Cowboys record memorable derby win

Matthew Scott and Johnathan Thurston have fired the North Queensland Cowboys to a famous 27-14 win over their nearest rivals Brisbane in front of 21,340 fans at 1300SMILES Stadium.

Both sides started with plenty of fire, each crossing the line in the opening minutes only to be held up by desperation in defence from their opposites. Rory Kostjasyn on Matt Gillett stopped the Broncos opening the scoring, before Gillett held up Michael Morgan.

Scott opened the scoring for the Cowboys with a rollicking burst up the guts - the Cowboys then doubled that with a sharp break from Morgan put Kane Linnett into space. Amongst all this Johnathan Thurston left the field with a head knock, not returning til just before halftime. North Queensland held a 14-0 lead going into the break.

Six minutes into the second stanza Jack Reed latched on to a wayward Thurston pass on his own 10m line, sprinting to halfway before finding Daniel Vidot, who made it to the Cowboys 20m line before being dragged down. The Broncos merely played the numbers for Ben Hunt to score in the corner moments later and the visitors were finally on the board. Reed looked to have brought Brisbane right back into it after chasing down a Barba chip ahead, however the video referee analysed the situation and found Reed had overshot the ball.

Hunt rectified the error on the hour mark, bringing the margin back to just four points with a show-and-go, before the Cowboys lifted the tempo and crossed through Ethan Lowe after forcing a repeat set. The hosts then conceded through Dale Copley out wide before Thurston potted a field goal to push the leading margin to seven with two minutes remaining. A late try to Rory Kostjasyn gave North Queensland breathing space and a final margin of 13 points.

Next week Brisbane play on (surprise, surprise) Friday night when they host the Titans in another Queensland derby, while the Cowboys' Women in League Round clash happens on Saturday night against the Roosters, again in Townsville.

NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS (27)
Tries: Matthew Scott, Kane Linnett, Ethan Lowe, Rory Kostjasyn
Field Goals: Johnathan Thurston (1/1)
Conversions: Johnathan Thurston (4/4)
Penalty Goals: Johnathan Thurston (1/1)

BRISBANE BRONCOS (14)
Tries: Ben Hunt (2), Dale Copley
Conversions: Corey Parker (1/2), Dale Copley (0/1)

LATE MAIL: Cowboys - Robert Lui returns in the side for Ray Thompson. Scott Bolton shifts into the starting 13, Tariq Sims has been ruled out through suspension. Ethan Lowe comes onto the bench.

LATE MAIL: - Jake Granville is the only change on the Brisbane bench.

Minutes away from kick off at 1300SMILES Stadium...

1: UNDERWAY in North Queensland

10: TRY NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Scored by Matthew Scott. Kick to come.
Johnathan Thurston throws a beautiful pass to Matthew Scott to charges over Ben Barba to post first points for the Cowboys

11: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
Thurston makes no mistake with the conversion from out wide of the uprights.

14: SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Penalty goal attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
Johnathan Thurston opting for a penalty goal to extend the lead for the Cowboys

16: TRY NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Scored by Kane Linnett. Kick to come.
Kane Linnett takes a short pass from Michael Morgan who bolted 50 metres before linking with his centre. Brilliant play by the Cowboys to break the defence of the Broncos

18: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
Thurston remains perfect with the kicking tee tonight to slot the extras.

40: HALF TIME at 1300SMILES Stadium: Cowboys 14 lead Broncos 0

55: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Ben Hunt. Kick to come.
Ben Hunt takes on the line and slams the ball over the white wash for the Broncos first try

56: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Corey Parker unsuccessful.
Parker is unable to convert and the score remains

60: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Ben Hunt. Kick to come.
Ben Hunt has his second try of the night as he takes on the line.

62: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Corey Parker successful.
Corey Parker slots the conversion from next to the posts

70: TRY NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Scored by Ethan Lowe. Kick to come.
Ethan Lowe takes a simple offload from Scott and the Cowboys extend their lead

72: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
Thurston swings the conversion over the posts to convert

75: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Dale Copley. Kick to come.
Dale Copley gets the GREEN LIGHTS from the video referee as he crashes over in the corner. Broncos not done yet.

77: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Dale Copley unsuccessful.
Corey Parker hits the uprights from the sideline and it's waived away

78: SUCCESSFUL FIELD GOAL NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Field goal attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
Thurston snaps a field goal from 20 metres out and the Cowboys make it a 7 point lead

79: TRY NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Scored by Rory Kostjasyn. Kick to come.
Rory Kostjasy gets the GREEN LIGHTS as he darted away from a Robert Lui short pass. He dived next to the posts and took the pads as he went over.

80: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
Thurston with the conversion attempt slots the extras to close out the game.

80: FULL TIME at 1300SMILES Stadium sees the Cowboys victorious over the Broncos, 27-14