By Rory Flanagan

Promotion-chasing Richmond succumbed to a 4-2 loss at the hands of Box Hill United in a thrilling tale of two halves on at Wembley Park Saturday afternoon.

After leading early, the second-placed Eagles capitulated in the second half and missed a penalty to compound their woes.

Lucas Johns bagged a double for United, with strikes from Travis Chalk Hatton and Seb Barrero rounding out the home side's scoring.

Barely sixty seconds into proceedings, Hamlet Armenian was afforded far too much time and space on the right, surging into the box to give Alex Caniglia a simple tap on for the opener.

Armenian was lively throughout the opening half an hour and could have easily scored a second when spurning a chance over the bar from close range.

As news of Murray United taking the lead against Melbourne Victory filtered through, perhaps a touch of complacency crept in and Box Hill managed to survive until the interval.

It was only five minutes into the second stanza when Box Hill completely changed the game.

Some poor defensive positioning allowed Lucas Johns to profit from a long throw and equalise for the hosts, who then took the lead in with an incisive end-to-end move just a minute later via Sebastian Barrero.

Richmond were then gifted a chance to equalise on the hour mark with a penalty, but Armenian thrashed his spot kick against the woodwork as the Richmond benched looked on in horror.

With fifteen minutes still left on the watch, Alex Connell conceded a soft penalty for a push inside the area. Richmond Captain Tom Cahill replaced Armenian on spot kick duties and duly delivered with a thumping effort past Connell to equalise.

Incredibly, Box Hill hit back immediately and hit the front once more. Travis Chalk-Hatton's aerial prowess came to the fore - despite being aided by more poor Richmond defending - to nod home a 3-2 advantage.

As the desperately Eagles threw bodies forward, Johns pounced on the break to seal the points and force the title race into a fantastic final day climax.

United will again play a major part, hosting league leaders Melbourne Victory at Wembley Park, whilst Richmond travel to lowly Springvale White Eagles and hope results go their way.

MATCH DETAILS:

Box Hill United 4 (Johns 51, 90', Barrero 52', Chalk-Hatton 77') defeated Richmond 2 (Caniglia 2', Cahill 76'P) HT: 0-1

Box Hill United: Alex CONNELL, Alex SCHROEN, Joey CALDERONE (Jack GOW 50'), Michael GODFREY, Chris PAGE, Caleb LUDLOW, Travis CHALK-HATTON, Sebastian BARRERO (Nikola SURDOSKI 90'), Lucas JOHNS, Aaron PORCARO (Ollie PATERNO 74'), Michael KARIUKI.

Unused Subs: Sam GRIGGS, Shaun PETERSON
Yellow Cards: Barrero 53'

Richmond: Chris DAVIES, Andrew GOFF, Jordan SEETO, Josh VALADON, Liam FLYNN, Matthew WATERS (Peter SAWAN 63'), Sam CATHERINE, Michael CATALANO (Josh KNIGHT 63'), Hamlet ARMENIAN (Jay KELLY 88'), Alex CANIGLIA, Tom CAHILL.

Unused Subs: Chris ROSSI, Mate ETEROVIC
Yellow Cards: Sawan 79'