The Highlands' Group 6 reps showed they could still mix it in the big league by leading the division two side to a thrilling 20-20 draw with Group 7 at Gerringong yesterday.

Boasting 11 Highlands based players including eight from Robertson, the Andrew Murdoch captained outfit dominated their southern division rivals but had to settle for a draw after blowing a 12 point lead late in the match.

"It's disappointing because we were probably the better side out there," Murdoch said.

"There were a few too many individuals and a bit of inexperience.

"But it was a good, tough game and it's still rep footy."

After an early penalty goal to Group 7, classy Moss Vale second rower Peter McGuiness muscled over to give Group 6 the lead and a Danny Wright try shortly after gave them a 10-2 half time lead.

But the home side hit back shortly after the break to claw the lead back to 10-8 and it was again left up to McGuiness to give Group 6 a buffer.

Running off a magic ball from old Dragons teammate Murdoch, McGuiness made it a memorable double to give his side a 14-8 break.

And when Wright grabbed his second it looked as if Group 6 were home and hosed at 20-8.

But two converted tries to Group 7, one coming off a controversial penalty three minutes from time, forced the match into a draw.

"It felt like a loss and the guys know that they threw it away," Group 6 coach Nigel Drury said.

"The forwards played very well but I don't think the backline really gelled and we just dropped too much ball at crucial times."

In a very physical clash, Grant Pointing, Peter McGuiness and Andrew Murdoch stood tall up front while Scott Bone at halfback and Danny Wright on the wing also played strongly.