Fremantle led from the start of the game until the 14-minute mark of the final quarter, and by as much as 39 points on two occasions. But the reigning premiers found ways to fight back, and in the end Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich hit the post with a shot that would have put his side in front.
After Geelong's Joel Selwood put it out on the full, Fremantle had one more entry into their forward 50. Ryan Murphy took the kick but was called back as it was meant to be Byron Schammer.
Nine seconds elapsed that shouldn’t have with Murphy's kick coming back to Schammer, whose kick was marked by Geelong's Harry Taylor as the final siren sounded.
Harvey was livid but would not elaborate after the match.
"There are areas of the game that I can't go into, but I'm angry and so is the club. I can't go into what it is, though. Outside of that, it was a good performance," Harvey said.
"I'll wait on the AFL's response to what happened with the time clock. We were just outside the forward 50 when it happened. Everyone knows about it and I'll await their response. There are a lot of things going around in my head at the moment that bewilder me."
Harvey and his coaching staff felt Pavlich's kick was home from the box and even though it hit the post, Harvey was delighted in the leadership shown by Pavlich and Peter Bell. Aaron Sandilands' dominance in the ruck and the game of youngster Garrick Ibbotson were other encouraging signs.
"It looked like it was home, there was a bit of lifting off the chairs in the coaches' box, but all of a sudden it hit the post," he said.
"Sandilands played the best game he has for this footy club and he should be recognised. Not that it's about individuals, but he gave the team a terrific sense of combatant direction that we needed.
"Some of our other guys are growing in stature. Ibbotson's game was terrific, Rhys (Palmer) kept coming and never gave in and Michael Johnson had a lot of the ball, but in the end it takes us to 1-5."
Fremantle did control the game for large patches apart from a run of six Cats goals leading into half-time, and five to start the last quarter. Harvey was happy with the jobs Josh Carr and Ryan Crowley performed on Jimmy Bartel and Gary Ablett respectively, but with his side losing Roger Hayden, Antoni Grover and Steven Dodd to injury, they just lacked the legs to keep their noses in front.
"I thought we kept Ablett and Bartel quiet, but then guys like (Joel) Corey and Selwood bob up and hurt you quickly. In the end, we weren’t good enough, but geez our players were brave," he said.
"It would have been a sensational game to watch, it had all the ingredients of Anzac Day and I told the players to be last man standing and give all they had, which they did. The opposition was just a little bit better at the end of the game under circumstances that we couldn’t control."
Harvey was heartened to see that his playing group can match the very best when they bring their A game.
"It's actually very encouraging to know that if you play to that standard regularly, that you are not far away from the premiership team," he said.
"There is great belief that we are a genuine chance every week on the back of that performance".
