But in a sour footnote to the Lions’ third straight win, reliable defender Joel Patfull will miss up to a month of football after breaking his jaw.
The Lions trailed by 25 points during a second quarter dominated by the Crows but were able to hang in and go to half-time just 10 points down.
Voss said the spell late in the second quarter where his team was prepared to chip the ball around and work the clock had set up his team’s win and showed an adaptability he had not seen so far this season.
"It was probably frustrating for the fans, but exceptionally important for us because we didn’t have ascendency of the game," he said.
"So to get it back to an even keel we just took a bit of time with the ball in our hands and we just grinded away at it and then later, with about two minutes to go, we kicked two goals and came in at half-time 10 points down.
"It’s a part of our game where normally we just let opposition teams score and we come in a lot further down as opposed to being able to come in 10 points down and have a real shot at it (in the second half)."
Voss said the ability to think through the situation on-field and adjust the playing style was critical because; 'you don’t let teams have momentum for so long'.
While full forward Daniel Bradshaw booted five goals and experienced midfielders Travis Johnstone and Simon Black had plenty of the ball, the Lions coach was most pleased with his smaller forwards.
He made particular mention of Justin Sherman’s 35-possession/three-goal performance, saying it was clearly his best of the season.
"A lot of people have criticised him for a lot of things but I think tonight was a reward for the hard work he’s put into his game and how much he’s persisted," Voss said.
"He provides energy and emotion and spread and run and he just wants t get involved.
"Some of the real impact players we had were (James) Polkinghorne, Daniel Rich chimed in for a goal, Justin Sherman was fantastic all night, Albert Proud played that role.
"Daniel Bradshaw kicked his five goals but it was a lot of those guys that we relied on tonight to kick our score so it was pleasing to see our ground level guys get involved."
Voss said he expected Daniel Merrett to be available for next week’s clash against St Kilda despite going off with an ankle injury, while Jed Adcock’s late departure was just due to soreness.
However, he said Patfull was likely to miss three to four weeks with his broken jaw.
The defender's absence will be sure to hurt the Lions as soon as next week when they travel to Melbourne to take on a St Kilda team boasting plenty of fire power up forward.
