FIGHTING back from an early 12-point deficit Young looked to have sealed a thrilling win before letting Southcity halfback Kyle McCarthy slip through its defence in the dying stages to tie things at 24-all at Alfred Oval on Sunday.
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The Cherrypickers scored 24 straight to move to a 12-point lead shorting after half-time before the Bulls roared back into the contest.
While captain-coach Luke Branighan was thrilled with his team’s fighting qualities, having to split the points left the halfback with a bitter feeling.
“I’m disappointed we had a draw as I thought our effort in defence was really good,” Branighan said.
“But our attack was disappointing with blokes in the wrong spots and panicking a bit and pushing passes.
“We bombed quite a few tries, but credit to Southcity for coming back.
“At the same time we were down 12-0 and showed a bit of fight to get into the lead.
“We just weren’t good enough to finish it off.”
Branighan is looking to address a few of those problems before the Pickers travel to Tumut on Saturday.
The draw leaves Young eighth, above Tumut, Brothers and Tumbarumba.
Recruit Matt Wakefield continues to impress as he quickly finds a new home at the back of the Cherrypickers scrum.
Wakefield scored q try in the win with Tony Leadbitter, Jake Dawe and Jason Brown also crossing the stripe with Branighan kicking four goals.
