That was a missed opportunity.

Wangaratta City FC’s senior men’s side will be kicking themselves after letting a golden chance to bank some points go begging, following Sunday’s 2-2 draw with bottom side Wodonga Heart.

Red-hot favourites to do the deed over a team which went into the match having conceded 81 goals for the season, the Devils looked off early.

Heart’s Thomas Weir broke the deadlock in the 45th minute before Jack Whiley equalised from the spot just three minutes later.

The match descended into a proper scrap, with Wangaratta unable to find any clear looks on goal, but when Wodonga’s Charlie Harris found the back of the net in the 64th minute, the Devils were in trouble.

The Devils threw the magnets around and brought on fresh legs to try and force a goal, but it would come down to a penalty kick in the 93rd minute, which Whiley buried to bring about the draw.

Wangaratta coach Vitaly Leschen said it was far and away one of their worst performances this season.

“We were very bad,” he said.

“Ultimately, it’s another game where we let ourselves down in terms of how we started and what we turned the game into.

“For us, it’s a mindset thing - this is at least the fifth game where we just haven’t rocked up in the first half.

“We came out firing in the second half but the reality is we made the game a lot harder than it should’ve been, and when they made it 2-1 against the run of play, it just turns it into a dogfight.

“It’s mentality, it’s starting the game at the start of the game, it’s executing the gameplan from the first minute and playing to our quality from the first minute.

“If we drop that, we’re going to make these games hard for ourselves.”

It was far from doom and gloom, with the young cohort stepping up and performing well, while the experience of Stoycho Ivanov was welcome in his first game since round 10.

“Stoych was back, which was big – he managed to get through 90 minutes which was really good to see and builds for the next couple of weeks,” Leschen said.

“Jack [Whiley] shoulders a lot of responsibility in the team, has a lot of confidence to step up in those moments, so credit to him for making sure we executed in those key moments.

“Go Ashby played his second game of seniors and held his own again, played with a lot of confidence, Oscar Dubourg got his senior debut subbing on in the 86th minute when we were 2-1 down, and Hamish Gasser played his second game of seniors as well.”

Meanwhile, the reserve women kept their winning ways a-rolling with a 2-1 win over fellow top four team Heart.

All of the scoring was done inside the first half an hour of the match, with Samantha Scott (15’) and Bronte Robinson (29’) dragging the Lady Devils back after conceding in the eighth minute.

The Lady Devils are yet to drop a game, enjoying an eight-point buffer on top of the table with four matchdays left.