Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan is “living in hope” that Will Ashcroft’s knee damage is not as dangerous because it appeared, admitting it took the gloss off the facet’s tense 11-point defeat of Geelong.
The Lions held off the Cats 9.10 (64) to 7.11 (53) on the Gabba on Saturday, Geelong managing only one objective into mounting their comeback late within the third time period.
Callum Ah Chee kicked a steadier to make sure there was no ugly repeat of the Lions’ stunning fadeout towards Melbourne every week earlier and stored hopes of a top-two end alive.
But the sight of Ashcroft clutching at his proper knee within the remaining quarter and limping off meant Fagan was far much less jubilant in regards to the consequence than he ought to have been.
“It’s dampened my mood … I don’t like to see that for any player at any club, anytime,” he mentioned of the Rising Star favorite’s damage.
“He feels a little uncertain as well … you’ve got to live in hope or that it’s something a little bit less than an ACL.”
The Lions put the clamps on the Cats on the Gabba however, simply as Melbourne did final week, the defending champions rallied when all hope appeared misplaced.
But this time the Lions held agency, Ah Chee capping a chic sport with an important objective to all however cement his spot in his return from a concussion.
“We handled that last block of five or six minutes pretty well and psychologically it would have been hard,” Fagan mentioned.
“We never dodged away from what happened; they did the things we talked about much, much better.”
The Lions (13-5) can nonetheless catch Port Adelaide in second whereas the Cats’ (9-8-1) first loss in 5 weeks leaves them in a log-jam for a spot within the backside half of the eight.
Brisbane dominated clearances 49-22 and had been supported by Harris Andrews’ aerial dominance in defence because the Cats endured their first goalless opening time period since 2015.
It took some Patrick Dangerfield brilliance for the Cats to lastly kick a objective late within the second quarter, an ungainly mark and booming kick breaking their duck.
Brisbane led 51-14 earlier than the Cats kicked the final two objectives of the third time period and located some momentum with two extra to Jeremy Cameron within the remaining quarter.
But Ah Chee marked strongly and kicked straight after play resumed following Ashcroft’s knee damage to interrupt the Cats’ run.
Tom Stewart (25 disposals) was arguably Geelong’s finest, whereas Josh Dunkley (27 disposals) was immense in his comeback from a calf damage for Brisbane and Lachie Neale had 10 clearances.
“Their contest work gave them so much more territory and opportunity to score,” Cats coach Chris Scott mentioned.
“Our defenders held up. Lesser players could have been obliterated.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
