Door to top five still open: Giants

GEELONG West insists its season has a pulse, despite a deflating loss to Inverleigh.

The Giants slipped two matches outside the top five in the wake of the 13-point defeat to the Hawks, but co-coaches Andrew Clark and Mitch Wight have not given up hope.

“We still feel the door is open,” Clark said after the 10.9 (69) to 12.10 (82) loss at West Oval. “If we can play that brand of footy against a good side like Inverleigh, then there’s no reason why we can’t (play finals).

“We play Corio next week and then Thomson and we always play well against Thomson with the way we match up.

“If we can bring the physicality and the way we want to play, we still believe we can play a big hand in finals.”

With Winchelsea’s return to form against Bell Post Hill on Saturday, the Giants lost ground on the fifth-placed Blues and remain in seventh on the ladder.

“We may have to wait on results to go our way, but at the same time, if we play our brand of footy I believe we can beat anyone,” Wight said.

“We’ve shown we can match it with the top teams when we play our best footy, it’s just about getting the best out of everyone on the day. “At the moment the difference between the best and our worst (is evident) and we need to work on making sure the gap isn’t as big, because our best footy is up there with the very best.”

The Giants were gallant against the premiership contenders, leading by five points in the second quarter, only for it all to unravel in the shadows of halftime.

With an off-target Cam Addie booting 2.2 and one out on the full, West opened the door for the Hawks to pounce.

And they did, with Jason Quinlivian, Robbie Logue and Adam Donohue kicking goals to grab a 13-point lead at the main break. “We just failed to capitalise on the scoreboard … everywhere else on the ground we managed to get on top, especially at the stoppages,” Wight said.

“We seemed to be getting out of them really well, but we just couldn’t put it on the scoreboard — and scoreboard pressure can be a massive factor in the game.

“If we had’ve put that scoreboard pressure on, you never know what could have happened.”

Clark urged his side to “persist” in the second half, and although the Giants trailed by two goals at the final change, the match was alive to the death.