Norths led 17-10 at half-time and extended that to a 12-point lead just after the break, but Waratahs hooker Hugh Roach’s double either side of skipper Mick Snowden’s five-pointer was enough to secure the Woodies a crucial win.

Snowden, Eastwood’s skipper, did get yellow carded in the dying stages which created a tense finish, but the Shoremen weren’t able to make the most of that one-man advantage.

The result pushes Eastwood into a share of fourth with Norths, the latter side actually drops from second thanks to the loss but, incredibly, with six rounds left in the regular season neither side is out of the minor premiership race yet.

The top six is as close this year as ever, with just five points separating first and sixth.

“It’s such a close competition. We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves,” Woodies coach John Manenti said, who was particularly pleased with his troops’ effort in the final 10 minutes when they were down a man.

“We fought hard for that 10 minutes. We showed some good smarts and good ticker to hang in there. Credit to Norths, we put on a good show for the people of Cowra.”

Norths dominated the opening half, with skipper and five-eighth Angus Sinclair dictating terms, and it only took five minutes for the Shoreman to open the scoring through a Lochie Creagh runaway try.

Sinclair duly added the extras, before extending Norths’ lead to 10-0 five minutes later with a penalty goal.

Eastwood opted for three points of their own at the 15-minute mark, Jackson Bird slotting his 30-metre attempt with ease, but Sinclair hit back with a try of his own midway through the half and once again converted, giving Norths a 17-3 buffer.

With just minutes left in the first period the Woodies created space on the right flank for Zac Mackey to go in untouched, a crucial try that reduced the deficit to a converted try at the break.

Norths once again extended that lead moments after the restart when Creagh grabbed his second, but Sinclair’s conversion attempt was waved away.

With his side trailing 22-10, Roach and Snowden provided the spark the Woodies desperately needed, combining to score three tries in the space of 10 minutes.

Bird converted two of them, giving Eastwood the lead for the first time at 29-22 with a little under 20 minutes to go.

Norths created plenty of opportunities in the last quarter of the game but couldn’t capitilise on the pressure, and were ultimately starved of possession by the 14-man Woodies in the final stages.

Eastwood actually had a crack at starving Norths of a bonus point too with a late field goal attempt, but it crashed into the cross-bar and bounced out.

“They took their chances, we didn’t. It’s been a bit hard with a couple of byes and couple of losses lately we’ve lost the momentum we had. We’re slacking off in patches,” Sinclair lamented.

“We focus now on gaining some momentum into the finals.”

As you’d expect, Manenti pointed to that second-half blitz as the turning point for his side after a somewhat error-riddled first half.

 “We built momentum in that 10 minutes or 15 minutes after half-time when we banged a couple of tries together,” he said.

“Our errors led to their first 17 points. You give a great team like Norths a 17-3 start you’re up against it. We fought hard and got into some rhythm.”

Also he was disappointed with the loss, Sinclair made sure to express his delight at being able to play in front of a bumper crowd at Cowra Rugby Ground – it was the first Shute Shield game played in the town.

“We’re so stoked to be here, it would have been nice to win but it’s great for the community,” he said.