Wangaratta City FC senior men’s coach Vitaly Leschen said Cobram could be a legitimate championship contender after the Devils went down to Roar on Sunday.

Taking on Cobram at Apex Park is never an easy feat, but the Devils weren’t able to make early inroads in the match, eventually succumbing 1-3.

Roar stunned Wangaratta with their clean skills and aggressive running early, with Cobram’s George Miles striking in the 24th minute to give the home side the lead.

Wangaratta continued on the back foot until the shadows of half-time, when Roar were awarded a penalty, which was converted by Kieran O’Donnell.

While they fought hard through the back end of the match, including a stoppage time goal from Jacob Saunders, Cobram were simply too good.

“They just had quality across the pitch, they’re a dark horse for the Cup,” Leschen said.

“In all honesty, it was probably the first game all season where I just watched a team and thought ‘bloody hell they’re a good football team’.

“They have very good players in the midfield, very good players up top, their defence is probably a bit slow but we weren’t able to exploit that.

“In the first half they came out and dominated the game, we were probably shocked at their quality and just let them get in the game a bit too much.

“If we had went into half-time at 0-1 we would’ve had a good chance to turn it around, but 0-2 was a hard task, and conceding just before half-time, it was a hard hit.”

The Devils move onto their midweek fixture against Myrtleford Savoy on Wednesday night from 8pm at South Wangaratta, before their final round match with Wodonga Diamonds on Sunday.

Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought but successful match for the division two women’s side, who took a step closer to the league title with a 1-0 win over third-placed Cobram.

“It was a very tough match, windy conditions which saw many shots from both teams go wide, and both teams well matched,” coach Kristy Mellor said.

“Cobram had more structure and more of the ball in the first half, but we regrouped in the second half and managed to get into lots of threatening positions.

“It was 0-0 until the last two minutes of the match, when we were awarded a penalty for a handball in the box which was scored by Kat Carmody.

“Mel Tanti had an outstanding first half in goals, saving everything that went her way including a diving save to her right which was surely going in.

“Tilly Aggenbach worked incredibly hard in the second half - she lifted her workrate and the team’s efforts by throwing herself at absolutely everything, including players twice her size.”

Wangaratta sits three points clear on top of the ladder, with a win this weekend against bottom team St Pats guaranteeing the league title.