A terrible second quarter where they conceded seven goals in 11 minutes, nine unanswered, and 10 for the term was a season lowlight for the Brisbane Lions Reserves at Aspley today.

Even though the Lions fought the game out to only marginally lose the second half, coach Nathan Clarke was livid at the 21.11 (137) to 13.11 (88) defeat.

“I said to our guys ‘don’t be fooled by the last half,” Clarke said. “I said ‘we are a reasonable side when the sting’s out of the game at the moment but when the heat’s on we’re struggling’.

“That’s not a good sign from our point of view.”

The Lions conceded four goals in seven minutes in the middle stages of the first quarter to hit back to trail by four points at the first change and were still within five points at the 10-minute mark of the second quarter.

“I’d debate that,” Clarke said when it was suggested his side was good for the first 40 minutes. “The first five was okay. We fumbled horrendously and had some terrible turnovers for the next 15. We steadied okay, and then that 10 or 15 minute burst really blew us away.”

Former Lion and now Hornets skipper Robbie Copeland kicked a long goal from near the boundary to kickstart the second quarter onslaught.

Aspley’s ruck trio Brendan Page, Dylan Reid and Sam Stavenuiter got extra aggressive at the bounces and the clever Matt Shir and nippy Ryan Thompson sharked everything at ground level.

Aspley’s accuracy also helped them, booting 14.3 to halftime.

“I thought that was our worst performance. Maybe I’m still seething from that burst that they had,” Clarke said. “There were some guys, individually, that really let themselves down.

“In that 15 or 20 minute burst there were some guys that were horribly exposed.”

Clarke lamented the lack of control at the centre bounces.

“When we lose centre clearances, we lose them badly,” he said. “For some reason our guys have a pretty attacking mindset despite what we talk to them about trying to set up and get some defensive mechanisms in place.”

The Lions were best served by James Hawksley, who tried desperately hard all day at half-back and in the midfield, and was the only Lions player to regularly win possession when Aspley had their onslaught happening.

The coaching staff like Josh Dyson’s game, while Aaron Cornelius took some vice-like marks, kicked four goals in the middle two quarters, and handed several off.

Amon Buchanan was tagged by Jeff Teale, who has a number of big scalps to his credit this season, and while he found the going difficult, still won his share of clearances at different stages and threw himself fearlessly at the ball.

Broc McCauley was his team’s best player in the first quarter with 2.1 from a forward and rucking role, but faded out of the game.

“James Hawksley is a standout. He was terrific,” Clarke said. “Dyson is a young kid who is battling away. But the majority of guys don’t seem to be putting team first and that’s disappointing.

“It’s individual first, premiership second for a lot of guys, but what I said to them in there was if you put the team first then the individual performance will come. There are some guys who do get that, like Amon, who has been part of a wonderful culture at the Swans.

“It’s pretty scathing I know, but it’s the reality at the moment.”

Topline senior player Brent Staker made his return from a knee reconstruction (LARS surgery) and looked proppy in the first half, although he finished the game.

He collected seven possessions at full-back and looked rusty.

“He’ll be fine,” Clarke said. “He played his 80 minutes which is what he was prescribed. He got a bit of a knock early.

“He’s never come off a big lay-off like that so it’s understandable in a sense that he would be a bit cautious.

“He’ll be better for the run next week.”