Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said he believes the Lions had the right to win against the Crows on Friday night, as an inaccurate fourth term in front of goal cost the Lions a chance to win at a hostile Adelaide Oval.
Tempers flared from the jump in a top-four battle for the ages, with miserable wet conditions turning the encounter into a low-scoring, hotly contested affair.
As Brisbane secured a near-three-goal lead by the final change, the Lions looked destined to hold on, but three goals in four minutes from the Crows turned the game on its head.
Adelaide's lead jumped out to as much as 11 points in the final term, before Brisbane dominated territory and possession in the final 15 minutes of the game, however they could only agonisingly tease their fanbase with several missed opportunities.
The Crows ultimately capitalised with five straight final quarter goals, but the Lions will be ruing multiple chances as they kicked just eight behinds in the final term, as well as a couple more shots at goal that failed to score.
Brisbane recorded 20 inside 50s to no avail in that last term, illustrating how constant their presence was up forward.
As the Lions left the hallowed turf without the four premiership points, Fagan still remained optimistic post-match.
Posed as to whether the Lions could have done something differently to find a better avenue to score, Fagan said he had difficulty thinking of what could've been done better.
"I find it hard to answer your question, because we had 10 shots in the last quarter and they had five. They kicked accurately and they got some balls out the back... they got a little bit of momentum. But in terms of the last quarter, 10 shots to five, we have five more shots and we lose the game," Fagan said.
"So that was a game we should have won, in my view.
"I'm not taking anything away from Adelaide. They persisted, but so did our blokes. When Adelaide got in front, we dominated the last 15 minutes of the last quarter and couldn't get it on the board.
"I can't accept that you would say that we got cleaned up in the last quarter. We actually didn't. We just didn't kick straight."
Fagan went on to point out the key factors of the game that Brisbane controlled, furthering his point that the Lions were unlucky not to take the win.
"We win clearances by 19, we win contested possessions by 13... 74 per cent of the time the ball was in our forward line in the last quarter," Fagan listed.
"We've had 74 more disposals. When they win, they usually take about 87 uncontested marks. They took 47 tonight. They averaged about 58 inside 50s when they win, they had 47.
"We did so many things right tonight and didn't win the game. I'm proud of my boys. I'm disappointed that we coughed up a decent lead early in that last quarter, but the way we played at the end to try and win the game, we were all over it.
"We just couldn't kick it through the goal. We showed good character, it's hard to come here and win, and they're a very in-form side."
With Brisbane's loss, the Lions slide to 9-3 with a draw on the season, and still have two more games before their mid-season bye.
It will be a challenging fortnight too, with games against GWS (home) and Geelong (away) to come.
