Goutzioulis' goal came at the end of an action packed final fifteen minutes of the match that included all three goals and a number of close chances.

Up until then the match hadn't quite lived up the expectations of a clash between two teams in the top six.

The home side came out firing and had four consecutive corners within the first three minutes of the games.

Semir Sevic and Richie Cardozo firing in the corners from each side of the park.

Richmond dominated possession in the first half, with the visitors happy to put plenty of bodies behind the ball and try and hit the Eagles on the counter.

However, the home side couldn't make their domination count on the scoreboard.

Richie Cardozo had the best opportunity of the half as he missed an open goal from only metres out just on the half hour mark after Oakleigh had failed to clear the ball from their area.

The visitors came out much stronger in the second half although both teams were failing to make the most of their limited chances with Oakleigh's Apostolikas missing the mark with only the 'keeper to beat, being their best chance of the match to that stage.

Moments later, Stuart Webster was out quickly to thwart Juan Nilo as he looked to shoot after making a promising run along the by-line.

Just as it looked like both teams would have to settle for a point, a surging run from Goutzioulis from deep in his own half followed by an excellent pass to find Pablo Cardozo in space.

Cardozo then put in a well weighted cross that found an unmarked Jesse Krncevic who slotted past a wrong footed Adrian Cagalj.

The goal sparked Oakleigh into life as they looked to get back on even terms.

A foul by Antun Kovacic on Bill Damianos resulted in the Cannons' player hitting the resulting free kick into the wall.

Richmond however failed to clear the ball from the area and paid the price when Stuart Kelly found the back of net through a sea of legs with a deflection that completely wrong footed Stuart Webster in the Richmond goal.

Only minutes later, Oakleigh almost took the lead when Milos Lujic sent his shot wide with only the 'keeper to beat after getting on the end of a Frankie Lagana cross.

However, it was Richmond who took all three points as Goutzioulis volleyed home from close range after goal scorer, Krncevic flicked on a Stuart McCluskey free kick.

Shortly after the restart the referee blew for full time.

After the game, a clearly ecstatic Richmond coach, Michael Chatzitrifonos stated that of the seven victories so far this season this was by far the sweetest.

He was pleased at how his players bounced back after their disappointing loss to South Melbourne the week before.

In contrast, Oakleigh coach, Stuart Munro thought that they were unlucky not to come away with something from the game after dominating the second half, although he was happy with the way his team got back into the game after a poor first half.

Richmond will look to build on their win as they make the first of four consecutive tough away trips when they take on the AIS in Canberra, whilst Oakleigh will look to bounce back against Whittlesea at Jack Edwards Reserve.