By Tonci Prusac (@tonciprusac)

Richmond has stunned North Geelong Warriors at Elcho Park on Saturday, prevailing 2-0 to end the Warriors’ 11-game unbeaten streak and open up the race for promotion into the NPL.

An injury-time goal in the first half by Hamlet Armenian and a second-half strike by Peter Sawan saw Richmond keep its faint hopes of promotion alive with four matches to go and seven points to make up on the second-placed Warriors.

Despite the loss, the Warriors started the brighter, making several attacking forays into the opposition half within the opening five minutes.

Mark Paleka almost caught Richmond 'keeper Christian Rossi napping after just five minutes, following some delightful build-up play from returning striker Juso Julardzija and Michael Anderson.

Richmond didn't wait long to register its opening attacking move, with Sawan launching a missile from the edge of the box.

His thunderbolt was aimed straight at reliable North custodian Daniel Zilic, who tipped it away for a corner.

It was a fast-paced and at times furious opening half, but both sets of defences were on top as the score looked like it was going to be locked at 0-0 going into the break.

That was until livewire Richmond attacker Hamlet Armenian made his presence felt with the last kick of the opening half.

Armenian, who was largely unsighted for most of the opening stanza, floated into the box and managed to get on the end of a precise cut-back from fellow striker Tom Cahill, before sliding in and guiding his shot past Zilic to give the visitors a well deserved 1-0 lead at the break.

The second half saw much of the same, with a well-drilled Richmond unit dictating play across the midfield and controlling the overall direction of the game.

North Geelong midfielder Vito Cichello was struggling with the flu and it showed, as the normally dominant playmaker failed to stamp his authority on proceedings.

As the half wore on, Richmond appeared to assert its dominance and it seemed just a matter of time before the sealer was produced.

That came in the 61st minute, courtesy of Sawan, who slammed his effort in after being fed a pinpoint cut-back from Cahill.

Cahill slalomed his way into the box and took the ball to the by-line. The Warriors defenders stopped, thinking the ball had gone out of play, but Cahill kept going and crossed the ball to an unmarked Sawan, who struck the telling blow.

North Geelong coach Micky Colina took the positives out of the loss.

“We can certainly use this loss as a motivation tool to get us back on track,” Colina said.

“Some of the boys were starting to get carried away by all the talk of promotion and this is the wake-up call they needed.

“I am disappointed, yet at the same time I knew it was coming. Let’s hope we can learn from this experience. As they say, we live and learn and hopefully it will make us a better side, starting with next week’s game away to Moreland.

Richmond coach Rick Mensink said he was pleased with the “fighting spirit” showed by his charges.

“To be honest, we were very confident going into this game,” Mensink said.

“We have had some recent turmoil behind the scenes at the club. During the week, the players made a decision that we were not going to end the season with mediocrity and that they were going to stick together.

“That, they did. It was an excellent and impressive performance by a good, young line-up. The lads really let their fighting spirit shine through today.”

North Geelong will look to rebound away to Moreland next week, while Richmond travels to Churchill Reserve to take on the third-placed St Albans in a crucial battle for promotion.

MATCH DETAILS

North Geelong Warriors 0 defeated by Richmond 2 (Armenian 47’, Sawan 61’) at Elcho Park [HT: 0-1]

North Geelong Warriors: 1 Daniel ZILIC (GK), 16 Michael GRGIC, 2 Darren LEWIS, 99 Nathan LONG, 17 Nicholas JURCIC (19 Matija DRAGOVIC 75’), 8 Vito CICHELLO (6 Stipe TRBUHOVIC 68’), 9 Michael ANDERSON, 10 Robbie ZADWORNY, 7 Reardo LUKA, 14 Mark PALEKA (4 Nikola JURKOVIC 85’), 77 Juso JULARDZIJA.

Unused subs: 35 Michael RADOJEVIC, 31 Joel GAWNE.

Yellow cards: Luka 26’, Cichello 55’, Grgic 76’, Anderson 81’

Red cards: None

Richmond: 1 Christian ROSSI (GK), 2 Andrew GOFF, 11 Liam FLYNN, 5 Rylan SADLER (15 Sam SHEPHERD 80’), 8 Mitchell BISSINGER, 6 Joshua KNIGHT, 10 Tim PURCELL, 14 Peter SAWAN (19 Andrew SKOULLOS 86’), 12 Ryan OPPERMANN, 7 Hamlet ARMENIAN, 9 Tom CAHILL

Unused subs: 20 Edward CHADWICK, 18 Madoc BRUMMEL, 16 George TSALIKIS.

Yellow cards: Bissinger 58’, Oppermann 70’, Cahill 86’.

Red cards: None