RFNL Australian rules football
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LEETON-WHITTON midfielder Bryce O'Garey had a glorious return to the field against Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong on Saturday ... for all of 15 minutes.
Coming back from an eight-game suspension, a fit-looking O'Garey kicked two goals, but sustained a hamstring injury launching his third from inside the centre square, forcing him out of the game and potentially the rest of the season.
His loss and that of Sean Browning were the turning points for the Crows as they went down to GGGM by 21 points after a fighting performance at Ganmain.
Coach Dave Meline said the Crows started brilliantly.
"Obviously getting Bryce back was a big plus," he said.
"He lasted 15 minutes before doing his hamstring, but he kicked three goals in that time. Then we lost Sean with his ribs.
"We lost two senior guys in minutes of each other and it put a dent in the confidence and Ganmain slowly wrestled it back."
Leeton-Whitton held a first-quarter lead before GGGM's resurrection gave them a three-point buffer at half-time. That margin increased by just one point at the final change, before the Lions roared home to win 13.7 (85) to 10.4 (64).
"There was a bit of a breeze favouring the end they were kicking to in the last quarter," Meline said.
"We have been in that position several times this year and we haven't come up with the goods yet. It was another lesson that you've got to fight out close games."
GGGM was coming off a stinging loss to Narrandera and were always going to come out firing against the Crows.
"The chances of ambushing them were gone," Meline said.
"I was talking to their coach afterwards and he said they were set for (Saturday). We were good, but we came up short."
The Crows have the bye this weekend and although he appeared to be walking fine on Sunday, Meline was doubtful O'Garey would be back immediately, while Browning's return was equally doubtful with just four weeks left.
However, in positive news for the Crows, Meline put pen to paper and signed for season 2015 on Sunday.
"When I signed last year, from then on we lost a lot of players," he said.
"The benefit of being stitched up this early is I can look at the young guys and start working on picking up the right few."