Hotspurs held to draw by fired-up Devils

Wangaratta City FC’s senior men’s team are playing some exciting football at the right time of the year, proving they can hold their own with the big boys of the competition ahead of finals. The Devils fought out a 1-1 draw with second-placed Albury Hotspurs in their last home and away match of the year. Wangaratta’s defensive structure was near impenetrable, holding firm for 40 minutes before a high-risk shot on goal from ‘Spurs through Ryan Kemp snuck through. Trailing 0-1 at the start of the second half, the Devils threw themselves into attack to try and jag an equaliser, with their efforts paying off in the 80th minute through some creative play from Campbell McDiarmid up top. As the pressure ratcheted up a notch, both teams would throw their bodies into the contest, but the whistle won out. The result sees Wangaratta take a rare honour in the senior men’s competition as the only team to take points off both first and second-placed sides – the Devils played a 1-1 draw against league champions Myrtleford Savoy back in July. On the cusp of finals, with a rematch against the ‘Spurs slated for the Devils in the quarter finals, coach Vitaly Leschen said it was a sign the team was on the up. “I think a draw was deserved, we set up to limit their scoring opportunities and to try and push the game as long as possible, and that’s what we achieved,” he said. “It was all about risk limitations - they had a lot of shots, but I wouldn’t say they had many shots or many chances that had a high expected rate of going in the net. “That worked for us, and the defence held up strong, and the midfield worked well. “We’ve now taken points off first and second place, which I think is something to be reasonably happy about.” Leschen said McDiarmid’s ability to manufacture chances in front of goal was severely underrated in the league, with his score on the weekend his 10th of the season. “He was very isolated on the weekend, we told him he was going to be with the way we were setting up with a lot of men behind the ball,” Leschen said. “He’s just got the quality about him to create, he’s guaranteed one or two good chances a game. “When you have that player, it allows us to set up the way we did on Sunday, with confidence that if we keep their scoreline low, chances are we will score one or two goals.” James O’Callaghan will be missing from the first round of finals after receiving a red card during the match. Meanwhile, the senior women were forced to forfeit their match to Hotspurs due to limited player numbers available. The reserve women were on the end of a 0-9 result from the ladder leading ‘Spurs, and will reset ahead of their quarter final against Wodonga Diamonds this weekend.

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