Jaffas, who led on 43 points heading into the final round, needed to win at Edden Oval with Broadmeadow (42 points) and Charlestown (41) in control of their matches.

Lambton's hopes looked dashed in the 14^th minute when Piddington was shown a straight red card for a high-footed, lunging challenge on Wil Southcomb. Jaffas, though, scored in the 26^th minute when Bradbery pounced on a failed clearance at the back.

At the break, Broadmeadow were ahead 2-0 against Valentine, while Charlestown were 2-0 over Edgeworth.

The task became tougher for Lambton in the 50^th minute when Bradbery was shown a straight red for dissent. However, their chances improved in the 57^th when Olympic's Dylan Burston was given a straight red, this time for a challenge on Sam Webb.

Jaffas scrambled desperately to keep Olympic out. Keeper Ben Kennedy, Webb and Nikolai Topor-Stanley were huge for the hosts. Olympic came closest to an equaliser in the 90^th minute when Sam Donohue hit the crossbar.

"To have a player sent off in the first 15 minutes, it's hard enough, especially in a big game," Jaffas coach David Tanchevski said.

"But we stayed attacking in a 4-3-2 shape because we wanted to get the first goal. We rolled the dice a little bit and went back to a 4-4-1 after the goal and it was just a matter of defending for the game. Then we go two men down and still win. It just shows the character of the boys."

Magic, who ended up 5-0 over Valentine at home, will play Charlestown (44) in the major semi-final. Charlestown finished 2-0 at Edgeworth. Maitland (40), who lost Ty Cousins to two yellows in the 82^nd minute, finished fourth after losing 1-0 at Adamstown. Weston (39) stayed fifth after going down 2-0 at Cooks Hill away. They will meet in the minor semi.

Jaffas face the likelihood that Bradbery and Piddington will get a minimum two-game ban, which could rule them out of the finals. Pat Bond and Sakeel Balfour Brown return from suspension next game.

Tanchevski said Jaffas will "have to wear" the Piddington red card but Bradbery had denied swearing at the referee.

"We've lost two big players for the finals, two of our most experienced players and I guess the tricky part is if we win our first final, we won't have them for the grand final," he said of the qualifying final in a fortnight.

"It is what it is but hopefully we'll just get through. We've shown we have a bit of depth in our squad today, so hopefully we'll be right."

Lambton skipper Ben Kennedy said: "It's next guy in and we know they'll do a job. We've showed that throughout the year."

Kennedy was proud of his side, who secured their second premiership in three years.

"We do things the hard way but that's all right," he said.

"The whole side, everyone who was on the pitch worked hard and the result came from that.

"We all defended well as a group, all the boys who came off the bench did well. It was a good team effort in the end."

At Adamstown, Mackenzie Alexander scored with a tap-in in the first minute of the second half after a shot hit the post.

At Cooks Hill, goals either side of half-time from Joel Clissold (43^rd minute) and Carter Smith (50th) gave the hosts victory over the Bears. Clissold found the top corner with a cracking free kick, while Carter scored with a second effort after his first shot was blocked.

Riley Smith starred for Magic in their rout of Phoenix, scoring a double and having a hand in two more goals. Smith opened the scoring in the 37^th minute before setting up Bailey Wells in the 43^rd.

Smith was in again in the 51^st before Sam Kamper teed up James Cresnar for the sliding finish. Smith then earned a penalty that Angus McLeod slotted in the 77^th.

At Edgeworth, stand-in Charlestown skipper Taylor Regan scored in the 15^th minute with a header into an open goal after a scramble, before Kyle Munns finished one-on-one in the 25^th.

In the other game, New Lambton beat wooden-spooners Lake Macquarie 4-1 in the battle of the cellar-dwellers.

** Broadmeadow clinched the NPL women's premiership with a 4-0 win over fourth-placed Charlestown on Friday night in the penultimate round.

Adriana Konjarski scored a brace in the win at Magic Park, which took Broadmeadow to 50 points. On Sunday, second-placed Olympic beat Adamstown 9-1 to move to 45 points with a round to play.

Third-placed Maitland downed Mid Coast 5-0 to rise to 43 points, while fifth-placed New Lambton defeated Warners Bay 14-0.