Match Details
Match Date	9th May, 2015
Opponent	North Queensland
Result	Loss 16-23
Coach	Des Hasler
Captain	Aiden Tolman
Venue	Townsville (1300 Smiles Stadium)
Crowd	15,794
Referee	Ben Cummins Henry Perenara

They left it late, but the Cowboys have extended their run of NRL wins to six straight after beating the Bulldogs 23-16 in Townsville.

Cruising at 12-0 at half-time, North Queensland surrendered 16 unanswered points in the second half.

But late tries to Gavin Cooper and a superb 70-metre effort from Michael Morgan allowed them to snatch the lead back before five-eighth Johnathan Thurston sealed the win with his 77th minute field goal.

The Bulldogs came into the match missing James Graham and Josh Reynolds to suspension as well as Brett Morris and Greg Eastwood to injury although they welcomed back Josh Morris from an ankle complaint.

The Cowboys had their own concerns with Scott Bolton’s freak fishing injury forcing him to the sideline with Jason Taumalolo and Tautau Moga.

Points were hard to find in the first half, although the Cowboys enjoyed the bulk of possession in enemy territory. The home side crossed three times only to be denied legitimately by the video referee before Morgan broke the deadlock in the 30th minute when he used his show and go to bamboozle the defensive line by beating Morris over the line.

Winger Matthew Wright extended the lead with his try in the shadows of half-time, Thurston converting both tries from the sideline to give his side a 12-0 advantage at the break. Josh Jackson got the Bulldogs back into the match with a controversial 49th minute try, the video referee giving the green light despite replays showing a possible double movement.

Four minutes later the visitors were in again, Corey Thompson crossing before Trent Hodkinson’s conversion locked the scores at 12-all.

Former Cowboy Curtis Rona then reminded his old side what they are missing, extending his lead at the top of the 2015 try scorers’ list with an intercept and an 80-metre dash to steal the lead in the 62nd minute.

Cooper burrowed over in the 72nd minute before Morgan sliced through three minutes later to steal the win.

Meanwhile, Parramatta finally have their ‘‘Semi-trailer’’ back for Sunday’s clash against Melbourne - and there’s a growing faction that want him backing up all the way into Origin. Eels winger Semi Radradra makes his long-awaited return to NRL action after suffering a knee injury in just the second game of the season.

The flying Fijian missed out on last week’s Test against Papua New Guinea, but the success of the representative weekend attracted debate this week on whether players from the Pacific nations should be available to play State of Origin. Eels coach Brad Arthur, for one, is a fan of the idea.

‘‘I think it’d be good to have the best players playing at the best level,’’ he said on Saturday.

‘‘But I’ll leave that for the experts to make those decisions. I don’t think Semi would be out of place though.’’ For now, last year’s Dally M Winger of the Year will have to make do with wowing Parramatta fans again, beginning with a clash against third-placed Storm at Pirtek Stadium.

‘‘I’m sure the fans will be pleased to see him back on the park,’’ Arthur said. ‘‘He’s a really good try-scorer for us, but one of his strengths and something he worked very hard on in the pre-season this year was his defence.

‘‘Having him back on the wing will just give us a bit more stability with our decision-making on the edges.’’

Source: The Sun Herald

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