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Richmond sink Port Adelaide, climbing to second on AFLW ladder

Richmond sink Port Adelaide, climbing to second on AFLW ladder

Richmond maestro Monique Conti has orchestrated a 21-point victory over Port Adelaide to lift the Tigers to second spot on the AFLW ladder.

Five-time All Australian Conti was dynamic in Richmond’s 6.12 (48) to 3.9 (27) triumph at Melbourne’s Princes Park on Tuesday night.

The Tigers, after their fourth consecutive win, are second on percentage but have played one more game than unbeaten ladder-leaders Adelaide.

Conti, who has won five club champion awards at Richmond and one at the Western Bulldogs, was superb in her side’s dominant opening half which laid the victory platform.

By half-time in slippery conditions, the Tigers held a commanding 22-point lead — 4.8 to 1.2 — and Conti boasted 14 touches and three clearances.

The Tiger ace finished with a game-high 23 disposals and eight tackles, while Katie Brennan booted three goals and Ellie McKenzie (22 possessions) was influential.

Port slid to 13th spot with a fifth loss in six matches despite the plucky efforts of Mollie Brooksby (20 disposals), Matilda Scholz (17) and Gemma Houghton, who kicked two goals.

The Tigers dominated the opening term but scored five consecutive behinds before Brennan took a chest mark and converted for a 1.5 to 0.1 quarter-time lead.

Richmond, with Conti prominent, then scored three goals in a 10-minute burst in the second stanza to create a 28-point advantage.

The Power’s Houghton broke her side’s goalless stretch some 20 seconds before the main break when Richmond led 4.8 to 1.4.

The Tigers held a 23-point advantage at three quarter-time before Port rallied in the final quarter to sneak within 16 points when Maria Moloney converted a set shot.

But Richmond spearhead Brennan soon added her third major with a classy 30m snap to seal victory in teammate Grace Egan’s 50th AFLW match.

“I am super proud,” Egan told Fox Footy.

“We have worked so hard and we have built over a few years so to get the win today is so good, but I expected it because the girls have been working super hard.”

AAP