JUST what did happen in those last 41 seconds after Jeremy Howe put Melbourne in front by four points against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Sunday night?
How could St Kilda bob up, courtesy of a Leigh Montagna goal, and kick the sealer with just 19 seconds remaining?
And why weren’t numbers back to thwart a St Kilda attack?
These questions and others were posed to a perplexed coach Paul Roos after the match. And he said the dying stages would be discussed strongly among the players and coaches in the team’s review during the week.
“We couldn’t get it done by putting a number behind the ball or two numbers or three numbers,” he said.
“Normally, in those situations, that’s what would happen. As a coach, you take responsibility.
“We’ve just got to do a better job in those situations. We’ll discuss [what happened] as a group.”
It was such a remarkable end to the match, particularly as just two goals were scored in the final term.
Granted, both teams had their opportunities in front of goal, but it wasn’t until 24 minutes and 46 seconds that Howe booted the first goal of the term. And when Montagna found space and ran into an open goal at the 25-minute mark and 49 seconds – that the red and blue endured a gut-wrenching two-point loss. Timing was everything in the end.
Star midfielder Bernie Vince, who amassed 38 disposals and kept key St Kilda playmaker David Armitage to 20 touches, said the players simply weren’t aware of how much time was left in the match.
He said runner Brad Miller was out on the field giving a message and was unable to get back in time to the bench to find out exactly how much time was left on the clock.
“We thought there was a little bit more time to go and Millsy was stuck on the ground, so he couldn’t get the message out,” Vince said.
“As a senior player [I should have been more aware] and all of our senior leadership group [should’ve been too]. Someone probably needed to call it, but we felt there was still four or five minutes to go.
“It was hard in that situation and you don’t want to blame anyone, but we’ve got to make that call next time.”
Not surprisingly, Vince said Roos wanted clarity on the situation, when he addressed the players immediately after the match.
“He (Roos) just said we did a lot of things well and he just wanted some clarity on what happened in that last bit and why we didn’t send someone back,” the former Crow said.
No doubt, that final minute will be analysed to the nth degree.
And even though the match could’ve gone either way – given it was a see-sawing contest with several lead changes – it was Melbourne’s lapse in concentration in the dying stages that ultimately cost it the match.
It was a bitter pill to swallow, given a fourth win of the season was less than 30 seconds away.
