The first draw between the two clubs in 61 years ended with the Pigeons and Magpies locked together on 11.7 (73) and 10.13 (73) respectively, but could have tipped the visitors’ way with a long range shot on goal after the siren from Wangaratta’s Liam Harrington falling short.

How Harrington even had a crack at winning the match had many in the crowd perplexed after the result seemingly had been decided when the Magpies’ runner had collected an errant kick-in from Pigeons’ co-coach Drew Barnes inside the boundary line.

The Magpies could count themselves most unlucky not to collect full points after taking a seven-point lead into the last change before squandering a succession of scoring opportunities early in the final quarter.

Youngster Brad Melville was one of the major culprits, but he along with other Magpies up and comers including Nick Richards, Jade Cleeland, Matt Hedin and Will Reilly had played a major role in keeping pace with the Pigeons.

Tempers boiled over in the final quarter when Pies’ recruit Glen Wyatt laid a heavy bump on Pigeons’ first-year player Bodhi Butts, who was forced to leave the ground on a stretcher.

The knock sparked a string of inevitable spot fires before play finally resumed with both teams left with limited resources on the bench.

The Pigeons settled best and kicked three goals in succession through Barnes, Tom Wallis and Jesse Koopman and seemingly had the match on ice. But the Pies mounted a late surge with the impressive Richards converting on the run and more shots going astray.

As the time clock ticked over 32 minutes, the Magpies scrambled a behind to lock up the scores and at least have two points to show for their toil against quality opposition.

The Magpies were down to only one fit player on the bench in the third term when Judd Porter was forced from the ground with an elbow injury and Daniel Sharrock also made a premature exit with a back issue.

The Pigeons lost Brady Pritchard to concussion early in the game and Koopman was rattled by a big bump early in the final term. 

Nick Lawless was also sent from the ground on report in the last term.

Yarrawonga had led narrowly at the first two changes before the Magpies made their move in the third with Cleeland, Matt Grossman and Ben Douthie all hitting the scoreboard with impressive goals. Michael Bordignon also negated the influence of Pigeons’ star Craig Ednie to a large degree.

Magpies coach Brendan Cairns rued missed chances.

“We play footy to win and we had the effort, but when the opportunities were there we didn’t take them,” he said.

Pigeons co-coach Chris Kennedy said: “A draw was probably a fitting result”.

The contributions of Pigeons’ stars Barnes, Xavier Leslie and Tyler Bonat at vital stages was also decisive.