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Isaac Heeney was praised by his Sydney Swans coach John Longmire despite a couple of costly goalkicking misses in Saturday's two-point AFL derby loss to GWS.
Sydney Coach John Longmire has hailed the effort of Isaac Heeney despite a couple of costly goalkicking misses in the closest-ever Sydney AFL derby.
Heeney booted a match-high four goals, but with his side clinging to a one-point lead early in the final quarter at Giants Stadium on Saturday he kicked two set set shot behinds inside a minute.
James Rose then kicked another set shot into the Giants player on the mark and the hosts capitalised on those reprieves by kicking the next two goals.
Heeney then booted his fourth major to get Sydney within three, but they could only add a rushed behind before succumbing 12.11 (83) to 12.9 (81) .
it was the first of the 18 Sydney derbies to be decided by a single-digit margin, with 13 points the previous smallest gap between the rivals.
Sydney outscored GWS in three of the four quarters but Longmire pointed to the Swans drop off in the second term - where they were outscored by 21 points - as the turning point.
Heeney, who primarily played up forward, complemented his goals with seven marks and a team-high 12 contested possessions.
"There's no shying away from it, he played a really good game and it would have been good to kick one of those two goals (missed in the final quarter)," Longmire said.
"He played a really good game. He gave us a chance to win and that's what good players do."
Longmire, meanwhile, was upbeat as he contemplated Sydney's fifth straight loss as they dropped to 6-13 for the season.
"We're having a red-hot go, we're not getting everything right but generally our players have been having a go," he said.
Longmire hoped to have key defender Dane Rampe back from an eye injury for next week's visit to Port Adelaide.
However, forward Lance Franklin and retirement-bound defender Jarrad McVeigh were not expected to be available as they continue to nurse injuries.
Giants' coach Leon Cameron said star forward Jeremy Cameron was a big chance of playing against Hawthorn in Canberra next Friday, after pulling out of the derby with a minor calf issue.
