CARLTON Senior Coach David Teague was proud of the effort and intent of his side, but he ultimately lamented a missed opportunity at the Gabba.

The dam wall nearly held for the Blues against the table-topping Port Adelaide, taking a seven-point lead with minutes remaining.

A few missed opportunities saw Carlton lead by three points in the final stages, but an after-the-siren goal to Robbie Gray broke Carlton hearts.

Speaking post-match, Teague said the Blues were right to have pride in the positives, but were left to rue drop offs in key areas.

“I was super proud of that: our effort, intent and the way we went about it was really good,” Teague said.

“I thought we were off in a few areas, that was the disappointing thing and to get so close. I thought our ball use was a little bit off and even our defence, we probably sat back too much.

“To the guys’ credit, their effort and the way they competed kept us in the game.”

Teague’s side now sits at 3-4 after seven rounds, having been pipped at the post in Rounds 2 and 7.

He said the team would review the final moments of the game: in particular, the Tom Jonas intercept mark which ended in Gray’s match winner.

“Ideally we would have been able to get a stoppage: punch it over the line, get a stoppage and try and reset,” he said.

“It’s hard to possess the ball deep in defensive 50. We just need to win those long-down-the-line plays but we didn’t.

“It’s an area we’ve been strong at this year so hopefully that will continue to improve.”