The Magpies scored with just 10 seconds left on the clock through winger Callum Clyburn and Jeremy Gordon had the chance to snatch a crucial competition point off the defending premiers with a sideline conversion after the full-time siren.

Unfortunately for Gordon, who nailed his previous four conversion attempts, one of those from the sideline, his attempt hit the woodwork and was waved away.

It resulted in a 30-28 victory for CYMS in the defending premiers’ first hit-out at Wade Park since winning last year’s grand final over Oberon.

It was a thrilling contest, one boom recruit Chris Grevsmuhl managed to bag 18 points in from two tries and five goals.

Green and golds captain-coach Mick Sullivan couldn’t watch as Gordon lined up the final conversion.

“You don’t want to have to rely on kicks missing to win it, but we’ll take it,” Sullivan said.

“It looked good and (Cowra) looked happy with it but it must have swung late. Our effort was good enough to win.

“They came out of the blocks hard and it’s really difficult to change the momentum against good sides like Cowra but we did it.

“We started well after half-time and the momentum shifted.”

That momentum shift occurred in the second half with the score at 24-12 and CYMS on the attack.

Hooker Ryan Griffin looked certain to score but the Magpies’ defence swarmed on the Group 10 representative late and managed to bring him down short of the line, only for referee Billy Greatbatch to ping the CYMS rake for a double movement.

After that point, CYMS didn’t see the ball again for another 10 minutes and tries firstly to Bradyn Cassidy – his securing the lanky three-quarter a brace – and then to Gordon raced the visitors back to level pegging at 24-all.

CYMS shot ahead thanks to a well-worked scrum move that put Lachie Munro in under the posts with 18 minutes remaining, the faultless right boot of Grevsmuhl handing the hosts a six-point buffer.

It was one Sullivan’s men held on to until the final seconds of the game, Cowra finally crossing for their fifth try after mounting monumental pressure on CYMS’ line for the final stages.

Forced to defend their line for four-straight sets in the final three minutes, CYMS finally cracked when the Magpies worked a short side, putting Clyburn over in the corner.

It was then over to Gordon, his normally-trusty right boot straying ever-so-slightly to cap an absorbing final 40 minutes.

It was a cruel way for the visitors to leave Wade Park, after starting brilliantly thanks to converted tries to Warren Williams and Cassidy before letting that advantage slip to find themselves down 18-12 at the break.

“I’m really happy with the effort, would have loved to have snuck away with a draw but they iced their opportunities better than us, they were a bit more clinical,” Magpies mentor Steve Sutton said.

“We probably created more but couldn’t land that killer punch when we needed it.”

A stack of Group 10 stars backed up after Saturday’s 40-26 victory over Group 11 and while Grevsmuhl is the obvious stand-out on the scoreboard, none were better than Josh Rainbow.

The Magpies back-rower produced an inspired 80-minute performance on Cowra’s left edge, he alongside prop Blake Tidswell were tremendous in a beaten side.

“The last six or seven minutes, that’s the sort of footy we need to get into the grind of playing,” Sutton added.

“It’s a big improvement on last week.”