Wangaratta derby produces a thrilling finish on Good Friday

Wangaratta led by 20 points at the seven-minute mark of the final quarter with 2021 Morris medallist Callum Moore almost certain to ice the game with a shot from 25m in front.

However, he missed and Wangaratta Rovers unleashed a stunning comeback, with Alex Marklew seizing a play-on call to kick the winning goal with 20 seconds left for a two-point win.

"I haven't seen as big a crowd like this from the start of the day through to the end of the game since the Barry Hall-Brendan Fevola game, which was a special one," delighted Rovers' football operations manager Barry Sullivan suggested.

When the two former superstars met at Rovers' WJ Findlay Oval in 2012, it attracted the biggest crowd for an O and M game - outside of grand finals - in the modern era with around 6000 fans.

About 3000 watched the Good Friday clash at the same venue, with the remarkable scene of people lining up for the start of the under 18 game at 10am.

The match also created history in that it was the first time a club hasn't played for premiership points.

Wangaratta was last month found guilty of breaching the league's 2022 salary cap and was not only stripped of the premiership, but is ineligible to play for points in the first two games.

"Credit to 'Wang', they gave it everything and put their best team on the park and they're still a super, super team," Sullivan praised.

It was also the first Good Friday game between the league's strongest rivals and its inaugural success has virtually guaranteed its future.

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"Absolutely, it's good for the town and clubs, it's not often in their histories where they're both right up there."

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