Speaking openly, the former North Melbourne player and first year Cobras coach says it is mainly his fault his side has faltered in the dying minutes in the last two weeks.

Bacchus Marsh went down to Melton South by one point on Saturday, having lost to Sunbury by the barest of margins in the previous week.

Richardson said he was to blame for his side’s losses.

“I probably let us down a fair bit with my coaching and my leadership on the ground,” Richardson said.

“The young group needed their coach to stand up on the day both times and I didn’t deliver.”

In an honest appraisal, Richardson said he was devastated for his young side to go down by just one point in consecutive matches.

However, he said there was a lot of improvement left within.

“We’re a pretty quiet side and I’m trying to get the boys to communicate and to get them out of their shells a bit,” Richardson said.

“I feel for them, I know they’re trying and giving everything. We’ve just come up short a couple of times.

“We know we’re doing a fair bit wrong at the moment and we need to rectify that.”

Meanwhile, East Point big man Liam Rigby has been reported for an incident that caused the match between East Point and Redan to be abandoned early.

Rigby has been reported for a sling tackle, in which Lion key forward Leigh Ryall hit his head on the turf late in the last quarter.

With an ambulance required, as the Redan trainers did not want to move Ryall, Lions coach Eammon Gill and East Point coach Glenn Wilkins agreed to call the match off early.

Gill told The Courier late on Sunday that Ryall had recovered well, but was still suffering nasty concussion.

Ryall is not expected to play next week and will undergo ongoing assessment.