Missed chances prove costly again

REIGNING best and fairest winner Bernie Vince says it was impossible to fault Adelaide’s effort during the club’s narrow loss to the Western Bulldogs at AAMI Stadium on Sunday night.

The Crows set the tone for the game, laying 31 tackles to the Bulldogs’ 17 in the first quarter but again struggled to convert on the scoreboard, kicking just one goal from eight scoring shots in the opening term.

The home side battled on in tough conditions to trail by a solitary point at three-quarter time, but couldn’t muster a goal from 14 inside-50s in the final term.
 
Vince said his side had again paid the price for not making the most of its early opportunities.

“We had all the play and I felt like we really dominated that last quarter, but there was only one goal kicked in that quarter and the Western Bulldogs kicked it, so I guess it comes down to taking your chances,” Vince said.

“I think we missed a couple of shots early again and that proved costly in the end, but you couldn’t fault the effort from the boys - they were awesome.

“Our contested-ball stats and clearance work were really good, but the Bulldogs are a great team and they weren’t going to give up easy either.”

The loss ended Adelaide’s faint finals hopes, but Vince said it was important the team played with the same desperation in the upcoming games against the Brisbane Lions, Collingwood and last year’s grand finalists St Kilda.

“The approach will be the same as it’s been for the last few weeks,” Vince said.

“We’ll go in with a winning attitude as if we’re going to win the last three games. If we continue that we might even knock some of these top-four sides off.”