By Andrew Bishara (@_andrewbishara)

A Tom Cahill goal was enough to see Richmond record a battling 1-0 win over Moreland Zebras at De Chene Reserve on Sunday afternoon.

The game was locked in a tight midfield battle with very few clear-cut chances being created and the winning goal coming early in the first half.

It was the Zebras who came out firing and should have taken the lead when Josh McMonagle-Ishaz broke behind the Richmond defence.

The midfielder only had to roll the ball past Richmond ‘keeper Edward Chadwick, but somehow the shot went wide of the goals.  

It proved decisive as Richmond began to control the game and then took the lead from the spot.  

The referee had no hesitation in calling the penalty when Moreland’s Danillo Bonillo-Ospina brought down Richmond’s Hamlet Armenian behind play during a free kick.

Cahill strolled up to smash the ball, only to see it saved by Zebras’ ‘keeper Alex Stojanovski.

However, the ‘keeper pushed the ball back in the path of Cahill, who needed no second chance to bury it.

Richmond continued to monopolise possession but couldn’t find that second goal.

It came close in the second period when Joshua Knight made a hard run into the box only to smash his shot wide.

A minute later, Cahill produced a superb single move by collecting the ball on his chest, turning first time and driving a rocket that just flew over the bar.

As the game wore on, Moreland slowly began to reassert itself in a bid to equalise.

The best chances fell to Nick Symeoy, who could have drawn level with two shots less than a minute apart.

First he found himself alone in the box when the ball fell to his foot, but from such a tight angle he saw his shot saved by Chadwick.

Symeoy then broke behind the Richmond defence and with Chadwick running out, only needed to dink the ball over.

But his lofted shot flew wide of the goals.

The hosts kept on pushing deep into injury time, but couldn’t find the leveler as Richmond claimed the points.  

Richmond coach Rick Mensink was over the moon with his team’s efforts in claiming the win.

“Superb, what an effort,” Mensink said.

“When we turned up here we knew it was going to be a battle and in fairness to Zebras, they really turned it into a battle.

“[But] we won the battle. The scoreboard shows that and I couldn’t be prouder of the team.”

Moreland Zebras assistant coach Peter Roberts said the coaching staff was dissatisfied with the team’s performance.

“Disappointing performance by the guys,” Roberts said.

“We started well. But then we just seemed to pump it long and played a lot of long balls without purpose or direction and they always won the second ball.

“There’s a lot of things to improve on for next week.”

MATCH DETAILS  

Moreland Zebras 0 lost to Richmond 1 (Tom Cahill 22’) at De Chene Reserve [HT: 0-1]

Moreland Zebras: 1. Alex STOJANOVSKI, 18. Adam CENTOFANTI, 16. Mile MEDJEDOVIC, 3. Johnny CRIVELLI (4. Liam BRIAN 69’), 19. Brad MURRAY, 13. Mario PIRIANO (22. Robert ARMELLINI  53’), 12. Josh MCMONAGLE-ISHAZ (15. Evan BATSIS 53’), 10. Danillo BONILLO-OSPINA, 5. Nick SYMEOY, 9. Joel NIKOLIC, 7. Scott ROBSON

Unused Subs: 14. James PAPADIMITRIOU, 21. Francesco GRECO

Yellow Cards: BONILLO-OSPINA 22’, ROBSON 42’

Red Cards: Nil

Richmond:  1. Edward CHADWICK, 2. Andrew GOFF, 8. Vincent BONTEMPS, 14. Sebastian PETROVIC, 6. Liam FLYNN, 15. Brendan RICHARDSON, 10. Tim PURCELL (19. Peter SAWAN 72’), 13. Joshua KNIGHT, 12. Ryan OPPERMANN (18. Fabian STRANGES 76’), 7. Hamlet ARMENIAN, 9. Tom CAHILL

Unused Subs: 20. Tom BANFIELD, 11. Mitchell BEAMISH, 5. Rylan SADLER

Yellow Cards: KNIGHT 65’, STRANGES 76’, ARMENIAN 90+2’

Red Cards: Nil.