Northern Suburbs skipper Mike Wilson told his players to soak up what could be one of the best wins of their Maitland first grade cricket careers.
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Eastern Suburbs captains Jack Bennett and Trent Park invited the Griffins Old Boys back into the change rooms to sing one of the loudest renditions of the club's victory song heard in years.
And Kurri Weston players were left wondering if another improbable loss by City United would deny them a spot in the finals for the second year in a row.
Upset wins to Eastern Suburbs over Western Suburbs, Port Stephens against Thornton and Northern Suburbs getting home by three runs in an absolute thriller against City United have kept the make up of the top four still to be decided with one round to go.
In a repeat of last year, Maitland first grade cricket is delivering yet another thrilling finale to the home and away series with three teams fighting for two spots in the final and five teams potentially capable of finishing minor premiers.
At Robins Oval on Saturday, City United were seemingly cruising to a comfortable victory at 5/108 chasing Norths' total of 119.
But when Matt Trappel was dismissed for 36 trapped lbw by Lincoln Mills it sparked a collapse which saw City lose 5/8 to be dismissed for 116 to hand Northern Suburbs a three-run win.
Ian Wood bowled with real control at the end to take three of the last four wickets.
Thornton had their first loss since round five when Port Stephens made a revised target of 104 with six wickets to spare after earlier dismissing the Thunder for 144.
Eastern Suburbs all-rounder Brendan Allen led Easts to an improbable victory with seven wickets as Wests crumbled in the final session to fall 20 runs short of their target of 156.
Allen's efforts with the ball mirrored West counterpart Joel Connell's 6-18 which saw Easts collapse from 2-90 on the back of an excellent 54 by Lachie Wishart's and 27 to Allen.
Kurri Weston recovered from 6/93 to chase down Raymond Terrace's total of 207 thanks to match winning innings of 43 by Nathan Cliff and 40 not out by Steve Abel as the Warriors posted 8/208 with 2.5 overs to spare on Old Boys Day at Kurri Central.
