After three years of largely lopsided results, a resurgent Wangaratta Rovers breathed new life into the Wangaratta derby with a thrilling eight-point comeback win on Sunday.

The flag fancies had a 31-point lead late in the second quarter, but the Hawks strangled the Pies' attack to allow just one more goal in front of the biggest Rovers' crowd in years of around 2000.

"Absolutely, we've been on the wrong end of it for a fair while now," the game's oldest player Sean O'Keeffe said seconds after the siren.

Wangaratta had won eight of the past nine derbies, racking up an averaging winning margin of 65 points.

In the last five seasons, Rovers only win was by 23 points in round 5, 2016.

"Playing against 'Wang' and beating them on your own deck, there's not many better feelings that that," co-captain Shane Gaston said.

"It's great for the whole Rovers community.

"We've been down, it's been embarrassing the last few years the performances against them, so to have a performance like that and fight back from behind, is a super effort."

Rovers claimed their first winless wooden spoon last year since joining the league in 1950.

Wangaratta was pipped by the Albury juggernaut in the grand final, so you could have written your own ticket on the chances of the Hawks winning their next clash.

But the move to sign former Wodonga Raiders' coach Daryn Creswell - the first outsider for more than 50 years - has revitalised the proud club.

And it's playing a massive role in the growing return of confidence in the O and M brand after last year's one-sided season where the bottom five was smashed by the top five and the finals were set after two rounds.