AND then there were four.
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Port City lived to fight another day following a heart stopping 30-24 victory over Forster-Tuncurry in Tuncurry on Saturday.
They had to do it the hard way after losing inspirational front-row leader Dan Dumas to a head knock midway through the first half.
The tackle saw Hawks halfback Adrian Davis considered lucky to return to the field, earning a 10-minute stint in the sinbin for his swinging arm instead.
Breakers captain Adrian Daley also earned himself a 10-minute breather from the ensuing melee.
What Daley was sent the bin for remains anyone's guess after he engaged in a fiery exchange of words with Davis before referee Jason Allan made his decision.
Dumas returned with about 15 minutes remaining to provide the cool head needed as the Breakers did everything in their power to throw the game away.
They jumped out to an early 10-0 lead before the Hawks had touched the ball which proved too much of a gap for the hosts to reel in despite their best efforts.
Breakers coach Dan Kemp was far from impressed with his side's performance especially after they gave away four penalties when in possession.
"It was a win,'' he said.
"But I just had a yarn to them. It wasn't good enough and nowhere near the standards we set ourselves.
"We've got eyes on winning the comp and that performance wasn't good enough for 80 minutes.''
Kemp said his side's first 15 to 20 minutes was strong as they regularly punched holes in the Hawks defence before they inexplicably threw the game plan out the window.
"That was the frustration; we executed the plan perfectly then, but why did we stop? That's the big question," the Breakers coach said.
"The first 15 minutes was good enough to contest for a comp I believe. But then what we did after that wasn't good enough. There are some questions to answer.''
Hawks coach Phil Adamson agreed his team's slow start played a pivotal role in the outcome of the match as they were forced to play catch-up football all afternoon.
At no stage did the home side lead, although they came within two points of the Breakers deep in the second half.
"We couldn't afford to give these blokes 10 points start,'' Adamson said.
"We piggy backed them down with soft penalties and they scored from them. Anyway, the boys fought back, that's the main thing, but unfortunately we couldn't run them down.''
Adamson believes the Breakers are a big hope for the title.
"They're a good side. I can't see any reason why they can't go further,'' he said.