By Bruno Visentini
The Coburg Lions have gone down by 32 points in a spirited contest against Richmond at Piranha Park on Saturday. Both sides played out a tense and exciting first half, but in the second half the Tigers proved too strong and kicked away to seal their fourth victory of 2024.
The match featured two debutants for Coburg with Deacon Kalpakis and Giacomo Thomas each playing their first game at VFL level. Thomas kicked his first two goals in the match and was joined by Will Bella as multiple goalkickers with his four, the latter also being named Lion of the Round. Joel Trudgeon and Donovan Toohey gathered plenty of the footy, leading the way for the match with 29 disposals each.
Richmond got off to a fast start as Jacob Koschitzke kicked the first goal of the match and Joel Garner joined him to make it a two goal to nothing lead. Richmond’s lead peaked at 15 points but a four-minute stretch saw Coburg pile on three goals to find themselves in front. Will Bella kicked the first two via set shots while Braedyn Gillard ran into goal to take the lead.
Another behind went to Coburg and the Lions held a 19 to 15 lead at quarter time. Richmond found themselves back in front not long into the second quarter when Koschitzke kicked another goal and Lachlan Wilson added Richmond’s fourth of the day. Josh D’Intinosante got on the board and brought Coburg’s deficit to a single point but the Tigers kept on pushing forward and scoring to keep the Lions away.
A goal to Samson Ryan saw the margin sit at nine points but debutant Giacomo Thomas kicked a beauty, his first at VFL level, to trim the margin back down to three points. Three more behinds to Richmond saw the Tigers lead 5.8 (38) to 5.2 (32) at the main break.
The game was close and even though Richmond led the match with six more scoring shots, the stats painted a picture that the Lions could’ve been on top thus far. Coburg had more of the footy and were ahead on inside 50s (29-20), clearances (21-17) and marks (59-40).
The third term started, and Richmond continued to dominate with scoring opportunities, but were unable to make them count. Bizarrely, their first four scores were all behinds scored by Noah Cumberland. Cam Olden broke through with the first goal of the third quarter for the Tigers and Archie May scored one not long after to extend Richmond’s lead and give them some breathing room.
Will Bella stepped up to kick his third goal of the day and it appeared that Coburg remained in with a chance, but another Richmond goal made it a tough task for the Lions to find a way to win this match. The margin sat at 21 points with only one quarter left to play and although not an impossible task to achieve, winning would’ve been difficult for the Lions who had only managed nine scores to Richmond’s 20 so far.
Nonetheless, as the final quarter started, Coburg emerged as the fast starters but couldn’t quite convert that into goals. The Lions scored three behinds to open the term but did eventually find the middle when Giacomo Thomas kicked his second goal for the day.
Unfortunately, the Tigers kicked the next three goals to all but seal the game up. Hugo Bromell went on to kick a goal and Will Bella managed to kick a fourth goal, the most of any player for the match, but it wouldn’t end up being enough. The Lions fell short with a score of 9.7 (61) to Richmond’s 13.15 (93).
Coburg’s next game will be against Port Melbourne at ETU Stadium on Friday night and the boys will look to emerge from that contest with the four points. We hope to see as many of the Coburg faithful in attendance to cheer on the team in their quest for a second victory of the season.
