Shane Hasler found the back of the net as the clock wore down to spilt the points, leaving Melrose coach Kade Rixon to ponder what might have been.

“It was probably another game that we just let go,” he said.

“I can't fault the effort the boys put it, but it's certainly not a result that we accept.

“Our effort was outstanding and I can't fault them on it, but poor finishing in front of goal is continuing to cost us.”

Melrose struck first in the 13^th minute, only to have their advantage wiped away by Twin City's Matt Hasler in the shadows of half time.

It was level pegging for the majority of the second half, before Melrose hit the front once more through Dylan Howe in the 80^th minute.

While frustrated to emerge from the game with just the draw, Rixon said the club's ongoing competitiveness was a sign of its developing depth. 

“Twin City are a really good team, I think they're one of the benchmark sides in the competition at the moment,” he said.

“So to push them the way we did was a positive.

“Internally I rate our side very highly, we've been performing well without getting a result without guys like Michael Jessup and Jesse Marcuzzi.

“To lose one of the best defenders for the season one week and one of the best midfielders a week later has been difficult.

“We've found replacements who have come in and played their roles perfectly.

“The boys could have seen those guys go down and thrown in the towel, but to their credit none of them have.”

In other matches this weekend, St Pats notched its third win for the season in a hard-fought battle over the Albury Hotspurs.

The two teams scored six goals between them in the space of 28 minutes after the Hotspurs’ Matthew Townsend scored the first goal of the game in the 26^th minute.

There was a flurry of goals from that point, but it was the Paddies who emerged victorious with a hard-earned 4-3 salute.

Albury City returned to the winners’ list after a torrid fortnight, defeating Wodonga Diamonds 5-0.

Four goals to Patrick Brown helped haul City out of their injury-induced funk.

Albury United were big winners over Wodonga Heart, while Cobram Roar defeated Boomers 4-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Ray Diramacca.

Cobram were able to recover after letting in an own goal in the first minute of the game.”