Ryan Byrnes has made a successful return to competitive football as Sandringham kickstarted its 2021 VFL Season against Richmond on Friday afternoon.
Hamstring surgery in February put Byrnes on ice for close to two months, but the young Saint didn’t look out of place at the Swinburne Centre with 21 disposals, eight marks and a classy goal from long-range.
The Tigers ultimately proved too strong for the Zebras, pushing their way to a 13.17 (95) to 7.13 (55) win off the back of their forward-half dominance and weight of entries, particularly in the opening half.
Richmond led the inside-50s (31-14) at the major break and held a six-goal lead as a result, before Jake Batchelor’s side evened up the contest and started to own more territory in the second half.
Shaun McKernan (23 disposals, 10 marks) bagged four goals (one per term) to keep the scoreboard ticking over, while co-vice-captain Goy Lok (20 disposals, nine tackles, one goal) was powerful through the middle.
But it wasn't enough to outmuscle the Tigers' on-ball brigade, with Patrick Naish (32 disposals), Jack Ross (32), Riley Collier-Dawkins (30) and Will Martyn (24) repeatedly winning centre clearances and firing the ball inside-50 to bolster the growing scoreboard advantage.
Defensive duo Oscar Clavarino (20 disposals, 13 marks) – returning from a hamstring complaint – and Darragh Joyce (17 disposals) helped curb the opposition’s peppering of the goalface, but were unable to combat the Tigers’ clean breaks out from centre bounce.
Sandringham’s want to constantly move the ball quickly played into the Tigers’ playbook at times, but a terrific burst from Leo Connolly (19 disposals) showed the Zebras’ pace near its peak.
The young half-back took advantage of a Mason Wood intercept in the centre square, before slipping past his opponent and hitting McKernan on the chest for his second goal of the afternoon.
Dean Kent (14 disposals) again was tried through the midfield and alternated at centre bounces with Byrnes, Tom Highmore (16 disposals, seven marks) and Wood (18 disposals, seven marks) were solid in their respective domains, while Matthew Allison and Sam Alabakis (a game-high 18 hit-outs) pushed through quieter outings.
Meanwhile, ex-Saint Sam Dunell collected 12 disposals in his 150th VFL game.
Sandringham will look to secure its first win of the season against Port Melbourne on Saturday 24 April, with the match at ETU Stadium to be live-streamed for free on Kayo Freebies.
RICHMOND 1.5 7.9 10.14 13.17 (95)
SANDRINGHAM 1.1 2.3 3.9 7.13 (55)
GOALS
Richmond: Ryan 3, Coleman-Jones 2, Hicks 2, Rioli 2, Naish, Chol, Stack, Oakes
Sandringham: McKernan 4, Byrnes, Lok, Zagari
BEST
Richmond: Naish, Ross, Coleman-Jones, Collier-Dawkins, Martyn, Morris, Ryan
Sandringham: Byrnes, McKernan, Clavarino, Lok, Joyce, Connolly
