Warriors coach Stephen Kearney has lamented on his side's efforts in the "big moments" after their disappointing golden point loss to the Panthers at Mt Smart Stadium yesterday.
Kearney's men led the match with three minutes to go, but a crucial missed tackle allowed the Panthers back into the contest before James Maloney sealed the match in added time.
"It's a hard one to take, there's no doubt about that," Kearney said.
"I thought there were some huge efforts out there tonight, and we got a reminder that when the big moment presents itself you have to get it done, and at the back end there we had a couple of guys who didn't do that."
Examples of such efforts include the missed tackle by Patrick Herbert and David Fusitu'a that let Nade Iate score the game-tying try and Blake Green's poor drop goal attempt, which was charged down before Maloney sealed the match.
"I thought it was a real arm wrestle and there, when the assignment calls, you have to step-up and we didn't do that, and put ourselves under huge pressure as a result," Kearney said.
"Yes, we fought to get it back to golden point but I thought in the final three minutes we could have nailed it, and we didn't."
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