THREE late second half goals from the Richmond Eagles saw them defeat a nine-man Coburg United 3-0 at a rain soaked Kevin Bartlett Reserve on Saturday night.
Richmond went into the game without suspended pair, Stuart McCluskey and Pablo Cardozo and were looking to bounce back from last week's defeat at the Olympic Village.
Coburg United was looking for its first win since round two.
The home side dominated play and possession for vast periods of the first half and created a myriad of chances which they failed to capitalise on.
Tomas Kovar in the Coburg United goal, was the busier of the two 'keepers and Semir Sevic and George Goutzioulis getting a lot of the ball in the midfield for the Eagles.
On the half hour mark, Coburg almost pinched a goal on the break as Turhan Sumbul found himself one-on-one with Eagles' 'keeper and stand-in captain, Stuart Webster.
However, the home side's shot stopper was up to the task getting down quickly to block Sumbul's shot.
The score remained at 0-0 when both teams headed to the change rooms at half time.
The second half started with a flurry, as Richie Cardozo, Jesse Krncevic and Nicholas Kalambokis all failed to the find the back of the net in one goal mouth scramble.
Earlier Michael Catalano had forced a fine save out of Tomas Kovar.
As with the first half, Richmond had the bulk of the possession but failed to find a way past the Coburg 'keeper, who was keeping his team in the match at this stage.
Halfway through the second half, in a matter of six minutes, Coburg saw themselves reduced to nine men as firstly Ahme Gurpinar was given a red card for abusive language and then Brett Gilmour saw red for a late two footed challenge on Dimitri Tsiaras, which saw the Richmond player leave the field of play for treatment.
It only took four minutes for the home side to make the most of their two man advantage as Goutzioulis poked a shot past Kovar, after twisting and turning in the penalty area to beat three Coburg players to break the deadlock.
Richmond soon doubled its advantage with Michael Catalano scored from the edge of the area with a well taken shot.
In the dying moments of regular time, further salt was rubbed into the wounds of Coburg as the pressure of Richie Cordozo caused Coburg to put the ball into the back of its own net.
By NEIL ZIMMERMAN
Coburg United was looking for its first win since round two.
The home side dominated play and possession for vast periods of the first half and created a myriad of chances which they failed to capitalise on.
Tomas Kovar in the Coburg United goal, was the busier of the two 'keepers and Semir Sevic and George Goutzioulis getting a lot of the ball in the midfield for the Eagles.
On the half hour mark, Coburg almost pinched a goal on the break as Turhan Sumbul found himself one-on-one with Eagles' 'keeper and stand-in captain, Stuart Webster.
However, the home side's shot stopper was up to the task getting down quickly to block Sumbul's shot.
The score remained at 0-0 when both teams headed to the change rooms at half time.
The second half started with a flurry, as Richie Cardozo, Jesse Krncevic and Nicholas Kalambokis all failed to the find the back of the net in one goal mouth scramble.
Earlier Michael Catalano had forced a fine save out of Tomas Kovar.
As with the first half, Richmond had the bulk of the possession but failed to find a way past the Coburg 'keeper, who was keeping his team in the match at this stage.
Halfway through the second half, in a matter of six minutes, Coburg saw themselves reduced to nine men as firstly Ahme Gurpinar was given a red card for abusive language and then Brett Gilmour saw red for a late two footed challenge on Dimitri Tsiaras, which saw the Richmond player leave the field of play for treatment.
It only took four minutes for the home side to make the most of their two man advantage as Goutzioulis poked a shot past Kovar, after twisting and turning in the penalty area to beat three Coburg players to break the deadlock.
Richmond soon doubled its advantage with Michael Catalano scored from the edge of the area with a well taken shot.
In the dying moments of regular time, further salt was rubbed into the wounds of Coburg as the pressure of Richie Cordozo caused Coburg to put the ball into the back of its own net.
By NEIL ZIMMERMAN
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