Dubbo FC was left was left with mixed emotions after a frantic finish in Saturday's Western Premier League clash with Bathurst 75.
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Scores were locked at 1-1 heading into injury time at Proctor Park before Bulls defender Brayden Smith popped up with a header to give the visitors the all-important advantage.
But there was still drama to come and in the 93rd minute a shot from 75's Ethan Comerford took an unfortunate deflection and went in, leaving the two premiership contenders to share the points.
"It was really stressful," Bulls midfielder Kane Settree said.
"We were just trying to get back into it after they got the lead. It was just simple mistakes that we couldn't fixed and they ended up scoring the equaliser at the death."
As painful as it was to just miss out on being the first team to defeat Bathurst 75 this year, other results in round 13 on the weekend left the Bulls in a positive position in third on the ladder.
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Dubbo rivals Orana Spurs did Bulls a favour as they defeated second-placed Orange Waratahs while the in-form Barnstoneworth, who had been lurking in fifth, suffered a 1-0 loss at Lithgow.
"That's really good for us," Settree said.
"We still might have a game in hand, but if Barnies won, they would've jumped us. With Waratahs losing, we also stay on the same amount of points as them as well, even though they've got a game in hand."
Bulls had the bigger share of possession at the start of Saturday's match but a free kick for the hosts in the 13th minute gave 75 the chance to score first.
Agieg Aluk answered the call with a brilliant volley directly in front of the goal, finishing off the well-placed free kick from his brother Athaui to open the scoring.
The 75 men dominated the middle stretch of the opening half but couldn't capitalise on a couple of chances in or around the Bulls penalty area.
Athuai Aluk missed a solid chance from a tight angle inside the last five minutes of the half, and they would have to remain content with their one goal buffer at the break.
Bulls looked the more likely side to score in the early portion of the second half.
In the 68th minute Dubbo's Gareth Williams managed to get a strong shot off after running onto the end of a long ball out of his own half, and Bulls continued to pressure the 75 goal with several free kick opportunities.
The equaliser came from Koby Rapley in the 79th minute, fresh onto the pitch from the bench, when 75 failed to clear the ball off a long throw-in and he arrived at the perfect position to smash the ball home from close range.
The pressure continued to come from the Bulls and it looked like it was going to be a heartbreaking defeat for the hosts when Smith put the ball into the back of the net after a scrap in front of the goal.
With one last roll of the dice Bathurst 75 brought the ball forward and managed to find Comerford at the top of the box, and his strike took a deflection off the chest of a Bulls defender and found its way into the bottom left corner of the net.
"When they scored their second goal we thought time was up and I was thinking that we'd lost. We'd battled through that whole second half," 75 coach Mark Comerford said.
"We had a great first half and we could have been two or three goals up at half-time. In the second half we just couldn't go with them. They end up scoring off a long throw in, and we just didn't deal well with the second ball off that.
"It was a hard game for us, and Bulls have been playing really well of late to get some good results. It was always going to be a challenge for us.
"There was nothing there that we didn't expect to be thrown at us, and for the majority of the game we were able to deal with that."
While it wasn't a win, it continued Bulls' strong run form after recent wins over competition leaders Panorama, Mudgee and Parkes.
Bulls are equal second on the ladder with Waratahs but sit third on goal difference while Panorama is three points clear at the top.
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