Maitland coach Michael Bolch questioned the consistency of refereeing after his side were left to play 67 minutes with 10 men in a 1-0 grand final loss to Lambton Jaffas on Sunday at No.2 Sportsground.
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Chasing a first NPL men's Northern NSW title double, Maitland were already reeling before kick-off after losing co-captain James Thompson, who failed a fitness test on his injured ankle.
Maitland were then a man down in the 23rd minute when centre-back Zach Thomas was sent off for his role in a melee.
From there, the premiers were always up against it.
Jaffas striker Kale Bradbery broke the deadlock in the 51st minute when he finished one-on-one after a slick give-and-go passing exchange with Mitch Rooke.
Maitland's Tyrell Paulson went close to giving his side a surprise lead just two minutes earlier but Jaffas keeper Ben Kennedy made a full-stretch parry to tip the long-range strike wide.
Lambton, with the numerical edge, created more chances and looked likely to extend their lead, but Maitland refused to go away.
Gun Magpies striker Braedyn Crowley did a mountain of work to try to inspire his team. However, it was Ty Cousins who went closest to an equaliser with long-range hits in the 81st and 87th minutes, the second forcing a tip-over from Kennedy.
Lambton hung on in a frantic finish before tensions boiled over after full-time as players pushed and shoved.
Jaffas, grand final winners in 2014 and 2017, added the championship to their maiden premiership last year.
However, the send off of Thomas and other refereeing decisions in the physical clash dominated debate.
Hard challenges and tensions escalated through the opening 20 minutes as cries for fouls were waved away.
Tempers flared after the Jaffas' Reece Papas brought down Flynn Goodman and Joey Melmeth in quick succession. The Melmeth tackle earned a yellow card and sparked a melee.
After a long consultation between officials, Jaffas defender Josh Piddington was given a yellow card and Thomas a straight red for their part in the fracas.
Melmeth was injured in the foul and taken off, while Goodman limped through to halftime before being replaced by Alex Read.
Bolch questioned the consistency of the melee rulings.
"To me, if Zach deserves a red card for running in 30 yards, their player did the same thing," Bolch said.
"I'm not saying Piddo should have been sent off, he's a great competitor and all that, but if you've set a precedent that he got sent off for running in from 30 yards, it's got to be consistent.
"Whether that makes a difference if we'd won or lost, no one will ever know.
"Credit to Jaffas, it's been a battle with them all year. It was a battle for the premiership then it was a battle today and they've come out on top.
"It's not sour grapes, they've won the grand final. It is what it is and we'll never know what would have happened if it was a different decision.
"But to lose him sent off and two players to questionable tackles as well, things just didn't go our way."
It was a third consecutive grand final loss for Maitland. Bolch, though, was "so proud of the boys".
"Nothing went right for us today," he said.
"We lost Jimmy, Zach got sent off, Joey Melmeth got cleaned up, Flynn Goodman had to come off. We had three 17-year-old kids on the ground at the end of the game, trying to cover holes, playing out of position, and we took them to 90 minutes.
"Ben Kennedy's made three great saves off 30-yard bombs. Another day, it's a different matter, but at the end of the day we haven't scored and they did."
On the Thomas send off, Jaffas coach Shane Pryce said only that "you don't want to put yourself in that position."
But he welcomed the "good sporting rivalry" between the sides.
"I think that's good for the game as long as there's nothing untoward going on and and we keep it on that sporting level," he said. "Bring it on, that's what you need."
The Jaffas had the better chances before the send off, then Paul Bitz kept Maitland in the game with sharp saves to deny Piddington and Bradbery before the break.
The Magpies had a great chance before half-time when Goodman was just wide with a shot in stoppage time. Man of the match Bradbery then hit the post for Jaffas.
