In a classic battle of the titans, both teams had to adapt to the wet conditions and neither gave an inch to their opponents.

Patris captain-coach Tim Stone opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a shot from around the 18-yard box.

Stone’s effort swerved and dipped beneath the Bushrangers goalkeeper, who had pulled off a miraculous save only minutes earlier.

The score was 1-0 at halftime, but Yerrinbool soon equalised.

Patris went ahead again, this time through a well-taken free kick from Nigel Tasker, and all of a sudden Yerrinbool looked likely to lose their first game of the season.

But deep into injury time, the referee ruled a Yerrinbool player had been taken down inside the box and awarded a penalty.

The penalty was scored and the fulltime whistle blown.

Stone said he was pleased with the effort of each of his players.

“There was a lot of controversy at the end there when the penalty was given but it was just good to have a team like Yerrinbool that we can play good soccer with,” he said.

“This sort of competition has been lacking in the past.”

The referee handed out two red cards - one to a Yerrinbool player early in the second half and the other to Patris’ Shane Fitzpatrick.

The draw means Patris stay on top of the table with 11 points, while Yerrinbool and Exeter are in second with 10 points, although both have a game in hand.