A last quarter fade out saw Port Adelaide leave Unley winless after two SANFL games, having conceded five of the last six goals of the game against Sturt.

The Magpies couldn’t match the Double Blues’ intensity in the fourth quarter on Saturday as Sturt blew out the margin to 29-points, in what was otherwise a close contest.

Although leading early in the third term, Hamish Hartlett’s side couldn’t contain Sturt, resulting in a 12.6 (78) to 16.11 (107) loss.

Young ruckman Dante Visentini was a late out with soreness, allowing AFL-listed ruckman Ivan Soldo to cruise to 45 hitouts.

But with Unley Oval enjoying little to no wind, Sturt dominated Port Adelaide’s midfield finishing 46-25 ahead in the clearances.

“[Sturt] weren’t scoring out of their stoppage too much in the first half, then in the second half they were certainly converting,” Hartlett lamented.

“We obviously have some ruckmen that can get their hands on the ball enough, it’s just about connecting with the boys at ground level and making sure we get some consistency in there.”

Tom Cochrane (11 disposals) starred in the first half with three goals to assert himself amongst the coaches’ best, alongside tall forward Shay Linke (eight marks) who continued his fine form with three goals in the second half.

Midfielder Hugh Jackson (23 disposals and a goal) and half back Rory Atkins (28 disposals) gathered plenty of the ball and continued to drive the Magpies forward, though trailing by just four points early in the last quarter, Hartlett was left disappointed at the final margin.

“Our ability to compete as a team for some three quarters was more impressive than what it was last week… it’s a young group and they’re slowly figuring out what it takes to compete at SANFL level for four quarters,” Hartlett said.

“We’ll keep striving to become a really competitive team.”

With a League-wide bye for Gather Round around the corner, Hartlett highlighted execution and decision-making would be the main focuses for improvement, acknowledging they let the Magpies down early in the match.

“I certainly think that our ball use and decision-making, particularly in the front third of the ground is something that we need to focus on; the way we competed around the footy was pretty reasonable, but we probably lacked a little bit of polish and finish,” he said.

“If we’d been able to execute to a little higher standard in the first half, we might have had a bit more score on the board… so I think that would be a focus for us, definitely,” Hartlett stated.

Port Adelaide will enjoy the League-wide bye before returning to Alberton, facing South Adelaide on Good Friday at 7:10pm.

SCOREBOARD

STURT                               3.3         4.8        10.9      16.11 (107)

PORT ADELAIDE              1.1         5.2         9.4        12.6    (78)

GOALS: Cochrane 4, Linke 3, Whitlock, Ferrari, Charleson, Jackson, Weidemann

BEST: Linke, Cochrane, McLennan, Jackson, Lorenz, Weidemann