NYC Rd 24 Dragons 34 North Qld 16

by NRL

The North Queensland Cowboys NYC team were kept scoreless in the second half as St George Illawarra returned to the Toyota Cup top eight with a 34-16 win at WIN Stadium in Wollongong.

The 12th-placed Cowboys looked on track to cause another away game upset when they led 16-4 nearing half time.

However an error on halfway gave the Dragons the final chance with the ball before the break and they took advantage with a try to fullback Adam Quinlan, who slid over in the corner.

To make it more deflating for the Cowboys, Daniel Burke added the conversion from near the sideline to bring the home team to within six.

They were level not long after the restart with giant interchange forward Kem Seru barging over near the posts to give Burke a much easier kick to make it 16-all.

Although they didn't manage to score in the second 40 minutes, the Cowboys had plenty of chances and were not outplayed as much as a 24-0 scoreline in the second half would indicate.

Both Jack Svendsen and Nathan Norford were held up by desperate Dragons defence over the line, while Chris Grevsmuhl was disallowed a try for a double movement.

In the end, the Cowboys' poor completion rate in the second half cruelled their chances of backing up the win against the Warriors in round 23.

Centre Charly Runciman sped over in the set after a North Queensland forward pass in the 59th minute to allow the Dragons to kick 12 clear, and they added two tries in the last 11 minutes to blow the winning margin out to 18 points.

In the first half, Junior Kangaroos centre Kyle Feldt gave the Cowboys a great start when he plucked a third minute intercept before running 40 metres to score.

Samsen O'Neill added a second NQ try before the Dragons finally responded via Quinlan in the 21st minute.

Prop Nick Dorante's barge over from close to the line put the Cowboys 12 clear and in control until Quinlan's second try arrived just before half time.

Fullback Zac Santo, who again shone in attack in a rare tryless outing, produced a defensive highlight on full time, chasing down a runaway Dragon and putting him into touch when all seemed lost.

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