Richmond has notched its first win of 2009 by defeating North Melbourne in front of 29,224 fans at Etihad Stadium on ANZAC Saturday night, with Brett Deledio the best-on-ground and Roos skipper Brent Harvey sustaining an injury.

After North booted the first three goals of the match it was all Tigers, which led by seven points at half-time, 27 points at the final change and ran away with a 13.16 (94) to 7.16 (58) victory.

Any chance North had of pulling off an unlikely comeback in the final term was snuffed out when Joel Bowden finished off some great work from Deledio streaming through the centre of the ground 10 minutes into the final term. Another goal to Mitch Morton on 16 minutes had the lead out to 35 points.

The win could not be more timely for the Tigers given the media speculation regarding coach Terry Wallace's future, and there is every chance Richmond will take up space in The Age's sport section for positive reasons on Sunday.

Deledio finished with 25 touches and a goal, but it was his use of the Sherrin in a side renowned for poor skills which made the all the difference in this one.

Jack Riewoldt booted three goals – all in the second term – while Daniel Jackson (33 disposals), Bowden (28 touches, two goals), Shane Tuck, Chris Newman and Nathan Foley were solid. Matthew Richardson had hamstring injury concerns throughout the match, but should be right for next week.

First-year players Alex Rance and Andrew Collins showed enough to give heart to Tigers supporters daring to dream of a brighter future. Young ruckman Angus Graham showed a bit and Robin Nahas was lively.

Tiger Mark Coughlan, playing his first senior game in around three years, will only be better for the run after racking up 16 touches.

North never looked likely after inspirational leader Harvey went down with what is reportedly a dislocated elbow (could miss four to six weeks), and on another sour note, Lachlan Hansen appeared to suffer a hamstring injury.

Adam Simpson (30 possessions) again won plenty of the ball for the Roos, which had few winners. Andrew Swallow kicked three goals, Gavin Urquhart racked up 25 disposals and Drew Petrie was another Kangaroo who tried hard.

North Melbourne jumped out of the blocks to build an early lead. Goals to Petrie, Ben Warren and Swallow inside eight minutes of the first quarter had Tigers fans groaning.

But with skipper Newman kicking the Tigers' first major after a 13-minute period of scoreboard stalemate, and Deledio adding another after some good work up the ground from Richard Tambling – the Tigers were back in it.

Sadly for North, Harvey sustained his injury during the first quarter and Michael Firrito also went off with what appeared to be problems with his left ankle. An injection for the latter saw him return to the field.

North led 3.2 to 2.2 at the first change, but Riewoldt kicked the first of his three second-term goals early on to ignite the crowd.

Swallow managed his second goal against the run of play on 11 minutes, but with Nahas adding his first and Riewoldt slotting goals two and three, Richmond went ahead by 14 points.

A late turnover by Jackson resulted in a goal to Aaron Edwards for North prior to the half-time break, with Richmond still ahead 6.7 to 5.6.

Riewoldt took four marks inside 50 in the second term, as the Tigers dominated North. Skill errors, however, were the stumbling block for Richmond in attempting to forge a match-winning lead into the rooms.

It was all Richmond in the third term, with a four-goal-to-one burst leaving North Melbourne well and truly up against it.

After Matthew White narrowly missed a long-bomb from 60 metres, he then kicked his first goal from much closer to stretch the gap to two goals six minutes in.

Richmond players were working harder to support each other and get to the right positions in contests, but as he did in the second term, Swallow managed a goal for the struggling Kangas to keep his side close.

But with the Tigers slamming through three unanswered goals to end the term – through Kelvin Moore, Collins and Tuck – Richmond carried a seemingly insurmountable 27-point lead into the final term.

Richmond (1-4) travels to Sydney to take on the Swans next Sunday, while North Melbourne (2-3) will be looking to rebound against Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night.

North Melbourne    3.2 5.6 6.9 7.16 (58)
Richmond         2.2 6.7 10.12 13.16 (94)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Swallow 3, Hale, Warren, Thomas, Edwards
Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Bowden 2, Newman, Deledio, White, Moore, Collins, Tuck, Morton, Nahas

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