ST KILDA’S players lost their nerve when the match was on the line against Port Adelaide on Sunday, coach Alan Richardson says.
The Saints kicked out to a 21-point lead 20 minutes into the third term when Cameron Bruce kicked a goal and were on track to record a big upset at Adelaide Oval.
But Port then took charge, first stemming the flow of Saints goals and suffocating their run, then blowing the contest apart with eight final-term goals.
Richardson said both sides were out on their legs late in the contest but believed Port kept backing itself, while his side went conservative.
Five talking points: Port Adelaide v St Kilda
"We certainly still had the opportunities from a clearance point of view in the last quarter, we just could not get the ball out of our back half,” Richardson said.
"We just lost a bit of dare. We'd been playing some pretty aggressive footy with the ball in hand ... We just became too conservative.
WATCH: Alan Richardson's full post-match media conference
"It was as if we were trying to save a game that was already working away from us, as opposed to playing with the same sort of dare that we played with early in the game.
"We looked better for big parts of that game and we got in a position late in the third quarter to give ourselves a great opportunity to have a really good result and we fell away.
While Richardson was reluctant to accept praise for the effort, St Kilda’s ball movement and clearance work for three quarters will excite fans.
Tom Hickey was dominant in the ruck, finishing with 56 hit-outs and 20 possessions, while midfielders Jack Steven, Leigh Montagna, David Armitage and Seb Ross all enjoyed good days.
Jack Lonie kicked three goals and Blake Acres played his best game for the club.
St Kilda cut Port apart at times with its fast ball movement and Richardson said there was plenty to take from the match.
"We were pretty impressive in the clinches for a while,” he said.
"I think we won clearances by over 10.
"That’s as good a game as Hickey’s played for the club, for him to have over 50 hit-outs but also get 20 possessions and really get involved offensively.
"There were little moments where we let (Chad) Wingard fly and our defenders got beaten a little but too easily one-on-one but we'll learn from that.
"For most part of the game we were able to be really strong in contest get the ball into the hands of guys who were able to look forward and capitals on that."
