set for a massive win, only to fall asleep in the third term, while Essendon seemed unlikely to muster a goal, only to get within a few kicks as it surged in the third.