STAR midfielder Simon Goodwin says the Crows will fight to the bitter end despite the 25-point loss to Fremantle onSaturday.
The loss dealt Adelaide’s finals aspirations a blow, butGoodwin said the Crows were desperate to turn it around against Essendon nextweek.
“We can’t afford to lose any more games.There are six games to go and we’re going to have to win our fair share ofthose to make the finals,” Goodwin told afc.com.auafter the game.
“We’ve got to make sure we get back on thetraining track straight away and keep our spirits up. There’s six weeks to goand we’ll fight to the end.”
Adelaide battled hard throughout the game, arresting the Dockers’ momentumand leveling the scores several times in the second half.
But every time the Crows challenged,Fremantle responded with goals late in each of the four quarters, keeping thehome side at bay.
“You can’t doubt the group's attitude. Wekept grinding away and managed to come back three times,” Goodwin said.
“It was one of those games where we seemedto fall behind, fight our way back and then they’d get some really quick, easygoals.”
The Crows broke the 100-point barrier, butwere unusually lax in defence conceding their biggest score for the season.
The makeshift backline of Nathan Bock andKen McGregor struggled to contain Freo skipper Matthew Pavlich, but Goodwinsaid their task was made more difficult by a lack of defensive pressure acrossthe board.
“I thought the attacking side of our gamewas really good, but our defensive side was a bit disappointing. Normally, ifwe kick 100 points, we win,” Goodwin said.
“Our pressure up the ground was lacking.There were periods of the game we did it really well and other times we letthem kick some really easy goals.”
Goodwin had 10 of his 28 possessions in thefirst quarter when the Crows got on top, but were unable to capitalise on thescoreboard kicking, 3.7 to Fremantle’s 5.0.
Both teams finished with an equal number ofscoring shots but the Dockers’ accuracy proved the difference.
“To have 10 scoring shots in the firstquarter and to end up with 3.7 is always disappointing. We’ve got to make surewe’re better than that, because if it’s 7.3 instead it’s a different kettle offish.”