Trailing 22-16 in the dying seconds, the Butchers final play featured two kicks and saw the ball move through nine sets of hands before young-gun Aaron Schoupp - who initially played the ball - scored in the corner off the boot of Joel Johnson.

It gave Luke Gallagher the very tough assignment of converting from the sideline to snatch a draw after the siren, but his attempt was waved away.

It saw the Dogs claim a valuable two points and their first win over a top-two side this season after the scores were locked 10 apiece at the break.

The last gasp try left Collies coach Nathan Fien nursing heart palpitations but full of pride after what was a breakthrough victory for his young side.

"I was definitely out of the seat," Fien said of the final play.

"I was just screaming at the boys to keep moving because I knew Thirroul wouldn't just die. Luckily they scored out wide and not under the sticks.

"I said a couple of weeks ago, we were running third for a reason in terms of being clinical at certain times of the game but I thought we were really good today.

"They're a quality side and it was a semi-final type game, it had that feel from the start. To be able to snatch one back off one of those top two, in terms of the table, it's a massive boost for us.

"Just for our confidence week to week, it shows we're moving in the right direction. I thought both sides were really good today and there's a reason we're both up near the top of the table."

It looked very much a finals fixture early on with the Butchers twice leading through tries to Callum Tutauha and Tom Simpson only for Collies to hit back on both occasions through Jack Butler.

A double to Dogs dummy-half Brodie Rigg gave the home side most of the running in the second, though the Butchers hit back through Jay Gallagher before Schoupp's Hail Mary effort gave them a late sniff.

It wasn't enough with the Butchers dropping their second straight game to a top-two rival after going down 18-4 to Wests three weeks ago.

It saw the Devils re-take top spot via the bye, but coach Jarrod Costello says it doesn't leave his side disheartened.

"We've played Collies twice and beaten them once, we played Wests and got beaten and that was our worst performance of the year and today we got within two," Costello said.

"Full credit to Collies they were better than us today. I'm disappointed we didn't win but by no means is it anything to worry about. We know we haven't clicked, we need to start clicking, but it's not panic stations.

"I'm proud of how we hung in there and gave ourselves a chance at the end but we just didn't complete well enough in the second half. We were under 60 per cent and we just kept inviting them into the game.

"Some really questionable decisions went against us, really crucial ones when the game was on the line. We're to blame for our completions but there were a few calls there I'm looking forward to having a look at."

Elsewhere Dapto and Berkeley both threw the race for fourth spot on its head, with the Canaries making it two wins on the trot in downing Helensburgh 24-10 at the Showground.

Berkeley also rebooted their hopes with a crucial 26-12 win over Corrimal. It saw them draw level with the Canaries and Tigers on two wins for the season, just one win behind the fourth-placed Cougars.