FRUSTRATED Greater Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron has admitted his side was lucky to escape with a draw from its thrilling round 13 clash against North Melbourne on Sunday.
The Giants were outplayed for much of the Blundstone Arena contest and faced a 28-point deficit heading into the final term, but booted six goals to one in an exciting final stanza to pick up a valuable two points that helps them stay in touch with the top eight.
KANGAROOS v GIANTS Full match coverage and stats
Cameron said the draw left him with mixed emotions as he knows his side didn’t play to the level they are capable of, and that the lowly Kangaroos were easily the better team on the day.
"Clearly they (North Melbourne) deserved the win more than us," a frank Cameron said after the match.
"It is always a hollow feeling playing in a draw and we have had a couple over the last four or five years.
"Part of us is proud with the last quarter as we played a brand of footy where we actually tested the opposition and the first three quarters we didn’t.
"But there is too much of a gap between our best footy and our worst. As a young team, which we are, we need to close that gap."
Skipper Toby Greene played a major part in the Giants' fourth quarter revival, with Cameron inserting the star forward into the centre square after he was relatively well held up forward by Kayne Turner.
It was then sharp-shooter Daniel Lloyd that stole the show as he booted two goals for the Giants to help level the scores and setup the thrilling finale.
But the usually reliable Lloyd missed a gettable chance with under a minute remaining when any score would have given the Giants the lead.
"Clearly, he (Lloyd) would be sitting there thinking 'if only', but we don’t want to be sitting in if-only world," Cameron said.
"We will be looking at the first three quarters more than the final minute or so."
The mood was similar inside the North Melbourne camp following the match, with rookie coach David Noble admitting to the same mixed feelings his GWS counterpart had felt and that are usually associated with a draw.
Noble was thrilled with the way his side played, but disappointed his young charges weren’t able to close out the match after being in control at the final break.
"That is a tick for us today,” Noble said.
"It’s disappointing not to win and, don’t get me wrong, I am not very happy about it.
"But there are lots of areas in what we showed today that is moving us forward."
Noble singled out Turner for his gritty performance against the dangerous Greene, and was happy that veteran defender Robbie Tarrant made it through his first game back from injury unscathed.
"As you looked at the players going off the ground, they were pretty disappointed,” Noble added.
"They probably felt it was more like a loss than it was a draw."
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