Tasmania Devils suffered a heart-wrenching one-point defeat in a fluctuating NAB League game on Saturday against Oakleigh Chargers.
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The Devils had regained the lead for the third time in the under-18s match before the Chargers hit the front entering the final five minutes.
The Devils had a late shot on goal in the dying stages that would have given the hosts their third win in five appearances to start the year.
"We were getting it in deep. It was going to go either way," coach Adrian Fletcher said.
"We were running out of time because we knew the time clock with no time-on.
"When it's the 24-minute mark, the last minute is going to go quickly."
Oakleigh pulled out to a 16-point lead in the first term at North Hobart Oval before Tasmania kicked the next four goals to hold onto a nine-point lead at half-time.
The Chargers got the first two after the break until top Launceston forward Jackson Callow reignited the side with his first and three of the next four goals.
Despite not being able to seal the match before the clincher, Fletcher said the improvement on last week's 47-point loss was apparent.
"Our defence was holding up. When we got it inside 30, we do score," he said.
"We've got some good marking and ground-level players in there too.
"But we just gotta keep finding a lot more possession through our midfield.
"You can't get 15 touches when you're playing in the midfield. You got to get 25 because they had one guy who got 40 - he just accumulated it and hurt us bad."
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