In a match that was too close for comfort, it was the boot of North Queensland Cowboys skipper Johnathan Thurston that proved the difference in the squads 30-26 victory over the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles on Monday night.
Sea Eagles five-eighth Jamie Lyon will be kicking himself over his two missed conversion attempts in what appeared for large chunks of the match like it was going to be one of the big upset results of the season with the 14th seeded visitors showing a lot of pluck against the defending premiers.
But to the victors go the spoils and by notching their eighth straight victory at home the Cowboys are still within striking distance of the first placed Cronulla Shark and second place Melbourne Storm and an all important top two finish which will create an easier path through the finals for them to hopefully become repeat competition winners.
It was (in a just world) 2016 club MVP Jason Taumalolo who bagged the first try of the match with a rampaging run in the 11th minute to put the Cowboys up 6-0 after Thurston’s conversion, but the see-saw tipped in the other direction soon after with Daly Cherry-Evans outpacing Cowboys speedster Justin O’Neill for a 50 metre try to get the Sea Eagles on the board with an unsuccessful conversion attempt making it 6-4.
Minutes later the pendulum swung again with Antonio Winterstein crossing in the corner to put the Cowboys back ahead 12-4, and a well placed Jake Granville grubber found a streaking Lachlan Coote a short time later to make it 18-4 at the half with the Cowboys appearing to have the match well in hand.
But Manly came out of the locker room looking recharged and proceeded to bully the Cowboys up the middle with a four pointer from Siosaia Vave and a double from Addin Fonua-Blake in 20 minutes sending the Cowboys reeling as the visitors took a 22-18 lead.
While the Sea Eagles played lights out over that period, the Cowboys did themselves no favours with several handling errors gifting Manly excellent field position to start their attacks from.
But just as the northerners appeared to be on the ropes their premiership calibre form reemerged and soon after James Tamou put one in to give the Cowboys a 24-22 lead after Thurston’s conversion, withTaumalolo crossing for his second try of the night in the 69th minute with the successful kick making it 30-22.
The Sea Eagles gave the Cowboys and close to 16,000 fans in attendance one last scare with Lewis Brown crossing with five minutes left before the final siren, but the home side managed to hold down the fort over the last few tackles to secure the win.
Not much separated the two sides in the stats department with the two missed Lyon conversions and 11 errors to the Cowboys seven proving the only notable disparities on the night.
Thurtson was impeccable as usual going a perfect five from five on conversion attempts while also notching up two try assists, while in addition to his two try effort Taumalolo also led all players with 199 metres gained.
The next test for the Cowboys will come against Inglis & Co when they take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Barlow Park on Sunday afternoon in a match the home side will be desperate to win as they continue to spiral out of the top eight.
