AN INABILITY to defend strongly and be first to the contest when the ball was up for grabs cost Port Adelaide against Norwood, said Magpies coach Garry Hocking.

The Magpies were beaten by archrival Norwood on Saturday afternoon by one point, putting it a game behind third-placed West Adelaide.

Pressure is mounting on last year's grand finalists after suffering a second consecutive loss.

The Magpies controlled the first half and had a 17-point lead at half time.

But a fiery encounter between players from both sides just before half time seemed to rattle the Magpies and gave the Redlegs ammunition for its third-quarter burst. 

Hocking blamed the loss on the tumultuous third quarter where his side failed to take control at the centre bounce and his defence was buffeted in the slippery conditions.

He said Port Adelaide's inability to string four quarters together so far this season has hurt, and it was an area that required a lot of work and improvement should the team scrape into the finals series.

"There was a bit of scuffle at half time, they were up for it, and we were up for it, but we didn't come out to play well enough in a contest type of point of view and we were beaten in that area," Hocking said.

"They came out and kicked 4.5 and that's not what we needed.

"Centre bounces are important and when you get the ball out of the centre bounce and inside 50, it puts pressure on them.

"But it was the opposite in the third term, and they dominated the centre bounce and we couldn't restrict them and made some poor decision with the footy.

"Two weeks ago, we played one quarter, this week, three quarters and it still doesn't get the job done, especially against a top team.

"We are still looking for that four-quarter effort."

Hocking admitted the loss of veteran Tom Logan for 20 minutes in the third term after he suffered a concussion hurt the side's morale, but refused to make excuses for the seemingly lack of hunger shown.

He said his side had improved since Norwood's 24-point win on Anzac Day in similar conditions, but conceded a lot of work was needed to contend with first-placed Woodville West Torrens Eagles next week.

"We are making progress, but I am more worried about our ability to play well for four quarters not so much our ability to beat them [Norwood], so that's the challenge," Hocking said.

"We needed to put the sword to them and we got going a bit in the fourth quarter, but it was probably a bit too late, that third quarter cost us the game.

"It was a very disappointing third quarter, we lost Tom Logan and that unsettled our backline a little bit.

"But there's no excuses, they (Norwood) just wanted the footy a little bit more in the contest and we weren't up to the battle."