A line-ball decision from the video officials proved costly as the Knights suffered an 22-12 loss to Canterbury at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday night.
With the Bulldogs clinging to an 18-12 lead and seven minutes remaining, Knights back-rower Sione Mata'utia appeared to have scored after grounding a Trent Hodkinson grubber kick.
But referee Adam Gee referred the decision to the bunker, and after a host of slow-motion replays, senior review official Jared Maxwell ruled no-try because the ball had slipped from Mata'utia's grasp.
Canterbury then sealed the deal in the final minute when winger Marcelo Montoya scored his second try of the match to complete a hard-fought victory.Â
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The Knights were left ruing defensive lapses either side of half-time.
They led 6-0 just before the break after a spectacular try from winger Nathan Ross, and a Hodkinson penalty goal.
Ross, denied by the video referee after failing to correctly ground a grubber kick in the seventh minute, made no mistake 21 minutes later when he caught a Hodkinson chip kick on the full and acrobatically planted it down one-handed.
It was his fifth try of the season.
Newcastle came within inches of extending their lead seven minutes later, when winger Ken Sio put a foot into touch diving for the corner.
Newcastle appeared to have earned a 6-0 lead at the interval, only for Josh Jackson to slip a miracle offload to Brett Morris, who sent centre Brenko Lee over for his first try since joining Canterbury.
Less than a minute after the resumption, rookie Canterbury playmaker Danny Frawley threw a dummy, brushed past a flimsy tackle and raced 40 metres to score.
The conversion from Moses Mbye made it 10-6 to the visitors.
The visitors increased their lead in the 51st minute, with a try by rookie winger  Montoya, and when centre Josh Morris scored on the opposite edge in the 65th minute, they appeared home and hosed at 18-6.
But as has been the case consistently this season, the Knights refused to concede defeat.
After the Bulldogs lost possession in the 68th minute, Knights five-eighth Brock Lamb burst into open space and linked with centre Dane Gagai, who crossed for his first try of the season.
Hodkinson's pressure goal made it a six-point ball game.
Three minutes later, Mata'utia appeared to have scored a try that would potentially have locked up the scores, only to be denied by the video referee.