Adelaide midfielder Matt Crouch rues losing big game to Melbourne
ADELAIDE midfielder Matt Crouch said he was unable to look beyond the immediate aftermath of Saturday night’s loss to Melbourne which left him shattered at the team’s failure to fire in a big game.
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ADELAIDE midfielder Matt Crouch said he was unable to look beyond the immediate aftermath of Saturday night’s loss to Melbourne which left him shattered at the team’s failure to fire in a big game.
Asked about the challenge of staying positive for the final month of the season now that finals appear unlikely, Crouch said he was unable to see past the devastating 13-point loss to the Demons at Adelaide Oval.
“To be honest I haven’t thought about it, I’m just getting over that loss and haven’t put too much thought into that,” he said.
“You do take something out of the last quarter but at the end of the day we’ve lost the game of footy that was a big game for us.
“I felt like our first half we were pretty solid but that third quarter cost us.
“In that 15-minute patch they kicked five goals and that was the game in the end, so it’s a disappointing result.”
Crouch had a game-high 32 disposals and won seven clearances but admitted Melbourne’s midfield stood up when it mattered.
“That third quarter they got on top of us a fair bit, apart from that we were pretty solid but they got a hold of us,” he said. “We had some shots on goals that we probably could have kicked and would have been close but we shouldn’t have been in that position.”
He did, however, praise the performance of defenders Alex Keath and Wayne Milera who were among Adelaide’s best on Saturday night.
“Those two boys have been really good, their last two weeks have been awesome … they’re playing some really good footy for us,” he said.
The Crows turn their attention to Saturday’s Showdown with Port Adelaide before playing GWS, North Melbourne and Carlton on the run home.
“They’re (Showdown) always big games so we’ll look forward to getting out there, but right now this one will hurt for a bit because it was a big game that we needed to win,” Crouch said.
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