It was an improvement on their past performances but Newcastle couldn't hold a four-point halftime lead and went down 36-16 to North Queensland in Townsville on Saturday night.
Out to break a six-game losing streak, the Knights matched the Cowboys in the first half and went into the sheds leading 16-12 after a spirited display and far better attacking play.
But the home side scored three unanswered tries in the first 20 minutes after the break to shoot to a commanding 30-16 lead and always looked likely from that point on.
The Knights lost back-rower Jack Johns to a suspected broken arm and winger Edrick Lee to concussion midway through the second half, in addition to Tyson Frizell being ruled out with illness pre-game.
Newcastle's three tries in the first half would have given coach Adam O'Brien some hope his side were on track for their first win since round two, but the in-form Cowboys proved too good in the second stanza, working the Knights through the middle third of the field and showing greater desire.
The Cowboys had taken a 6-0 lead in the first few minutes of the game after Newcastle gave away a penalty in the opening set, but the Knights struck back in the 10th minute after a Scott Drinkwater error offered them a set of six 10 metres out from the try-line.
With Kalyn Ponga feeding the scrum, Chris Randall scooped up the ball from the back of the pack and it went right through the hands of Ponga and five-eighth Tex Hoy to winger Dom Young who finished off the well executed set-play in the corner.
The Cowboys hit back in the 25th minute before Ponga set-up Jacob Saifiti for the Knights' second a few minutes later with a neatly placed grubber that bounced perfectly off the right goal post for the prop.
The Knights then took the lead when hooker Chris Randall latched onto a Tex Hoy offload and bolted through a gap to help put his side ahead 16-12 two minutes before halftime.
But almost immediately after the break, the Cowboys scored two tries in the space of three minutes and found a third in the 58th minute before Heilum Luki crossed again six minutes out from full-time.
Newcastle didn't build the pressure they could have in the first half, at times making errors and conceding penalties just when they looked to be creating some ascendancy.
Their second-half performance was a real let down on their earlier showing.
The loss leaves Newcastle at the bottom of the NRL ladder and with a two-and-seven record after nine rounds.
O'Brien might be heartened by the fact the club plays the Bulldogs, who are running second-last, in Magic Round next week but his players will need to improve again if they are to finally break their now seven-game losing streak.
