The match appeared certain to end in a draw after Dapto, leading by two, conceded a penalty 15 metres to the left of their own uprights at the death.

With the competition’s leading point-scorer Grayson Goodwin having left the field with injury, fill-in kicker Kyle Eather stepped up but his attempt was waved away.

It saw Dapto end the Dogs unbeaten start to the season, and sets up a mouth-watering sequel at Dapto Showground next Saturday.

Canaries coach Michael Henderson wasn’t about to hand back the two competition points but frankly admitted a draw would’ve been a fitting result.

“It was unlucky for them not to kick the goal the square it up but we’ll take it,” Henderson said.

“When he was lining it up my thought was we didn’t play well enough to win and it was a game either side could’ve won.

“We probably deserved a draw to be honest but we were lucky to get the points in the end. A draw would’ve been fitting, but that’s footy.

“We knew it was going to be a real tough game, they’ve been undefeated and it was nothing we didn’t expect.

“It’s all on again next week so we're going to have to improve on that and keep improving. I think there’s definitely areas we need to improve so we’ll look forward to next week at home.”

Collegians would’ve lost no fans with their performance hanging in the match until the final moments despite Dapto enjoying most of the momentum and a 9-3 penalty count in their favour.

Rob Busearau scored after just six minutes but the Dogs responded quickly through Daniel Bourke.

They did the same after Dapto prop Josh Vaartjes took the lead from close range, with Donte Efaraimo crossing out wide to keep things level at 10-all at halftime.

The Canaries broke the deadlock through Jamie Dunning with 15 minutes to play but Goodwin hit back minutes later to again level the scores at 14 apiece.

Jason Raper knocked over a penalty from in front for a two-point buffer nine minutes from time and looked to be enough until a mad scramble around a Ben Jones kick saw Dapto pinged for being off-side.

It gave Eather the chance at snatching a draw but his attempt sailed wide of the posts.

“It probably deserved to be a draw but that’s the way it goes,” Collegians coach Nathan Fien said.

“It’s disappointing we don’t walk away with a point but full credit to Dapto, that’s why they’re the premiers. They were a little bit better than us in a few key areas today.

“Having said that I’m very proud of our guys resolve and the way they hung in there with the penalty count very lopsided against us. I thought both sides were just as guilty as each other with the stuff that went on today but that’s not the reason we lost.

“I’m very happy in the end. We were undefeated to this point and it’s always good to play the premiers and see where your at and it was good to see we can mix it with them.”