The North Queensland Cowboys have turned back the clock as they managed to take a 19-18 victory over the Brisbane Broncos at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
The game looked as if it was going to be a high scoring affair early on and in an eventful night it was the first try from Kyle Feldt that left many in awe and questioning how. Feldt looked to have been wrapped up completely in a tackle before an elastic arm came out to ground the ball.
The Broncos hit back just one set later when Xavier Coates got over the line after some deception from Jamayne Isaako to draw in defenders before finding Coates who scored. Isaako converting from out wide levelled the scores at 6-6.
Both sides came under pressure but it was the Broncos who came closest next when Thomas Flegler was held up short of the line after the Cowboys didn't want anything to do with an Anthony Milford bomb and a Tevita Pangai junior miracle offload sent Flegler close. The Broncos though were the next to get over the line when Rhys Kennedy went over after Tyson Gamble deceived the defence into thinking he was going out the back instead of the short ball which sent Kennedy over. Isaako converted to give the Broncos a 12-6 lead.
On the stroke of halftime, the Broncos were lucky not to go down to 12 men as Matt Lodge slowed play down and the Cowboys took the penalty goal to close the score to 12-8 at the break.
The second half saw the Cowboys have some more dominance and they scored fifteen minutes into the second half when Scott Drinkwater was able to dink a little kick through and Connelly Lemuelu chased through to the ball and got it first. Valentine Holmes couldn't put the Cowboys into the lead with his conversion attempt.
Brisbane weren't going to go down without throwing another punch and creating something out of nothing the Broncos were able to cross through Jesse Arthars. Jamayne Isaako put the conversion over from 9m in from touch to give the Broncos a six-point lead.
Errors cost the Cowboys good field position but eventually the pressure they applied became too much when Jason Taumalolo charged his way over the line to score under the posts and the Cowboys were back level.
Valentine Holmes became the hero for the Cowboys as he sealed the match-winning field goal but it wasn't a conventional lead up for the North Queenslanders who initially set up for Jake Clifford to kick the one-pointer but he juggled the ball and it was left to Holmes to seal the game.
Both sides will have a nervous wait before Magic Round with no less than 5 players put on report by referee Chris Sutton for varying incidents throughout the contest. At Magic Round the Broncos take on Manly on Friday night whilst the Cowboys take on the Raiders on Saturday night.