The Cats fell short 14.4 (88) to 19.14 (128) against the Lions however Allansford coach Tim Nowell liked the response from his side.

"I'm up and about and I'm pretty proud of the boys," Nowell said.

"From where the last two weeks have been to this week. We just had again those five or ten minute lapses in the second and third quarter which hurt us.

"What I was really proud of today was the will to hunt. Once they got a couple of goals up on us the boys really dug deep."

Robbie Hare was lethal in front of goals, kicking nine for the Cats. His season tally of 75 is the most in the league and 19 goals clear of second place.

Lion Tim Ryan bettered him on the day with 10 majors while Ryan's teammate Tom Bowman was his side's best player.

Nowell praised his younger players, including Kalin Jans and Sutha Hawkins.

"Those young blokes really stood up and gave us a bit of belief," he said. "I'm pretty happy. As much as I'm disappointed about the loss I'm pretty happy with the effort that they put in."

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