Fans were treated to a thrilling Western Premier League (WPL) match on Saturday, but there was ultimately no winner in the local derby between Bathurst '75 and Panorama.
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In what was a potential WPL grand final preview, '75 raced out to a 2-0 lead just before the half-time break at Proctor Park, before the Goats made it all square with just a minute left in normal time.
Panorama's Will Fitzpatrick had the chance to win the game in the fifth minute of stoppage time after he won a penalty, but he sent his effort just wide, meaning the top-of-the-table clash would finish locked at 2-all.
"We had a good chat about what they were doing wrong in the first half and everyone took accountability and owned the mistakes they were making and rectified them in the second half," he said.
"I couldn't ask any more of them. They're no where near perfect but they've been incredibly good.
"They take everything onboard. There's no egos from them this year.
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"The last two half-time breaks they've had in the last two weeks have really shown how far they've come as a team. We've gone in at the break, addressed what we've done wrong and come out and performed really well in the second half."
Bathurst '75 coach Mark Comerford said he was disappointed with the way his team managed the second half.
"The result was disappointing from our point of view," he said.
"In the first half, I thought we controlled it really well. We possibly could've had another one before half-time, but we didn't take a couple of chances.
Bathurst '75 opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Toma Curry burst down his right wing, just got ahead of Goats defender Nathan Davis and put his shot across goal keeper and into the back of the net.
And just three minutes out from half-time, Davis gave away a penalty, when he brought down '75 winger Agieg Aluk in the box.
James Christie made no mistake from the spot and sent the ball away from goal keeper Chris Davis.
No doubt Guihot's half-time team talk worked wonders, as the Goats came out the better team and the second half.
They would ultimately find the break through in the 77th minute when Dylan White tapped the ball into an empty net, after a Jarrod Portegies cross into the box wasn't dealt with.
And in the 89th minute of the game, Matt Hobby bounced on a poor '75 pass, crossed into the box. Goal keeper Jack Hunter fumbled the ball right in front of Brad Campbell, who tapped the ball into an empty net.
The men in red and black rushed to celebrate Campbell's equaliser, but that wasn't the end of the drama.
In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Will Fitzpatrick went down in the box and referee Scott Kauter pointed to the spot.
Fitzpatrick stepped up to take the penalty, but he sent the ball wide, cueing mass celebrate from the '75 players.
Comerford said Panorama came out the better team in the second half, putting plenty of pressure on the '75 team.
"In the second half, I think Panorama just got numbers forward really quickly and put us under pressure at the back.
"We just didn't deal with it well. We conceded a really soft goal in 77th minute to make it 2-1 and then we conceded a really poor goal in the 89th minute to make it 2-all.
"I was disappointed with the way we managed our second half."
Now at the halfway point in the season, '75, alongside Panorama, remains undefeated.
While he's pleased his team haven't lost any games yet, Comerford said his team is racking up two many draws, having finished level in five of his team's 10 games this season.
"It's good to be undefeated but it's disappointing to have five draws," he said.
"That's what's killing us at the moment. There's been games where we've let results slip and we haven't really competed.
"We've just got to turn some of those close games. We've done that in the two away games in Dubbo, where we've turned things around and got a result."
Panorama remain first on the WPL ladder, three points of Orange Waratahs in second, with Bathurst '75 three points behind in third.
- BATHURST '75 2 (Toma Curry, James Christie) drew with PANORAMA 2 (Dylan White, Bradley Campbell)
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