THE SYDNEY Swans have equalled their biggest win for the season and recorded their first at the MCG since 2007, after beating Richmond by 55 points on Sunday afternoon.

The Swans celebrated Michael O'Loughlin's 300th game in style with the 18.15 (123) to 10.8 (68) victory after shrugging off first-quarter kicking yips.

The visitors booted 14 goals to seven after quarter-time, as the Tigers struggled to contain the Swans' 11 individual goal-kickers.

Adam Goodes was exemplary with four goals and 25 touches, Brett Kirk had 14 tackles and shook Daniel Jackson for six clearances, and Ryan O'Keefe recorded 22 touches and eight inside 50s.

O'Loughlin ended with two goals and was terrific in the third quarter, and Darren Jolly owned the ruck for 30 hit-outs (Mike Pyke with a commendable 24), while Matt O'Dwyer – in his third AFL game – impressed with 16 touches and five inside 50s.

The win was soured for the Swans when midfielder Jarrad McVeigh strained a hamstring late in the third quarter.

For Richmond, Jake King was terrific in shutting rebounder Rhyce Shaw out of the game, while Richard Tambling tried hard with nine tackles and 11 contested possessions, and Ben Cousins – in his 250th AFL game – was prolific with 24 touches.

He celebrated his milestone with the first goal of the game after roving a tap from Angus Graham, and went on to win five clearances despite the close checking of Kieren Jack.

Inaccuracy in front of goal was the only thing that prevented the Swans from blowing the game open in the first term.

With Jolly and Pyke monstering the Richmond ruckman and Jude Bolton and O'Dwyer combining well in the clearances, the Swans had five more entries into their forward 50.

They twice moved more than one goal clear but twice let Richmond hit back – the first time when they gifted the Tigers a goal through an interchange infringement that put King in the goal-square.

However, it was their inability to register goals that hurt them dearly. Goodes was a serial offender with 1.3, and three straight behinds to round out the term stopped the Swans from moving more than nine points in front.

The second quarter started in similar fashion with Jarred Moore and Jesse White contributing singles to the Swans' tally in the first three minutes.

McVeigh kicked the first of the term two minutes later, which opened up the biggest lead so far of 17 points.

After Dean Polo kicked truly to keep his side in check, the Swans snared the next through Jude Bolton, before White managed two after twice beating Kelvin Moore to the ball.

The Tigers were buoyed when King bombed the ball to the square at the 23-minute mark, and Alex Rance – who recovered from a heavy collision with Smith 13 minutes earlier – soccered it through for their first goal in 17 minutes.

But Luke Ablett snared the honours of kicking the last goal of the half. After the sides traded behinds and the siren sounded, the halftime difference was 29 points.

In the third, the Swans broke the game apart. They got the first goal through Jack, who burst through traffic and kicked a short major one minute in.

After the Tigers got the second through King, the Swans went on a rampage. Goodes and O'Loughlin booted the next five across 12 minutes of play, which pushed the difference to 58 points.

Tyrone Vickery provided a rare highlight for Tiger fans with his fifth league goal in red time, but Ed Barlow and Matt O'Dwyer rounded out the quarter with a pair to leave the three-quarter time margin at 64 points.

Richmond won the final quarter with 3.2 scored to the Swans' 1.5, but it wasn't nearly enough to undo the damage sustained in the first three terms.

Richmond will play Collingwood at the MCG next Saturday afternoon, while the Swans will host Geelong at ANZ Stadium that night.


Richmond                 3.3 5.5 7.6 10.8 (68)
Sydney Swans     4.6 9.10 17.10 18.15 (123)   

GOALS
Richmond: King 3, Cousins, Deledio, Polo, Rance, Vickery, Morton, White
Sydney Swans: Goodes 4, White 2, Jack 2, O'Loughlin 2, Moore 2, Kirk, McVeigh, J. Bolton, Ablett, Barlow, O'Dwyer

BEST
Richmond: King, Cousins, Newman, Brown, Tambling
Sydney Swans: Goodes, Kirk, O'Loughlin, Jolly, O'Keefe, Jack, J. Bolton, O'Dwyer

INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
Sydney Swans: McVeigh (hamstring)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Margetts, Stewart, Chamberlain

Official crowd: 32,216 at the MCG


The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.


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