Round 16, 1996 - Essendon vs Richmond

Essendon have beaten Richmond for the second time in 1996, with a stirring third quarter stunning the Tigers before going on to win by 20 points at the MCG.

Richmond got out to a 26-point lead at the main break, only for the Dons to boot eight goals to one in the third to show their superiority en route to the 15.18 (108) to 13.10 (88) victory.

Charles and Barnard on a muddy MCG.

The Bombers would pile on five goals in the first five minutes of the third term to immediately snatch the lead from Richmond, who were stunned and barely touched the ball during that period of play.

The match started with some interesting and anticipated matchups, with young Bombers hard nut Damien Hardwick going to the electric Robbie Powell, while Duncan Kellaway assumed his normal role in trying to curtail the Brownlow Medal favourite, James Hird.

The middle of the MCG was a mudheap, with the rest of the ground being great which was interesting, and the blustery conditions added to this hodge podge of conditions at the home of football.

Richmond got off to a pretty strong start, with Matthew Richardson taking some great contested marks and looking every bit the player who tore apart Melbourne a week earlier.

The blustery conditions caused havoc for the Bombers, who kicked eight behinds in a row which really helped the Tigers get out to a three goal lead during the first half.

One player who finally found the goals, after kicking 0.5 in his debut game, was Robbie Powell. It was in fact Richardson who gifted him the goal, with an easy handpass that allowed Powell to run in and drive home his first career goal.

One unfortunate loss for the Tigers was Ashley Prescott, who went down with a shoulder injury and not only sat out the game, but the rest of the season as a result.

The second half was when a rampaging Essendon took hold of the game, dominating out of the middle to an extent where the Tigers midfielders couldn't even get their hands on the ball.

The Bombers flew past Richmond in the third term and were able to hold their nerve in the final term to record an impressive, come from behind 20-point win.

Richardson was again Richmond's best, getting the best of Peter Berbakov for the second time this season, booting five goals to go along with 10 marks.

At the other end of the ground, Darren Gaspar did a stellar job defensively, not only in the air with his spoiling but also laying a team high five tackles to go with it.

Young Tigers Matthew Rogers and Mark Merenda also did reasonable jobs of controlling the wings and flanks, with Merenda leading all disposal winners on the ground with 29, while Rogers chipped in with 22 touches and a goal.

Stats for the game courtesy of AFL Tables

A Fighting Fury player ratings - click here for explanation

Matthew Richardson	12
Darren Gaspar	9
Matthew Rogers	8
Mark Merenda	8
Wayne Campbell	7
Paul Broderick	6
Duncan Kellaway	6
Matthew Knights	6
Chris Naish	6
Justin Charles	5
Brendon Gale	5
Jason Torney	4
Robbie Powell	3
Jamie Tape	2
Michael Gale	2
Ben Holland	1
Paul Bulluss	1
Nick Daffy	0
Ashley Prescott	0
Damien Ryan	0
Chris Bond	0