Maitland five-eighth Brock Lamb kicked a final-minute penalty goal to salvage a 16-all draw for the Maitland Pickers against Macquarie Scorpions at Lyall Peacock Oval.
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The Scorpions led for the final 10 minutes after a converted try had put them ahead 16-14.
Trailing 10-4 at half-time the Pickers took full advantage of Fletcher Myers' sin-binning in the 42nd minute scoring through Matt Soper-Lawler in the 43rd minute, which was converted by Brock Lamb.
A Chad O'Donnell try in the 62nd minute gave the Pickers the lead for the first time and expectations were that Maitland would open the floodgates and run over the top of their opponents as they have done all year.
But Macquarie didn't read the script and not only held the Maitland at bay but regained the lead until the final moments.
The signs were there early that it may not be the Pickers' day with the Scorpions taking just one minute to get on the board with a converted try.
Two penalty goals to the Scorpions, punctuated by an unconverted James Bradley try, gave them a 10-4 lead at the main break.
Maitland reserves had a 32-12 win over Macquarie and the under-19s won 36-4.
Maitland went down 20-8 in the top of the table Ladies League Tag showdown against Aberglasslyn after leading 8-6 at half-time.
In the other Newcastle RL first grade fixture on Saturday, Lakes United pulled off a major upset smashing Central Newcastle 28-6. The Kurri Kurri Bulldogs play South Newcastle at Townson Oval on Sunday.
