The Jaguars finished on level pegging with ninth-placed Tumut at Bull Paddock, the final whistle blowing with scores tied at 2-2. 

Junee looked near-certainties to secure all three points with Adrian Merrigan drawing first blood just 15 minutes into the contest. 

Mark Hogan then doubled the visitor’s lead when he found the back of the net at the 55 minute mark as the Jaguars looked set to cruise to victory. 

But Tumut refused to end its regular season on a sour note, crushing the Jaguars spirits by slotting a pair of late goals to force the stalemate. 

Jaguars coach Isaac Cooper was bitterly disappointed with the result. 

“We were very ordinary to be honest, it was probably our worst game of the year,” Cooper said. 

“We held a lot of possession for the whole game but on defence no one wanted to stick to their players and we turned the ball over far too often. 

Cooper gave his troops a stern talking to at half-time, but it was to no avail. 

“We had a half-time chat about the way we’ve been playing and it not being good enough, but we came out pretty flat again in the second half.” 

“We still had enough chances on goal to win the game but we just couldn’t put the final nail in the coffin.”

Adrian Weir was the one shining light for the visitors. 

Weir was a hub of activity in defence and stifled several ominous Tumut advances towards goal. 

Junee will now turn its attention to the first round of the Pascoe Plate, the post season competition contested by the teams finishing fifth through eighth at the end of the regular season. 

The Jaguars have drawn Young first up, the same side they thrashed 4-0 less than a fortnight ago.

“I’m expecting the boys to bounce back from a very disappointing weekend, they should come out firing on all cinders,” Cooper said. 

“The boys took a lot of confidence out of that win a couple of weeks ago.”

Junee’s leader has studied Young’s playing style and said his side will be well prepared for the impending clash. 

“Young are a team that try to catch you out on the counter attack and bang a few long balls in,” he said.

“So we’ll make sure our guys are keyed in and ready for that.” 

The Jaguars expect to be at full strength when they run out onto Rawlings Park on Sunday.