Maitland skipper Carl Thornton said after the excitement of last week's thrilling 2-1 victory over Edgeworth the Magpies' attention was now firmly on beating Valentine and sealing their play-offs spot.

Ryan Clarke and Braedyn Crowley combined twice in the final five minutes at Cooks Square Park to deliver Maitland the win on Saturday.

Clarke set up a double for Crowley, sending him to the penalty spot first after drawing a foul in a strong run into the right side of the box in the 90th minute.

Crowley calmly converted the shot to get Maitland back on parity after they had trailed since the 11th minute when Edgeworth's Josh Rose smashed a goal from the edge of the penalty area.

The second goal was straight off the top shelf as Clarke rocketed a cross from the right and Crowley rose in the middle of the penalty area to volley it into the back of the net.

Thornton said it was a reminder of the type of form and never-say-die spirit which had delivered the premiers trophy last season.

He said Saturday's win combined with the Magpies 6-1 win against Adamstown the week before gave the Magpies real confidence they could challenge again for silverware.

"First things first, we have to beat Valentine and that will be no easy task as they would love nothing more than to spoil our hopes of making the finals," he said.

"Finals footy is a completely different ball game and I believe we can now go all the way."

A top-three finish and second chance is still possible, but Maitland need results to fall their way, otherwise the most likely scenario is fourth and a home elimination semi-final in week one of the finals.

Maitland goalkeeper Matt Trott, who will retire at the end of the season, said trailing 1-0 he was contemplating his last game at Cooks Square Park.

"I'm still in shock to be honest. I was getting ready for the last game I would ever play up here and five minutes later we've taken the three points and are a chance for a home semi again," he said after the game.

"Clarkey has been back three or four games and played 90 minutes and basically set up two goals in the last five minutes today. For Crowls to finish the way he did under pressure was fantastic. Taking the penalty whew our season was almost on the line, and then taking that volley at the end . . . that's why he is the golden boot."

Crowley's double took his tally to 12 goals from 12 games including five from the past two.

Trott said the Magpies spoke in the lead-up to the Adamstown game to discuss where things were going wrong.

"We got honest with each other and it turned around last week with the performance," he said. "Today the gutsiness we showed, that was us last year."