The opening 10 minutes was a hard-fought defensive battle, with both forward packs going blow for blow.

Mittagong hooker Corey Martin broke the silence and scampered over the line to set up a 4-0 lead.

Macquarie Fields struck back soon after as Leon Cutmore virtually walked over the line from a penalty tap to make it 4-4.

Mittagong scored their second try when centre Tom Cook sold an excellent dummy.

The Hawks took the lead as captain Jessy Sauaso scored the first of his two tries out wide and James Merido converted from out wide.

But the lead was short lived as Mittagong pulled off two spectacular tries in the three minutes before the break.

The first was a classy overlap down the left hand side, but the second was worthy of any highlights reel.

Zac Blackshaw put up a mid -field bomb that bounced in the in-goal area. After going over the dead ball line, a flying Tim Howard leapt from the field of play and batted the ball back in to the waiting hands of Martin to give Mittagong a comprehensive 18-10 lead.

Mittagong remained dominant in the opening exchanges of the second half but the wheels soon fell off.

The Hawks’ Jessy Sauaso powered through the centre of the ruck from close range to score his second try to bring the deficit to two points with 19 minutes remaining.

Mittagong showed desperation in their goalline defence, committing up to seven players to keep the massive Hawks at bay.

But it wasn’t enough to save them as Macquarie Fields scored the match winner with nine minutes left on the clock.

The Hawks scored again as the game ended at 26-18.

The Lions weren’t helped by injuries to Keiran Bishop, Josh Alcock and Cam Raddatz.

The loss means the Lions take on Picton in the final at the Mittagong Sportsground this Saturday at 12.40pm.

All Lions supporters are asked to come long and support the young Lions as they are carrying the flag as the only Highlands team left in the group.

Mittagong Sportsground hosts all Group 6 finals this Saturday, starting at 9.20am and finishing with first grade at 6.30pm.