And that'll be it! Valentine Holmes delivers in front of his home crowd and the Cowboys will win their first game since late June! He was right in front 20 metres out and the kick never looked like missing! A great game has a great finish
Valentine Holmes' kick is charged down and the Dragons knock it on! Cowboys will have a full set in prime position to put one over
It's the last...
Cowboys are well within range
Corey Norman strikes it well but it is again off to the right and the Cowboys will have 7 tackles
Tyson Frizell takes a run that could get his side within range
Scott Drinkwater kicks on the 4th and the Cowboys pin Dufty inside 10 metres of his own tryline
Underway in golden point and it's the Cowboys who will receive
Zac Lomax also misses to the right and that will be it for regular time! We are off to golden point!
Jake Clifford misses the field goal to the right and the Dragons will have one last roll of the dice
The Dragons put a kick in through Corey Norman and Holmes returns it and will play the ball just ahead of the 20 metre line. Cowboys could be in field goal range by the end of this set
Zac Lomax kicks the goal amidst a seas of boos and we could be headed for golden point with just over two minutes to go
Penalty to the Dragons quite late in the count and they will take the two points. The kick is no gimme but Lomax should convert given how he's been striking them tonight
The Dragons make 73 metres and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow takes the catch before streaking away, but Corey Norman took him out 20 metres away from the Cowboys line and the Dragons have another attacking opportunity
Drinkwater kicks on the 4th and finds touch, forcing the Dragons to go 90 metres if they want to score this set
The Cowboys complete and Mikaele Ravalawa will play it 20 out from his own line on the first
Justin O'Neill makes a good run first up, almost reaching the 20
Norman kicks early in the count looking for Mikaele Ravalawa but it was too big and went over the sideline. Cowboys need a big set here
Cowboys only make 40 metres and Jake Clifford's kick is very poor, finding Zac Lomax on the full
Jordan McLean is dominated in the first tackle of the set, the Dragons defence showing some real intent
Valentine Holmes misses to the left
And they do just that! Scott Drinkwater again comes up with the assist, probing around the right side of the field before getting away from Adam Clune and passing it out to an unmarked Kyle Feldt, who gets the Cowboys in front
Cowboys kick for touch and have a great opportunity to post some points
Valentine Holmes does very well with the kick return, beating two defenders before passing it out to Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow who plays it on the 30 metre line. The Cowboys get a penalty 45 out from the Dragons line
Blake Lawrie gets the Dragons set off to a strong start
Zac Lomax edges his side ahead. Exciting finish hopefully coming up
Penalty to the Dragons right in front and they will take the two points on offer
Francis Molo's offload goes wrong and the Cowboys hand possession right back to the Dragons
Norman's kick is poor, Justin O'Neill takes it comfortably and makes a few more metres before being put down
A real momentum killer as Clifford kicks on the third looking for a 40/20, but he came up with the worst possible result with the ball sailing out on the full. Chance for the Dragons to hit back
Francis Molo offloads on the second tackle and the Cowboys are on the attack
Holmes converts his own try from beside the upright. Ben Hunt is on report for an attempted trip on Holmes as he was scoring the try
Both sides going try for try as the Cowboys hit back! It was great play from Scott Drinkwater who demanded the ball on the last, he then motioned to go right and got all the Dragons defenders moving that way before popping the ball inside for Valentine Holmes who went over almost untouched to score his third try as a Cowboy.
Cotter goes again from dummy half but doesn't get there
Great set from the Cows as they make 61 metres and Jordan Pereira puts the ball down. It went backwards and Adam Clune tidied up but he was then hit hard by Francis Molo and the Cowboys will have a repeat set
A strong run from Kaide Ellis almost gets the Dragons to halfway. A tackle later the ball is kicked into touch by the Dragons and this time it'll be the Cowboys playing the yardage game
Scott Drinkwater's kick is inch perfect and goes over the sideline rather than the dead ball line. Both sides will have a break before the Dragons work it out of their own end
Jake Clifford turns momentum by stripping Matthew Dufty 1 on 1. The Cowboys needed that
Dragons only make 21 metres in that set and the kick from Norman finds Valentine Holmes on the full, who passes to Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow who is SMASHED by Ravalawa and coughs the ball up as a result. Dragons will be the ones with the good field position
Jake Clifford's kick is fielded by Jordan Pereira who is driven back a long way but not quite into the in goal
The Dragons streak 90 metres up field on the set after points with Norman again making the break and again making a bit of a mess of the pass. The Cowboys end up with possession though
Zac Lomax hits it well and converts for his side
The Dragons hit right back! Adam Clune took the ball to the line beating a defender and then giving it to Jacob Host who was too strong for Kyle Feldt and Valentine Holmes
Mikaele Ravalawa gets away from Scott Drinkwater on the kick return and will play it 35 out from his own line
Corey Norman's cross field kick is defused well by Justin O'Neill, Cowboys now working it out from their own end
A good set has an indifferent ending, with Scott Drinkwater's bomb barely going 15 metres and it's a double knock on, with the first infringement coming from the Cows. Dragons have the ball
Corey Jensen again takes the hit up
Valentine Holmes absolutely nails it from the sideline and the scores are tied once again
Try confirmed! Jake Clifford was the man who started it all with a bomb that was sensationally allowed to bounce by Dufty. It bounced into the hands of Valentine Holmes who chinked across field and found Kyle Feldt, who got the arm free and offloaded to Jake Clifford, the man who put the original kick in, to dive in and score the try. What a start to the half for the Cowboys!
Going upstairs for a possible Cowboys try, the ref reckons they've done it!
Underway and Corey Jensen takes the first hit up of the half
Both sides are back on the field ahead of the second 40
Zac Lomax kicks the goal from 40 metres out and that'll be half time
Corey Norman has just completely bombed a try, he was in open space and had about 3 of his mates to his left and somehow collected Aitken around the thigh area, however there was an infringement earlier by the Cowboys and the Dragons will take the two points on offer
Kick from Mitchell Dunn is a little underwhelming as it rolls over the sideline. I don't think either team would object to the half time whistle sounding a couple of minutes early
Euan Aitken steps around Justin O'Neill who isn't having the best defensive game, but the cover defence gets him to the ground
Corey Norman's kick is cleverly taken with a foot in the in goal by Valentine Holmes, who earns his side 7 tackles and they are now on the attack
Dragons run it on the last and Euan Aitken is wrapped up and will hand the ball over
Kaide Ellis takes the opening hit up for the Dragons this time
Zac Lomax misses to the left but the effort from him to get the flick pass away to Ravalawa cannot be understated
An elite effort from Mikaele Ravalawa, it wasn't the usual diving effort you see from wingers today, he stayed upright the whole time while having Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow try to get him into touch and only just got the ball down in time. Dragons hit the lead
Going upstairs for a possible Dragons try, the referee thinks Ravalawa got it down
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow puts Holmes through a gap who is able to get it back to the flying winger. The chip in behind the defensive line a tackle later is knocked on by the Cowboys and the Dragons survive with a 7 tackle set coming up
Corey Norman drops it in the tackle and the Cowboys hold on, receiving a set restart shortly afterwards
Dragons complete after points and get a result on the last, with the Cowboys halfback Jake Clifford knocking on in trying to clean up
Blake Lawrie gets things started off the kickoff
Zac Lomax nails it from out wide
They go one better than an attacking kick! Cameron McInnes went from dummy half to Ben Hunt who summed up the situation well to put his centre Euan Aitken over the line untouched. Dragons will look to level up with the kick
Corey Norman makes a break and the Dragons have a chance to put in an attacking kick
Ben Hunt kicks on tackle 4 and Holmes just brings it back into the field of play
The outside inside play is very well read by Euan Aitken, who not only manages to make the tackle but strips it one on one.
Mikaele Ravalawa again drops the ball. Cowboys now on the attack
Jordan Pereira makes the catch for the Dragons and they are working it out of their own end
Ben Hunt passes it forward out of dummy half. It's been a scrappy game so far
Josh Mcguire makes a loose carry and the Dragons have the ball
Terrible end to the set for the Dragons, with Adam Clune putting way too much weight on the grubber as it hit the back fence with force. 7 tackle set for the Cowboys coming up
Set restart for SGI
The pass from Valentine Holmes is put down by Justin O'Neill, the cutout to the winger was probably on but the Dragons survive
Jordan McLean makes a damaging run, getting rid of two tacklers and making 15 or 20 metres. Jake Clifford chips over the top a tackle later and earns the Cowboys a repeat set
It's a horro show for Adam Clune, who drops it cold off the scrum win and hands possession to the Cowboys
Overlap is thwarted by Scott Drinkwater, who got a hand to the cutout ball and prevented the overlap. Fresh set coming up for the Dragons
Kick from Scott Drinkwater just sits up in the corner but if counts for naught as the Dragons get a piggyback penalty on the 2nd
Cowboys roll upfield relatively easily and the kick from Clifford is better, with Dufty being wrapped up roughly 15 out from his own line
Jake Clifford kicks on the 4th from inside the 40 but it finds Matthew Dufty on the full. He gets the Dragons set off to a good start
Jordan McLean gets things restarted with a hit up for the Cowboys
Holmes makes no mistake
The Cowboys are in! Francis Molo steamed onto a crash ball from Reuben Cotter and barges his way over some quite soft defence. Easy kick coming up for from in front of the posts
Corey Norman drops it in behind Holmes who redeems himself and returns it just short of the 10. His side gets a relieving penalty a few tackles later
Kyle Feldt knocks on in the aerial contest with Ravalawa and the Dragons have the ball
Reuben Cotter goes from dummy half but is well held up by McInnes
Ravalawa raises Holmes an ace and knocks on on tackle 1! Matt Dufty scurried around defenders and gave Mikaele Ravalawa the ball in space but he dropped it. Cowboys survive and are now on the attack themselves after a set restart
Dragons winning the field position battle early and Valentine Holmes has a shocker. He tried to bend down to grab the ball and fumbled it under no pressure at all. Dragons with a huge opportunity early on in this one
Both sides go set for set, this time Mikaele Ravalawa plays it on his own 20
Strong set for the Dragons who complete first up, Valentine Holmes will play it just beyond his own 10 metre line
Underway and Blake Lawrie will take the first hit up of the match for the Dragons
Ben Hunt leads the Dragons onto the field in his 250th match
Hello and welcome to LeagueUnlimited’s coverage to the final game of Round 17 and we are up north at QCB Stadium for the Cowboys verses the Dragons. Neither of these sides are a realistic chance of playing in the finals however there will be plenty of pride, with the Cowboys looking to snap a 9 game losing streak in front of their home faithful and the Dragons looming to bounce back from last weeks final minute loss to the Titans. Both sides are 1-17, however for the Cowboys Tom Gilbert will start and Gavin Cooper come off the bench. Just under 15 minutes until kickoff
Referees & scorers:
Referee: Adam Gee
Touch Judges: Todd Smith, Drew Oultram
Video Referee: Jared Maxwell, Ben Galea
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS (23)
Tries: Francis Molo, Valentine Holmes, Jake Clifford, Kyle Feldt
Field Goals: Valentine Holmes (1/2), Jake Clifford (0/1)
Conversions: Valentine Holmes (3/4)
Penalty Goals:
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS (22)
Tries: Euan Aitken, Mikaele Ravalawa, Jacob Host
Field Goals: Zac Lomax (0/1), Corey Norman (0/1)
Conversions: Zac Lomax (2/3)
Penalty Goals: Zac Lomax (3/3)