Cowboys edge out Sharks, Gallen injured

v BYE

The North Queensland Cowboys continued to spoil their home fans as they defeated the Cronulla Sharks 20-14 in front of 15 519 at 1300 Smiles Stadium on Saturday night.

The game was set to go down to the wire as James Maloney landed a penalty goal in the 60th minute to lock the scores up at 14 apiece. Shortly after, Paul Gallen was forced off the field and into the sheds, from which he would not return as he's been reported to have sustained ligament damage in his knee.

With a quality side still on the park including new recruits Chad Townsend and Maloney, Cronulla were determined to avenge their 39-0 thrashing that ended their season in the finals last season but it was not to be.

Ethan Lowe through sheer effort and determination ran onto a pass from 10m and angled his run back towards the posts from left field to split defenders and beat two more when he rolled over and scored a try in the 74th minute to put the Cowboys up 20-14. 

In the 15th minute it was Ethan Lowe as well, although this time he was given the fifth tackle kicking responsibilities when Michael Morgan provided him the ball on the right and short side of the field, where a 20 metre grubber kick from the forward had O'Neill scoring the first try in the corner.

The much hyped battle of the representative forward packs did not disappoint and Jason Taumalolo was arguably the best on ground. He consistently bent the Sharks defensive line and accumulated a rampaging 219 metre performance.

Despite the error-after-error theme of Round 1, borne from player fatigue caused by the new reduced interchange rule, and the scorching day across eastern Australia, both teams brought their best in attack and defence. 

The second Cowboys try in the 21st minute came from a well executed set piece, with Thurston putting a great cut out ball to Kane Linnett for him to burst past two defenders and over the line from 10 meters out on the left edge, giving the Cowboys a 12-0 advantage. 

Cronulla were fortunate to enter half time down just 12-6 because Townsend fielded a dropped bomb from Lachlan Coote in the 37th minute and raced 10m to score. 

The away side's next try would come from a craft Ben Barba set up. He ran across field, drawing the attention of the Cowboys line and fed an inside ball to Jack Bird who fought successfully to get the ball down on the try line and got the scores to 14-12 in the 49th minute. 

Coach Shane Flanagan will be sweating on the health of Gallen, as it's possible he be out several weeks. 

Next, the premiers will travel down to Pirtek Stadium where a Saturday night matchup looms with the Eels. Elsewhere, Cronulla will host the St George Illawarra Dragons at Shark Park on Sunday afternoon.