There are good draws, and there are bad draws – Wangaratta City FC’s division one men’s clash on Sunday with Albury United will go down as a bad draw.

The Devils will have to be content with a 2-2 split result with United, despite leading 2-0 up until the 65th minute.

In a genuine must-win against a fellow mid-tier side, Wangaratta looked in fine form early, with Lachlan Campbell finding the back of the net in the 12th minute.

With the bulk of the play and clean passing through the midfield, the Devils were unable to further their lead, heading into the half-time break 1-0.

The second half played out similarly to the first, with the Devils hitting the scoreboard in the early stages, this time through Luke Simian (51’).

But from there, it all began to unravel.

Albury started to find more of the ball and control possession, with United’s Aiden Rees hitting back in the 65th minute.

United surged, forcing the Devils to defend for the match, until the second minute of stoppage time, when United were awarded a free kick in a dangerous position.

In the final seconds of the match, Sebastian Dalitz took the kick, steered it past the wall, past the goalie, and into the back of the net to equalise.

Wangaratta City senior men’s coach Vitaly Leschen said it was a tough result to bear.

“It falls into the ‘missed opportunity’ category,” he said.

“I thought we were on top of them for most of the game, it was honestly one of the more comfortable games for me to watch through the year.

“The first half, we were controlling midfield and playing good football, getting our left- and right-backs involved in the play.

“We were probably unlucky not to score a couple more goals.

“Around the 65-minute mark, they seemed to get a foothold in the game and scored when they had momentum.

“We conceded a free kick in the last 30 seconds of the game, and nine times out 10, that free kick doesn’t go in, and nine times out of 10, Gleeso [Nathan Gleeson] saves a free kick on his own side of the wall.

“Ultimately, we weren’t under the cosh, they weren’t creating chances, it was just a good free kick in the last seconds of the game.

“It’s one of those missed opportunities - we had chances to kill the game, we didn’t take them.”

With a raft of experienced players out injured or unavailable, Leschen said the fill-in players did relatively well.

“We had a number of our key players out on the weekend,” he said.

“Raul [Pahina] was out, Lorenzo [Cecchini] was out, Stoych [Ivanov] was out.

“A few boys stepped up from ressies who either haven’t been involved with the seniors or it’s been a while between drinks, and they all stepped up very well.”

The Devils now slip to sixth on the ladder, genuinely mid-table, with two wins from their last five matches.

They’ll reset through the week and refocus, eager to go well against fifth-ranked Boomers this weekend.

The Lady Devils will also be back on the park this weekend, with the division two women’s team taking the bye.