The Tigers eventually had too much for Henty on Saturday, winning by 13.10 (88) to 5.5 (35) at Henty but the home side were in the game for long spells.

Mackie's side were kept goalless in the second quarter and the Swampies were still within five goals at the final change.

"We were our own worst enemy," Mackie said.

"Our skill execution and decision-making allowed them to stay in the game and they were there pretty much right to the end.

"We had about 44 inside-50s to their 28. They had opportunity but I still think we had enough pressure on them when they were going inside.

"We created some good chances but sometimes, when (Fletcher) Macreadie's floating across half-back and trying to intercept and we're trying to go through our players, if they don't execute that properly and we rush ourselves, which we did today, we turned it over a fair bit."

Tyson Muller kicked the first goal of the game as the Swampies made a bright start, with Osborne taking a while to get rolling.

But majors from Clancy and Declan Galvin sparked the visitors, who were cleaner in possession and led by 20 points at quarter-time.

Henty cranked up their pressure in a second term which may have been low-scoring but certainly didn't lack intrigue.

Shannon Terlich's goal reduced the deficit as the Swampies swarmed all over Osborne and denied the leaders any time or space. It was the little things which made a big difference; spoils in the goal square and a willingness to chase down lost causes.

That got the home crowd involved and Henty desperately tried to stay in the contest.

However, Hayden Armstrong showed his class with three goals in the third quarter, the tall forward providing such an inviting target for Osborne's midfielders.

Goals from brothers Ethan and Tyson Muller were all Henty had to show for their efforts, missing a couple of very kickable set shots at crucial moments with the game in the balance.

Osborne eased clear in the fourth, Jamie Parr booting two late goals after Armstrong had taken his tally to four, but the Swampies left the ground with their heads held high.

"I was very happy with the performance," Henty coach Heath Ohlin said.

"I liked the way we never gave up the fight, stayed with them all day and took it right up to them.

"We'll take a lot of lessons out of it and work to improve, not just match them but want to get better.

"They're the benchmark but they're certainly not unbeatable."

Mackie believes the Tigers will benefit from being pushed to this extent.

"To get a good hit-out like that is good for us," he said.

"Take nothing away from Henty, I think they're a really good team.

"The way they've been playing in the last few weeks has been really solid.

"They have some really good players out there, we spoke about it, and if you allow them opportunity - which we did - they make you look silly sometimes, hence the score at three-quarter time was pretty close."

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