The Blues moved to 36 points with the round 21 stalemate at Lisle Carr Oval, while the Jaffas stayed fourth on 35, two goals ahead of Broadmeadow.

Maitland (40 points) beat Adamstown 3-0 on Sunday and Edgeworth (38) downed Weston (34) 4-1 on Saturday to make the premiership a two-horse race, but the top-four battle remains a six-team fight after Broadmeadow (35) thumped the Jets Youth 5-0 on Saturday night.

Next Sunday, Maitland play the Jets Youth, Magic host Charlestown, Weston take on Lake Macquarie and Jaffas welcome Edgeworth in decisive games.

Charlestown looked to have secured a winner on Sunday through skipper Matt Tull's secondary header off a corner in the 50^th minute, but it was denied for offside after the referee and linesman conferred.

"If he was offside he should have had his flag up straight away," Tanchevski said. "And every corner, there's someone on the line, so it's hard to see how that can be offside.

"We had a number of good chances in the first half and Ben Kennedy made a good save off Tully's volley.

"We probably should have come away with it, but at the end they had a few chances as well, so a point each is probably fair."

The match came amid off-field drama at the Blues. The Newcastle Herald understands prominent supporters of the club, who hope to join its committee after the season, have been working to sack Tanchevski. The move has included their sounding out of three potential replacements.

Tanchevski and the Charlestown players were aware of the situation before the Jaffas game.

"It was a good effort, I was proud of them," Tanchevski said of his team. "They did well and were probably unlucky not to come away with the points.

"It is what it is, and now we just have to go on and win next week. I think we'll need to win to secure finals."

Blues president Dean Crossley contacted the Newcastle Herald to address the rumours.

"As far as we're concerned, David will be re-signed," Crossley said. "We're pretty much in the semi-finals, so it's been a great season.

"There's been a contract agreed to, we just haven't signed it because we need the executive to make sure it's the right agreement, but we've had verbal discussions and verbal agreements."

He said "I can't see any overthrows or major issues" at the club's AGM.

"I feel for David, being in the middle of this and it being blown up. Sometimes rumours can get out of hand."

Valentine and Lake Macquarie played a goalless draw on Sunday to move to 12 points and ensure Adamstown (11), who have the last-round bye, finish last.

TOP SIX

Maitland - 40 (+16)

Edgeworth - 38 (+23)

Charlestown - 36 (+12)

Lambton - 35 (+18)

Magic - 35 (+16)

Weston - 34 (+8)

Round 22: Maitland v Jets Youth, Magic v Charlestown, Weston v Lake Macquarie, Jaffas v Edgeworth, Valentine v Hamilton.