Cowboys continue Cruise Mode
Cowboys 22 def Saints 18
North Queensland survived a desperate late surge from St George Illawarra to post a 22-18 victory in their round three NRL clash in Wollongong on Saturday evening.
The Cowboys were dominant for most of the match and raced ahead to post 22 unanswered points, but lost their way when captain Johnathan Thurston was sin-binned for a professional foul in the 63rd minute.
Dragons youngster Richard Williams bagged his second brace of the campaign, filling in for injured five-eighth Ben Hornby, and Wes Naiqama set up a thrilling climax when he converted Luke McDougall's 77th minute try from the sideline to close the gap to just four points.
The Cowboys managed to close out the Dragons to seal victory, with Thurston turning in a brilliant performance to announce himself as the form player of the competition.
His sin-binning late in the piece was the only blemish on an otherwise flawless display from the number seven, who scored the opening try of the match before laying on another three for his team-mates
Ashley Graham (fourth minute), Brenton Bowen (29th), and foundation centre Paul Bowman (50th) crossed for the visitors, while Thurston added three conversions to notch up a personal tally of 14 points for match.
Fleet-footed custodian Matt Bowen was ubiquitous for the red-hot Cowboys who have made a perfect start to the season with three victories from three rounds.
Earlier, the Cowboys picked up where they had left off after last week's 43-6 demolition of the Roosters to race to a 16-0 half-time lead in Wollongong.
The Dragons, who lost 16-12 last round to the Knights, welcomed back injury-plagued half-back Mathew Head, while the Cowboys were without veteran playmaker Jason Smith.
