Swans ruckman Tom Hickey’s monumental miss in Friday night’s draw against the Cats epitomised Sydney’s inaccuracy in front of goal.
The Swans and Cats played out a 6. 18. (54) to 7. 12. (54) draw at the SCG, with the home team bombing numerous attempts from close range that should have seen them walk away with the four points.
With his side up by seven points late in the second quarter, Hickey had a regulation kick for goal from the top of the goal square but missed it to the right for a behind.
READ MORE: Verstappen rips ‘silly’ stewards despite claiming pole
READ MORE: Broad fumes at Stokes as English frustrations boil over
READ MORE: Doctors provide grim update on Lyon’s injury
The reaction from the Swans coaching box – where injured superstar Lance Franklin was sitting with staff – was of utter disbelief.
Hickey wasn’t the only one with the yips though. Isaac Heeney had a chance to snatch a late victory, but hit the post and levelled the scores, where they remained.
He finished with no goals, three behinds and three kicks out on the full.
Heeney, Hickey and Robbie Fox had 10 shots on goal between them and finished with figures of 0. 7.
Swans coach John Longmire said the team was lucky to walk away with any points from the match.
“The disappointing thing to come out of tonight is we didn’t get ultimate reward for effort,” he said.
“It could have been worse, we could have been sitting here without two points.
“That first half we played some really good footy and we just didn’t hit the scoreboard.
“Then we got eight points down and fought back, so it’s a strange one, you don’t know how to feel after games like that.”
Cats coach Chris Scott echoed a similar sentiment.
“It feels like two points is better than none. And none is probably what we deserve for large parts of it,” he said.
“Having said that, we were the team in front late in the game.
“It’s easy to think it’s not your night. But I was pleased with the way our guys hung in. I’m assuming they (the Swans) would be pretty flat.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
The biggest controversies in AFL history
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
