Adelaide utility Ricky Henderson says his team was left to rue what could’ve been after letting a 13-point final-quarter lead slip against West Coast at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night.

The Crows, who trailed by two points at three-quarter time, kicked the opening two goals of the last term to hold a handy buffer with less than 10 minutes left on the clock. But the Eagles surged, slotting two unanswered goals to level the scores and Josh Kennedy’s fourth goal in the final minute of the match saw the visitors snatch an unlikely six-point victory.

West Coast’s run and polish allowed the visitors to steal the win in the dying stages, but Henderson said Adelaide’s inability to consolidate on the scoreboard throughout the match had proved the difference. The Crows kicked an inaccurate 3.10 in the second half, including 1.6 in the third quarter – a quarter in which they dominated the play.

“I think they (the Eagles) just ran over the top of us at the end. They got a few players out into space when they shouldn’t have, but we didn’t take our opportunities throughout the whole night and we’re really disappointed,” Henderson said after the game.

“We just didn’t take our opportunities going forward and when they went forward they finished off pretty well. That comes back to our pressure around the ball and letting them get easy kicks and goals; that’s something we have to work on.”

Henderson was one of Adelaide’s better players in the narrow loss. Thrust into a new role in defence, the athletic ball winner collected 21 possessions, 10 marks and a goal assist.

“It’s interesting being back in defence the last couple of weeks. With Radar (Brent Reilly) going down, we need someone else back there,” Henderson said.

“I’m still trying to find my feet in terms of my defensive ways but hopefully I can work on that over the next couple of weeks.”

The loss resigns Adelaide to 12^th place on the AFL ladder, two wins out of eighth place. Henderson said the Crows would continue to attack the season.

 “Hopefully, we can still string a few wins together, but we’ve got Collingwood to worry about on Friday night. We’ll review this game and have to move on pretty quick.”