The 20-18 loss came in front of 23, 604 fans as Newcastle welcomed past greats to Hunter Stadium for the club’s annual Old Boys Day celebrations.

Knights captain Gidley, who was appearing for the 250th time at first grade level, was at the heart of everything for Newcastle and finished with 10 points to his name with a try and three conversions.

The match started in dramatic fashion when Bulldogs backrower Frank Pritchard was reported for a high-shot on Knights fullback Jake Mamo, which sparked an all-in brawl.

Newcastle then took the lead in the 12th minute with a scrappy try to Tariq Sims.

The backrower followed up a Gidley chip that was fumbled by the Bulldogs’ Brett Morris and crossed in the corner; Gidley then converted from the sideline to make it 6-0 to Newcastle.

The match soon took a turn for the worse for Newcastle, who were the architects of their own downfall with some typically sloppy defending.

Bulldogs try-machine Curtis Rona intercepted a floating pass from Mamo to run 90 metres and score the away side’s opening try in the 20th minute.

The ‘Dogs then took a 10-6 lead six minutes later when Tim Lafai waltzed through a gaping hole in Newcastle’s defensive line to score and Moses Mbye nailed the conversion.

The Bulldogs went further in front on 32 minutes thanks to a scoot from hooker Dan Cook which took Newcastle by surprise; the dummy half ran 40 metres untouched to give his side a 14-6 lead at half-time.

Newcastle hit back 10 minutes after the break when Nathan Ross got his hand to a lovely grubber-kick from Tyrone Roberts and Gidley converted again to make it 14-12.

Jake Mamo thought he had put the Knights ahead on 57 minutes when he crossed for a try, only for it to be disallowed by the video referee for a drop ball in the lead-up.

The Bulldogs compounded that disappointment when Frank Pritchard scored a soft try to take the score to 20-12 in the 63rd minute.

Gidley’s big moment came with 10 minutes to go; the five-eigth had options to his right but decided to run the ball and sliced through two defenders to score under the posts and cut the deficit to just two points.

Newcastle piled on the pressure in the closing minutes and it looked like they would re-take the lead when they forced a drop-out with only three minutes left.

Sadly, their momentum was squandered when winger Akuila Uate knocked-on straight from the drop-kick and the chance was gone.

Gidley was given a heroic send off after the game as the veteran prepares for a move to the English Super League in 2016.

Newcastle will wrap up their 2015 season with a clash at Pepper Stadium against Penrith this Saturday night.