A late Sunbury Lions comeback fell short against Bacchus Marsh in the Ballarat Football League.
The Lions trailed all day against the Cobras and looked headed for a big loss at three-quarter time.
With nothing to lose, the Lions threw everything at the ladder-leaders in the last quarter.
The Lions kicked five of the first six goals of the final quarter to reduce the margin back to 14 points.
A steadier from Jake Owen halted the Lions’ run and despite the Lions kicking another goal late, it was the goal that sealed the win.
The Cobras winning 15.13 (103)-13.10 (88).
Lions’ coach Ben Jordan was happy with how his side ran out the game.
“I think we would have been stretching it to come over the top of them,” he said.
“When you’re coming from a fair bit back you can throw caution to the wind a bit.
“I was impressed with how they ran it out and they moved the ball pretty well in the last quarter.
“We found some avenues to goal, but a bit too little too late.”
The difference between the two teams proved to be the second quarter, when the Cobras kicked five goals to two. They upped the scoreboard pressure in the third quarter, to get out to a 41-point lead at the final break.
Jordan said it was clear that if they are to beat the top sides, they can’t let them get out to leads like that.
“There’s no better front running side than Bacchus Marsh,” he said.
“Once they get in front, they’re pretty hard to beat.
“That was the disappointing thing for me, they got the ball out of the middle far too easy in the second quarter … and put the score on the board quickly.
“There’s definitely some positives, but we need to play 120 minutes against the good sides.”
Jordan said it was a much better performance than the previous week against Ballarat when they didn’t come switched on.
He said he would like to see the way they played in the second half, especially in the last quarter, more often.
“We can certainly expose teams in patches, but haven’t been able to do it consistently and for long enough.
“To beat Bacchus Marsh you have to do that all day.”
Dylan Landt was the standout for the Lions, kicking five goals playing on the wing.
Jordan said they were likely to see him a bit more in the second half of the season, having finished up at the Calder Cannons.
Lachlan Bramble, who returned from VFL duties, and Aaron Christensen were the other standouts, according to Jordan.
The Lions slip to fifth after two straight losses, and three losses in four games.
Jordan said the next month of football will tell where they are at.
This week they face second-placed East Point.
