By Chris Hearn (@_ChrisHearn)

Richmond has completely overpowered a hapless Brunswick City outfit at Dunstan Reserve on Saturday, condemning the bottom placed side to a 5-1 loss.

Seamus Carr's own goal, a Rylan Sadler brace and singles to Joshua Knight and Ryan Opperman put the visitors 5-0 ahead before Brunswick substitute Dimitri Vithoulkas scored a consolation.

Richmond started the far stronger side with Brunswick lacking real leaders on the pitch.

Holes began to emerge in defence with distribution out from the back-line a concern for coach Armando Pianese.

After a turnover on halfway, Lachlan Smale regained possession from speedster Opperman near the left by-line, only to hand it back.

The winger’s crossed was a dangerous one, and Carr could only turn the ball into his own net, past Mason Interlandi.

Richmond coach Rick Mensink ordered his side to press higher up the pitch which brought instant results.

After the midfield broke up another Brunswick attack, a simple ball was played over the top to Joshua Knight - the attack finished swiftly by a cool finish to make the scores 2-0.

Pianese seemed unable to get a reaction out of his side, whose self-inflicted wounds would get worse before half time.

Richmond midfielder Sam Shepherd was substituted after a goalmouth collision with Brunswick ‘keeper Interlandi and was replaced by Peter Sawan.

Initial fears from the bench indicated it may be structural knee damage.

Sawan almost made it three after Denis Sadik’s crucial miss at the other end, although Sadler ensured Richmond’s lead was rock-solid with half-time approaching.

Following a neat passing exchange in midfield, Opperman was played through, drawing Interlandi off his line and squaring to Sadler who simply slotted into an empty net.

Mensink was then forced to replace Sawan with 15-year-old Ryan Lambert, for an unlikely debut.

The midfielder made an impression too, with two assists within 10 minutes.

Opperman was the first beneficiary, Lambert spotted his run expertly - leaving the winger with a simple finish from close range.

However Lambert's second assist was the moment of the match.

Deep in his own half, spotted Sadler peeling away from Brunswick's central defensive pairing and split the gap left with ultimate precision as the scoreline reached 5-0.

This kind of poise suggests it won't be the last time Lambert will be seen at this level and perhaps much higher.



After Pianese changed Brunswick's formation to a 4-2-3-1, the bottom placed side were far more assured structurally.

Vithoulkas's goal came three minutes after he replaced Amara Kromah, finishing off full-back Rikiya Kitami's cross.

The defender almost turned provider on 63 minutes, blasting a long-range effort at Edward Chadwick who was forced to tip over.

Mensink was pleased with the win and the impressive debut of Lambert.

"Considering the age of our squad and injuries that we had, I thought we were good. We scored some nice goals," Mensink said.



"We think he (Lambert) has got a lot of quality and if he works hard at his game, he's got a bright future."

Still learning the job, Pianese took a realistic yet optimistic view on the 5-1 loss.



"It was a shocking first half. We exposed ourself to counter-attacking and didn't know what to do," Pianese said.



"The positives we can take are from the last 35 minutes. I hope we can work on that."

MATCH DETAILS

Brunswick City 1 (Vithoulkas 59') defeated by Richmond 5 (Carr OG 16’, Knight 23’, Sadler 36' 46', Opperman 45') at Dunstan Reserve. [HT 0:3]

Brunswick City starting XI: 1. Mason INTERLANDI (GK), 2. Seamus CARR, 4. Manny KARAS (8. Nicholas TEREZAKIS 41'), 14. Denis SADIK, 16. Rikiya KITAMI, 17. Vani SHAMOON, 24. Sam MAZZOLINI, 29. Amara KROMAH (99. Dimitri VITHOULKAS), 55. Lachlan SMALE (9. Baggio YUSSUF 54'), 80. Angelo VOUTHAS, 95. Patrick MARRA

Substitutes not used: 30. George ARGYRAKAKIS, 45. George MARKELIS

Yellow cards: 8. Nicholas TEREZAKIS

Red cards: None

Richmond starting XI: 1. Edward CHADWICK (GK), 2. Andrew GOFF, 5. Rylan SADLER, 6. Joshua KNIGHT (17. Peter KOSKOS 57'), 8. Mitchell BISSENGER, 10. Tim PURCELL, 11. Liam FLYNN, 12. Ryan OPPERMAN, 15. Sam SHEPHERD (14. Peter SAWAN 9' (14. Ryan LAMBERT 41')), 16. Daniel MILLBORROW, 19. Andrew SKOULLOS

Substitutes not used: 7. George TSIAKALAKIS, 18 Sebastian PETROVIC

Yellow cards: 6. Joshua KNIGHT 11’

Red cards: None