Northumbria seemed to be cruising with a 10-5 lead with just four a half minutes remaining. A John Bright goal launched the London club's recovery - and more scores followed with less than two minutes remaining from Miguel Ardid, Chris Icely and Lorenzo Cacciola.
With 22 seconds left, Poly won possession and called a time-out. It was the chance Icely needed to score an equaliser with the coolest of lobs just five seconds from the end.
In the Super 5s, Cheltenham completed their second win of the day - 12-10 against Lancaster. It was 7-7 at the halfway stage, but the match turned in Cheltenham's favour when they moved 10-7 ahead in third period with goals by Mike Thomas, Mark Banwell and Adam Legge.
City of Manchester's winning run continued with a 9-2 defeat of Bristol Central.