Newcastle Knights' finals hopes took another hit last night after they were run down by the Cowboys in Townsville.
After recovering from an early 16-0 deficit, the Knights got their nose in front in the second half before conceding the final four tries to go down 36-20.
The defeat was their seventh loss from their past nine games, leaving them scrambling to stay in touch with the top eight.
Defence was again the issue, with the Knights edges on both sides brittle in conceding 11 line breaks.
Newcastle got out of the blocks in typical fashion in the first half, conceding three tries in the opening 17 minutes to trail 16-0 with the Cowboys seemingly threatening on just about every set.
Every time they spun the ball wide on both sides of the ruck, the Knights defence was caught short of numbers and looked vulnerable.
Cowboys winger Murray Taulagi scored his side's first after seven minutes, stepping inside fullback Kurt Mann and hooker Jayden Brailey after being put in space for a 6-0 lead.
It was 12-0 four minutes later when hooker Reece Robson crossed from close range after poor try-line defence from the Knights failed to stop a Shane Wright off-load. The Knights were denied a Starford To'a try soon after when debutant centre Simi Sasagi was penalised for impeding a Cowboys defender and when Taulagi crossed just a minute later for the home side, it looked ominous for Newcastle at 16-0 down. But coach Adam O'Brien went to his bench for inspiration and they delivered.
Replacement prop Jesse Sue crossed 24 minutes in after some brilliant lead-up work from Phoenix Crossland to make it 16-6 before the Cowboys lost Jason Taumalolo for 10 minute in the sin bin for a high shot on Tyson Frizell.
With the big forward missing, the Knights took full advantage with centre Enari Tuala beating two Cowboys defenders to force his way over for a 16-10 scoreline.
The home side was reduced to 11 players when Lachlan Burr was also binned for a high shot on Brailey at the 30 minute mark and a minute later Jacob Saifiti put a charging Lachlan Fitzgibbon over. Crossland's conversion tied things up at 16-all. The Knights hit the front for the first time when Sasagi came up with a great pass for To'a to score in the corner. But the Cowboys responded soon after with Taulagi scoring his third try to tie it up again at 20-all.
Valentine Holmes put his side up 26-20 with a converted try midway through the second half.
