BRISBANE Lions captain Jonathan Brown is frustrated his side cannot put a consistent four-quarter performance together, as an eight-goal to one second-half saw Collingwood run away with a 40-point win.

After a promising first half that saw the Lions lead by 14 points at the main break, they fell away in the second and were unable to match the Pies’ intensity and defensive pressure.
 
“I thought we lost our set-ups and got out-worked in the second half. Our contested footy and our tackling really dropped away,” the power-forward said.

“It’s disappointing because we really attacked the game in the first half and did really well at the contests.”

The Lions’ spearhead continued his rich vein of form, kicking five goals and proving to be the only real forward target for his side with 14 marks.

Brown’s job was made slightly easier after key Collingwood defender Simon Prestigiacomo left the field early in the first quarter after an accidental clash of heads with the Lions’ captain.

Brown said the midfield failed to find any momentum going forward in the second-half, as the Magpies began to drop numbers back into their attacking half.

“I thought we lost our composure going forward - we just blazed away too much when we had free numbers at half-forward,” he said.

“We didn’t get any flow into our game in the second half; they were really able to slow us down and our movement became very stagnant.”
 
Brown also paid tribute to the performance of young ruckman Mitch Clark, who continued his stellar 2009 season with 20 possessions, 31 hit-outs and six clearances for the game.

“It’s been great to see – he has had a shocking run with injuries over the past few years, but he has really shown everyone the talent that he is.
 
“He is a one-man show - he does all the ruck-work, gets around the ground, fills in all of the holes and sneaks forward.”
 
Next week sees the Lions take on the Bombers at the MCG next Saturday night in what shapes to be a crucial game for their finals aspirations.