ADELAIDE coach Neil Craig says failure to deal with last week’s stunning victory over Geelong cost his young side in Sunday’s defeat by Port Adelaide.

The Crows may have blown their chance of playing finals after losing by 19 points in Showdown XXIV.

“We have some younger guys who have never experienced [beating Geelong] before,” Craig said after the match.

“What would Matty Jaensch and Ricky Henderson know about how to handle the experience of beating Geelong on your home ground in this town?”

The Crows missed a great opportunity after losses earlier in the round to North Melbourne and the Sydney Swans had improved the side’s finals prospects.

“We are two games out [of the top eight] with five to play that’s a lot of ground to make up,” Craig said.

“If we want to be a good football club and be successful that sort of focus ... needs to be there.”

Adelaide missed several chances in front of goal with seven more inside 50s than the Power and Craig was disappointed with this inability to finish crucial opportunities.
 
“It’s like golf - you’ve got to be able to finish the putt. Some can, some can’t and we’ve been reasonable in that in the past but tonight we were poor,” he said.

“To get to where we want to go, you have to take your opportunities. Whether that’s kicking the goal, whether that’s winning a game that’s an important game to you, they are all opportunities and on both of those accounts we weren’t good enough.”

The Crows were beaten comprehensively in contested possession, but Craig was most disappointed with his players’ defensive efforts, especially in aerial contests.

“Our guys took too many risks. Instead of punching the ball and setting the tone, they were trying to take marks,” he said.

Simon Goodwin missed the clash with an achilles injury but Craig expected his captain to be available next week against Richmond.