The width of the upright proved costly for Wagga City after a missed drop goal attempt ensured a draw with Tumut at Conolly Rugby Complex on Saturday.
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Trevor William's late shot hit the woodwork and bounced back into the field of play in the final minute of the dramatic 26-all encounter.
Tumut were denied a chance of victory after their line out throw was deemed not to be straight forcing the sides the split the points.
Rory Sheard scored a hat-trick for Wagga City but despite some nice tries the game was far from a quality spectacle.
Both sides struggled to maintain possession as the penalty count rose and in the end a draw seemed a fair result.
There were three yellow cards in the clash with City's Michael Tuilau and Christan Smith given stints on the sideline in either half, while Tumut's Will Luff had just been given his marching orders when Sheard crossed for his third with about five to play.
Wagga City hooker Adam Mokotupu wasn't thrilled with the team's performance.
"It was very scrappy but we always expect a hard game against Tumut, one of our big rivals," Mokotupu said.
"We're short with injuries but it is no excuse, we could have played a lot better, didn't control the ball in the first 20 minutes, actually didn't have much of it in the first 20, but that's our own fault especially with the amount of penalties we gave away."
Despite falling short of a much-needed victory, and blowing plenty of good opportunities, Tumut co-coach Morgan Grivas thought it was an improved effort.
"On review we'll be a bit disappointed with some of the opportunities we missed, but the guys were asked to go a job and get back to basics defensively and they did a really good job for long periods of time," Grivas said.
"It was a much-improved performance after the last couple of weeks."
The result sees Wagga City stay in third place, but the gap on their rivals continues to close.
Tumut remain in fifth, four points behind, while Griffith has moved into fourth with a 29-24 win over Leeton.
The Blacks are three points behind City.
Albury slipped back to sixth after their 39-10 loss to Waratahs.
The Steamers are two points behind the Bulls, and just one point ahead of the Phantoms, in the compressed ladder as the second round of the home and away part of the draw approaches.
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