The Northern Blues have suffered their second consecutive defeat, going down comprehensively at the hands of Richmond at Punt Road on Sunday.

Northern struggled to contain a far-superior Richmond and its slick ball movement forward of centre, succumbing to a 16. 19. (115) to 4. 7. (31) defeat.

Richmond’s ruthless efficiency forward of the ball was the tale of the day, kicking 14 goals to two after quarter-time.

The first term saw the game ebb and flow in favour of both sides, with neither team able to capitalise on the scoreboard. Inaccuracy from both teams saw the game locked at 16 apiece.

The Blues struggled to gain any momentum after quarter-time, as Richmond dominated the game from the opening change.

Richmond had back-to-back six-goal quarters, restricting Northern to just a goal in each of the middle two quarters in the process.

Clever snaps from both Liam Sumner and Andrew Gallucci either side of half-time gave Northern a feint hope of victory, but the Tigers were irrepressible throughout the afternoon.

Gallucci’s goal was the first of the contest in the second half to bring the Blues back to within 26 points. 

However, the Blues were unable to string any meaningful chains of possession with Richmond's pressure causing troublesome turnovers in dangerous positions.

From that goal, Richmond kicked eight unanswered goals to finish the game, eventually running out the game a 84-point winner.

The home side dominated the inside 50 count (60-37) and the marks inside the arc (24-8 for the game), overwhelming Northern’s defence across four quarters.

Northern was kept goalless in final quarter as Richmond completely ran away with the match, inflicting a second straight disappointing defeat for the Blues.

Cameron O’Shea battled manfully all day down back and amassed a team-high 28 disposals to go with seven marks, as did Rhys Palmer (25 disposals, 10 marks).

RICHMOND VFL         2.4     8.7     14.13     16. 19. (115)
NORTHERN BLUES   2.4     3.5     4.6         4. 7. (31)

GOALS

Northern Blues: Gallucci, Kerr, Korcheck, Sumner

BESTS
Northern Blues: White, Wilson, Sheehan, O’Shea, Palmer, Russell