Collegians in minor premiership box seat following last-gasp win over Thirroul

The fourth-placed Butchers got the jump early, grabbing the first two tries, only for Collies to head to sheds two up on the back of a charge-down try to Blake Phillips on the stroke of halftime.

The league heavyweights went try-for-try through the second stanza, with the scores locked at 22 apiece in the dying moments when Butchers fullback Dane Courtney fired the first field goal shot.

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The missed strike gifted Collies a seven-tackle set that saw halfback Zeke Foster attempt his own one-pointer inside the final 60 seconds. It was charged down, with the rebound falling favourably into the arms of the hosts.

It saw Phillips beat several tackles before finding Budd with the offload to snatch the match-winner at the death. It came just a week after the Dogs were on the other side of a last-play heart-breaker against Dapto.

"After you lose one, you've got to find a way to win and we did that," Collies coach Peter Hooper said.

"We were pretty flat out of the sheds in the first 15 minutes but we turned it around we were pretty pleased with the last 60 minutes of the game.

"Our last last 20 minutes of that first half was quality, which probably set it up for us. I'll give [halves] Zeke [Foster] and Maxy Devlin some credit, we put a lot of pressure on them at the back end of that first half.

"We might not have scored, but we certainly had run of the play then sure enough 'Butchy' (Phillips) goes through and charges it down and gets a try.

"That was probably the ascendancy that we had at that part of the game. We need to play for 80 minutes, but to get the Butchers in the last minute was pleasing for us.

"We all know what the Butchers are like, they fight for 80, so it was good to get the result that we wanted."

It sets up a mouth-watering one-versus-two clash with De La Salle at Collegians this weekend, with a win ensuring the Dogs finish top of the ladder at season's end.

That would secure an all-important two bites at the finals cherry, but Hooper said he won't allow complacency to creep in a fortnight out from the finals.

"We could realistically end up in third spot if we do don't come with the right attitude the next couple of weeks, but that's never been our problem this year," Hooper said.

"We're happy where we're sitting because, when you get back into the back end of the year, any one side might get you on the day.

"If you've worked hard all year you get that second chance. Hopefully you don't need it, but sometimes you do need it and you're going to have four quality sides at the back end of the year."

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The effort fell agonisingly short, but it was a return to form in many ways for the Butchers who can also seal a finals berth should they head to Parrish Park and beat Wests this week.

If fifth-placed Dapto bounce back from their own defeat to De La on Satuday against win-less Corrimal, a second straight loss for the Butchers would leave them vulnerable in showdown with Canaries for a fourth place a week later.

With come key personnel returning, coach Jarrod Costello remains confident his side can make a run into September.

"I thought our effort was really good for probably 70 of the 80 minutes, the 10 minutes before half time hurt us," Costello said.

"We conceded a try and then one through a charge-down right on the bell at halftime hurt us. I thought we did really well to claw our way back and get ourselves to 22-all.

"Unfortunately we missed a field goal and gave them a seven tackle set and then they, they scored off the back of another charge-down. That's the bounce of the ball at times.

"I was really proud of how they sort of got put themselves back in the game and knowing we've got five or six guys to come back in in the next couple of weeks, there's a lot of positives there.

"I'm really confident that, when we get our best side on the paddock, it's not just about qualifying for the semis for us, we can go to deep into it."

De La Salle look in ominous form after halting Dapto's giant-killing run, shooting out to a 22-0 lead before ultimately running out 34-10 winners at Dapto Showground.

Wests managed to halt a worrying four-game losing streak with a 38-0 win over Corrimal at Ziems Park.

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