THE Richmond Tigers fell just short in the VFL Grand Final on Sunday afternoon, despite hearty contributions from the Border’s Shaun Mannagh, Ryan Garthwaite and Anthony Miles.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Tigers had a chance to win the game after the siren when Ben Lennon marked on the 50 metre arc, but he pulled his shot to the right, handing Port Melbourne an (11.8.74) to (10.10.70) victory.
After a night of jubilation following the senior side’s preliminary final win on Saturday afternoon, a big crowd descended on Etihad Stadium to watch the see-sawing affair.
No more than a goal separated the two sides at each change, but it was the Borough who found another gear in the game’s dying minutes.
Mannagh, who worked his way into the game well in the final quarter, kicked a goal at the 12-minute mark to give the Tigers a 13-point advantage.
Port Melbourne struck back five minutes later, but Richmond regained their 13-point buffer when Ben Griffiths marked and goaled with 20 minutes gone.
It was one way traffic from there though – two goals in two minutes to Port Melbourne’s Dylan Conway got them back in the game, before Mitchell Wooffindin put them in front by five.
Corowa-Rutherglen’s Ryan Garthwaite matched up against the league’s leading goalkicker in Jordan Lisle and held his own well, negating his influence to just a few key moments.
Former North-Albury star Anthony Miles was his typical self through the midfield, bustling through packs, but didn't dominate the contest.
Tigers livewire Sam Lloyd won the Norm Goss medal, putting him in the frame for grand final selection with Trent Cotchin and Brandon Ellis awaiting verdicts from the AFL Match Review Panel after incidents in the preliminary final.
After enduring a torrid start to the season, in which the club's players forfeited match payments in round one in a bid to prevent the club from folding amid falling revenue, Port Melbourne won its first VFL premiership since 2011.
