A ten men Sunshine George Cross side battled hard to give Rihmond a run for their money before going down 0-2 to Richmond at Kevin Bartlett Reserve. Sunshine's plans were thrown out the windows after 8 minutes when striker Stuart Nicholson was red carded for an off the ball incident. Richmond took advantage of the numerical advantage and took the lead after 16 minutes following a corner kick. Slack marking inside the penalty area allowed Antun Kovacic with the simple task of heading past a stranded Martin John. Richmond controlled possession for the best part of the first half, without creating clear cut chances. Sunshine were clearly unsettled by the sending off and focussed on defence leaving James Blackburn as the lone striker. At the break Andy O'Dell introduced youngsters Andrew Nabbout up front and Evan Christodoulou in midfield. O'Dell also pushed Fidell Richards in attack and the changes worked with the Georgies being more adventurous. The ten men took the game right up to Richmond and looked dangerous with every attack. Nabbout was a handful with his bustling style of play and made an immediate impact. At the 47 minute mark the youngster was unlucky to see his goal bound shot deflected for a corner of a defender's leg. Christodoulou was running as if his life depended on it in midfield. He chased back throughout, tackled hard and won possession numerous times to start many forward thrusts. Nabbout continued to cause havoc but could not get his name on the score sheet with Richmond's keeper twice denying him goals pulling off great saves. Richmond took a comfortable 2-0 lead against the run of play after 74 minutes. A mis-understanding between Fidel Richards and Luke Grounds presented Jesse Krncevic with a one on one situation. Krncevic took his opportunity well slotting the ball to the right of a diving Martin John. It was a soft goal to give away and one that would have knocked the stuffing out of most teams. To their credit the Georgies kept going forward with Kyle Joryeff causing Richmond many problems on the right wing. A late tackle on Joryeff by Richmond captain Dimitri Tsiaris at the 79 minute mark saw the referee issue Tsiaris his second caution to make this a 10 a side game. From the resultant free kick, Steve Beck set up Kyle Joryeff whose shot on goal hit the upright. Andrew Nabbout again went close a few minutes later when his hard shot on target was finger tipped to safety by Richmond's goalkeeper. O'Dell tried everything in a bid the get his team back in the game including putting central defender Barry Devlin in attack in a straight swap with Fidell Richards. The game became very open with Martin John also being kept busy diving at the feet of two Richmond forwards to prevent any further damage. Nabbout was running hot, as he once again produced a shot that had Richmond goalkeeper diving full lenght to deflect the ball for a corner. Richmond managed to hold out and take all 3 points, while for the Georgies it was a case of what might have been, had the team was not reduced to 10 players so early in the match. The team earned high praise from supporters for their effort, with 19 year old Evan Christodoulou and 17 year old Andrew Nabbout showing they are in the team to stay.

Under 21: RICHMOND 3 SUNSHINE GEORGE CROSS 2.

Scorers; Daniel Sweeney, Guiliano Di Marco.

The Georgies were completely over run in the first half by a rampant Richmond side who went into the break 2-0 up. The Georgies looked yards slower, as the Eagles dominated all over the ground. Sunshine picked up the pace in the second half and pulled a goal back through Daniel Sweeney. Richmond appeared to have put the game beyond the Georgie's reach when they scored again to make it 3-1, but once again the Georgies bounced back to reduce the arrears with goal by Guiliano Di Marco. In a very open final 20 minutes, the result could have gone either way with chances at both ends. Neither team was able to add to the score with Richmond winning a keenly contested and at times heated game 3-2.