By Brandon Galgano (@bgalgano94) 

A double from Tom Cahill has ensured Avondale Heights takes out the NPL1 title as Richmond defeated title contenders North Geelong Warriors 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at Kevin Bartlett Reserve. 

The Richmond skipper scored goals in both halves to ensure the hosts would claim a surprise victory following North Geelong’s promotion to the NPL last weekend. 

It was the visitors though who started off the brighter, dominating in possession and creating opportunities on goal. 

Former Green Gully striker Michael Anderson was the first to go close in the 11th minute but his effort was easily dealt with by Christian Rossi. 

The Warriors then very nearly took the lead in the 35th minute through Juso Julardzija, who attempted to catch out Rossi from the tightest of angles but his effort cannoned back off the post and out.  

Richmond had a goal disallowed for offside ten minutes later with Tom Cahill slotting home at the back post but the side didn’t have to wait long for Cahill to legally open the scoring.

The Englishman beat two players before slotting the ball past Daniel Zilic from just inside the area to open the scoring right on the cusp of half time. 

Richmond came rushing out of blocks in the second half with Ryan Opperman coming close on two separate occasions in the one-on-one situation but Zilic was on hand to deny the young winger. 

It was Tom Cahill who once again troubled the visitors with another speculative effort but he couldn’t keep his effort down from the edge of the area.  

He didn’t have to wait long for his second though as he doubled Richmond’s lead in the 70th minute. 

Having won a free kick on the edge of the area, Cahill waited for the opposition goalkeeper to begin adjusting his wall at the near post before smartly placing the ball into the opposite corner much Zilic’s surprise. 

Richmond had been comfortable for much of the game but began to feel the pressure late on with North Geelong pushing to get itself back into the contest, and the Warriors managed to pull one back in the 88th minute through Nathan Long. 

The visitors then very nearly equalised deep in stoppage time but Zadworny was denied brilliantly by Rossi in the one-on-one, ensuring Richmond would take home the three points, thus handing Avondale Heights the NPL1 title. 

Richmond coach Rick Mensink was very pleased with his side’s performance despite blooding a number of younger players but is still haunted by the results his side has thrown away against lower sides in the league. 

“I’m very pleased with the result, obviously North Geelong are one of the top sides in the league and they could’ve kept themselves in the title race today but we have come through and dominated with a host of younger players so that was fantastic,” Mensink said.

“It does still haunt me that we dropped those points against Bendigo and Whittlesea (Rangers) as we could’ve been in the hunt for promotion but unfortunately that’s the way it goes.”

North Geelong coach Micky Colina believed that it was simply a case of “promotion hangover” which saw his side lose focus and credited Richmond in claiming a deserved win. 

“We were solid I guess in the opening 25 minutes but I saw some lapses in concentration over the week and I think that was evident today and it cost us two goals,” Colina said.

“After pulling off such a great achievement last week in sealing promotion I think some of the boys struggled to get their heads around another big game and in the end it showed as Richmond fully deserved to win the game today.” 

MATCH DETAILS:

Richmond 2 (Cahill 45th, 70th) defeated North Geelong 1 (Long 88th) at Kevin Bartlett Reserve. 

Richmond Starting XI: 1 Christian ROSSI, 2 Andrew GOFF, 8 Mitch BISSENGER, 5 Ryan SADLER, 11 Liam FLYNN, 10 Tim PURCELL, 16 Daniel MILBORROW (13 Ryan Lambert 79’), 14 Peter SAWAN, 6 Josh KNIGHT (19 Andrew SKOULLOS 85’), 12 Ryan OPPERMAN, 9 Tom CAHILL 

 Bench: 20 Stephen HATZIKOURTIS, 18 Sebastian PETROVIC 

Yellow Card: Cahill 58th, Knight 60th 

Red Cards: NIL 

North Geelong Starting XI: 1 Daniel ZILLIC, 16 Michael GRGIC, 3 Matthew TOWNLEY, 99 Nathan LONG, 17 Nicholas JURCIC, 8 Vito CICHELLO, 7 Reardo LUKA (4 Nikola JURKOVIC 76’), 14 Mark PALEKA (6 Stipe TRBUHOVIC 68’), 9 Michael ANDERSON (21 Matija DRAGOVIC 62’), 10 Robert ZADWORNY, 77 Juso JULARDZIJA 

Bench: 36 Jackson DAVIS, 31 Hamish FLAVELL 

Yellow Cards: Grgic 69’, Cichello 84’, Dragovic 85’ 

Red Cards: NIL