A dejected Cowboys team after the game
In a must win game to resurrect their flailing season, the North Queensland Cowboys were twice denied crucial tries from match referees in their 24 to 20 defeat at the hands of the Manly Sea Eagles.
A visibly angry Jonathon Thurston collectively vented his team’s frustrations to the referees as they embarked on raid after raid towards the Manly try line in the dying minutes of the game.
But poor refereeing aside, it was the Cowboys who lost themselves the game after another lacklustre first half start that has become a trademark of their 2010 rugby league season.
Manly in contrast did turn up to play and their attacking flair found the Cowboys error prone right side lacking with Dean Whare with Michael Robertson taking advantage of some poor defence.
But for a try to Cowboys centre Ash Graham, Whare and Robertson were a lethal combination constantly exposing the Cowboys right side underbelly to give them a dominating 24 – 6 half time lead.
The crowd of 13 000 fans at Dairy Farmer’s Stadium cheered the Cowboys on in sweltering conditions who sparked a second half comeback helped by the early loss of Manly player Jamie Lyon to injury.
Three unanswered tries by Ash Graham, Will Tupou and Luke O’Donnell had the Cowboys players enthused and looking to snatch an extraordinary win, however, Manly managed to hold on.
Long time Cowboys supporter, Andrew Lowrie, who’s been a fan since their inception into the competition in 1995 said the atmosphere in the final stages of the game was electric.
“Unfortunately the Cowboys squandered a number of certain scoring opportunities through poor execution and panic”, he said.
The vocal crowd reached fever pitch when referees denied two tries although replays clearly showed no knock on and no forward pass in the respective plays.
Although disheartened by the loss Mr Lowrie still thinks the Cowboys have a strong team.
“I think the Cowboys on paper are one of the strongest sides in the competition”, he said.
However, Mr Lowrie believes the Cowboys inconsistency will make it very difficult for them to resurrect their season but notes Parramatta last year made the finals from a similar position.
“A couple of wins in a row and we could turn it all around”, Mr Lowrie said.
MANLY 24 (D Whare 3, M Robertson tries; J Lyon 4 goals).
NORTH QUEENSLAND 20 (A Graham 2, L O’Donnell, W Tupou tries; J Thurston 2 goals).
Referees: J Robinson, A Shortall.
Crowd: 13,538.
Useful sites:
Cowboys homepage: http://www.cowboys.com.au/
Manly Sea Eagles homepage: http://www.mwse.com.au/
National Rugby League homepage: http://www.nrl.com/
