Only just made it. No good holding earth in (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
near thing
'only just made it' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'no good holding earth in' is the wordplay.
'no good' becomes 'ng' (abbreviation).
'holding' is an insertion indicator.
'earth'+'in'='earthin'
'ng' going around 'earthin' is 'NEAR THING'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for near thing that I've seen before include "Lucky escape" , "Narrow escape, missed by a small margin (4.5)" , "Narrow escape, close shave" , "dangerous" , "Something that barely avoids failure or disaster" .)