Brock-Burrum staged a late comeback to snatch a thrilling draw against Howlong in a low-scoring slugfest at Burrumbuttock on Saturday.
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Clinging to a two point lead at the final change, the Spiders looked to have a match-winning lead late in the contest when they established a seven point lead.
But a late surge by the Saints where they kicked a point and then a goal resulted in a 5.11 (41) to 5.11 (41) draw.
Howlong co-coach Matt McDonald labelled the draw as 'an unacceptable performance'.
"I can't sugarcoat a draw and it was disappointing... it's an unacceptable performance," McDonald said.
"We are not happy with it.
"We had some guys missing for various reasons which is not an excuse.
"Full credit to Brock-Burrum, they had more than a few issues over the pre-season and for them to come together and force a draw... they would be very happy with that.
"But we are disappointed.
"Clearly it wasn't a great spectacle and when both sides kicked 5.11, it probably tells you a lot about the standard of the match.
"Both sides kicked their way out of the match and didn't want to win the game.
"It was an error riddled match which showed on the scoreboard.
"It was one of those matches, if it was videotaped you wouldn't want to watch the replay."
The draw could prove costly for the Spiders' finals aspirations who have started the season with two losses and now a draw.
They have arguably the toughest draw in the competition after playing Osborne and Jindera in the opening fortnight.
The Spiders have Holbrook and CDHBU in the next fortnight and if they lose both, their finals aspirations will be in tatters.
On the weekend they were missing some quality in Jarrod Lane alongside Azzi medallist Hamish Clark, skipper Dylan Cook, Tyler Lampe and Isaac Bunge who were all unavailable.
McDonald stressed he wasn't using the outs as an excuse and was looking forward to the response of the playing group against the Brookers this weekend.
"All the players that missed will be back against Holbrook," he said.
"The only positive thing about the match against Brock-Burrum was that we didn't lose.
"We come up against Holbrook this week and I'm looking forward to seeing the response and what kind of performance the players produce this weekend."
Drew Cameron, Tyson Logie and Ned Gray were the Spiders' best.
Coby Eastick, Corey Pearse and Liam Lisle performed for the Saints.
Spider forward Connor Clarke booted three of his side's five goals.
