CHRIS Scott has lamented an umpiring "mistake" late in Geelong's one-point loss to Brisbane, but conceded it did not cost the Cats victory.
With Geelong leading by 11 points and five minutes remaining, Gary Ablett blasted a ball, under pressure, from deep in defence that bounced out on the wing just in front of Lions defender Darcy Gardiner.
Brisbane was awarded a free kick for deliberate out of bounds, much to the surprise of Gardiner.
From the ensuing forward 50 entry Charlie Cameron marked the ball but missed everything with his shot at goal.
"It was a mistake," Scott said.
"There are lots of mistakes in the game, through lots of different stakeholders.
"It's a challenging one to accept.
"The errors that come in the big moments are the ones that really sting, but what do you do?
"It's not the reason we lost the game, I'll be really clear on that."
Brisbane kicked two more goals – one to Cameron and one to former Cat Lincoln McCarthy after a spectacular mark – to steal victory.
Scott was philosophical about the loss, saying it stung to get so close but to come away empty-handed.
The loss leaves Geelong in second place ahead of Sunday's blockbuster between Richmond and West Coast and ahead of its final round match against Carlton at GMHBA Stadium.
The Cats could still finish anywhere from first to fourth.
"It's disappointing not to get the result but we outplayed them for most of the game," Scott said.
"That makes it sting a little bit more when you had control of the game and let it slip late.
"It was a pretty good contest between two pretty good teams.
"We probably had a few chances to ice it late and they were good enough in the end.
"We've got to be philosophical about these things.
"We played OK against a good team, they've been hard to play up here.
"(I'm) disappointed but it's not a disaster for us.
"That's as positive a spin as I can put on it. I think it's pretty close to the truth isn't it?"
The result continued Geelong's trend of alternating wins with losses since the bye, but Scott said the Cats were "playing better footy" than they had previously.
