The North Queensland Cowboys have kept their winning streak alive following their 19-8 victory over the Manly Sea Eagles at Brookvale Oval in front of a healthy crowd.
Things started slowly for both sides although the Cowboys had three big chances denied early on before it was the home side who were looking resplendent in their heritage jerseys who scored and it was debutant Dean Matterson who got over. The debutant found the space on the outside and was on the field via Reuben Garrick leaving the field after needing to undergo a HIA.
The Cowboys hit back just shy of the half-hour mark as they started to grow in dominance as Reuben Cotter backed up his strong Origin series with a try after Valentine Holmes went through the middle beating the defence easily before finding Cotter who was backing up.
It was starting to quickly become one-way traffic to close out the half as the North Queenslanders began to dominate field position and possession as they went over just a few minutes later when Tom Dearden broke through the line after the defence fell for a dummy and then the Cowboys five-eighth found Jeremiah Nanai who went through reasonably untouched.
A Chad Townsend field goal finished off the opening half of action with an angled strike hit sweetly to give the Cowboys a 13-4 lead at half-time.
Both sides had tries denied by the officials inside the first seven minutes with Reuben Garrick having an effort for Manly overturned by the bunker for a knock-on in the lead-up and then the Cowboys were denied for an attacker taking out a defender.
Back-to-back penalties put Manly into good attacking position off the back of a quick tap for Lachlan Croker and they finally took advantage when Brad Parker went over out wide. The Sea Eagles missed another conversion to keep the margin at 5 points.
The magic that Scott Drinkwater has shown this season has been remarkable and yet again he showed how he can change the game in an instant as he turned something into nothing to score the important try under the posts. Valentine Holmes went 3/3 with the boot for the night as he converted from in front.
Neither side could manage to break the others goal-line despite both sides having ample opportunities at the end to do so. The Cowboys held onto the 19-8 victory for a much important fifth straight win.
Next weekend, The Sea Eagles have a tough Sunday afternoon clash in the shire against Cronulla, whilst the Cowboys head back to Townsville for a big clash against the Parramatta Eels next Saturday night.