The Lions led for much of the second half before three quick tries by the Rams stole the match and the two competition points.

The Rams scored three tries between the 65th and 75th minutes to turn a 22-16 deficit to a 30-22 lead with five minutes left to play.

But the match was far from over.

The game was stopped for at least five minutes when a crowd member was escorted from the ground for allegedly abusing the referee.

Mittagong’s replacement player Jeff Whittington scored in the corner in the 79th minute to give the Lions a shot at getting back in front.

But the siren beat Mittagong to the punch and the result was a harrowing four-point loss that left the players ruing missed opportunities and a number of interesting refereeing decisions.

The Lions twice dropped the ball in a scoring position only for the Rams to run the length of the field to score in the following set.

In the first half, fullback Mark Williams looked to have caught a Daniel Fairbairn bomb five metres out from the Rams tryline but spilt the ball as he went to put it down.

The Rams got the ball back, raced up the other end and scored in the left hand corner.

Similarly midway through the second half, Fairbairn put a grubber into the Rams’ in-goal area and barnstorming second rower Dave Fifita dived on the ball to score a try.

But Fifita mishandled and the referee correctly ruled it was knocked-on in goal.

Once again, the Rams got the ball back, raced up the other end and scored in the left hand corner.

Mittagong coach Andy Stephan said a couple of lapses in concentration cost his team the game.

Stephan named five-eighth Rob Carter, Josh Holland and Michael Hadju as the team’s best players.

Carter opened the scoring for Mittagong after just seven minutes when he scored off his own grubber from close to the line.

Camden scored the next four tries before Hadju muscled his way over to the line to get the Lions back in the game before the break.

Hadju scored again just after the break to put the Lions in front 18-16.

Corey Shepherd then added to Mittagong’s lead with a try in the left hand corner.

The Lions lead 22-16 before a Camden comeback effectively ended the match.

CAMDEN 30 defeated MITTAGONG 26 (M Hadju 2, R Carter, C Chepherd, J Whittington tries; M Williams 3 goals) at Mittagong Sportsground.