Excelsior and Athletic Marist could not be separated after 80 minutes of rugby with the match ending 19-19 last weekend.
Excelsior led by five points with under five minutes to play. However, Athies had the ball and were getting closer to the line until Paea Fifita crashed over.
A missed conversion meant the score was tied with only a handful of minutes remaining.
Blues kicked off short to try to recover the ball but an Athies player was inadvertently tackled in the air.
They kicked to touch to give them one last crack from good attacking position off a lineout.
Athies inched closer until replacement midfielder Kelepi Vai was put into a gap. He burst through and looked to pass inside to Alfie Coop for the winning try.
However, the pass to Vai was deemed forward and fulltime was blown.
Earlier, it was Blues who started fast. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the opening 25 minutes off back-to-back tries.
Starved of the ball early, Athies finally strung some phases together in the Blues 22m. Their forwards carried hard and recycled the ball well.
Blues hung on as long as they could, but after back-to-back penalties they finally cracked as Tuikupulau Filimoehala scored.
Josh Phipps added a penalty just before halftime to extend Blues’ lead to six.
Athies midfielder Sione Osamau scored to open to the second half as his side came out of the sheds with energy.
Tyler Burgess then nailed the tough conversion to give Athies their first lead of the game.
It did not last long, however, as a second Phipps penalty had Blues back in front by two.
The Excelsior first five then knocked over a third penalty late to set up the grandstand finish.
Valley remain unbeaten in 2026 as they fought off an inspired second half from Maheno.
The competition front-runners led 28-7 at the break before the green machine kicked into gear.
Four second-tries were not enough to get the win as Valley sneaked home 40-36.
Old Boys bounced back — in a big way — from defaulting a week ago as they thumped Kurow 73-7.
The 11-try romp has them sitting in fourth place on the ladder with just one match to play.
TOMORROW
The second crossover round this weekend will mark the end of the regular season.
Valley (51 points) have already locked up the top spot on the ladder.
Excelsior and Athies (32 points) are tied for second place with the former given a slight edge due to points differential.
Old Boys (27 points) sit in fourth place narrowly ahead of Maheno (26 points) who find themselves on the outside looking in.
They take on Athies tomorrow and will need a win as well as an Old Boys loss to Excelsior to make the semifinals.
Kurow will play Valley this weekend to finish off their season.
