PORT Saints coach Darrell Pascoe was at a loss to describe his side's "flat" performance that saw them eliminated from the Football Mid North Coast Premier League title race on Saturday.
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Saints went down 4-1 to Wallis Lake despite being locked at 0-all at the break, setting the Lakies up with a 2017 grand final replay against Port United.
"It was one of those games where I thought we were never quite in it," Pascoe admitted.
"At 0-0 it sounds like a strange thing to say, but I felt something needed to happen to trigger us and it did for a couple of minutes but then they went bang, bang."
Pascoe was disappointed at his side's overall performance in what would be their final game of the year, but reflected on a season that saw them return to the finals after a disastrous 2018.
"It would have been nice to go a couple of steps further, but it's not to be," he said.
"We were flat and there was a combination of a whole raft of things that contributed.
"Wallis are always going to be tricky to beat, but we could have perhaps played a bit better."
It was an improved overall campaign from Saints after they finished in second-last position 12 months ago.
"It's a sensational season for the lads from where we came from," the coach said.
"Would have been great to win, but we're not playing for sheep stations; it'll be a cracking grand final."
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