The Brisbane Broncos spoilt the party two decades ago and they’ve done it again, holding off a big Warriors’ fightback for a 24-16 NRL victory in Auckland.

It took a try to hooker Andrew McCullough with 30 seconds to go to seal the win after a Corey Parker penalty had nudged the visitors ahead.

The Broncos were the Warriors’ first opponents when the latter entered the competition in 1995 and they were 25-22 winners that night.

In the 20th anniversary re-match on Sunday, it looked like they would run away with the contest when up 16-0 at half-time at Mt Smart Stadium.

But the Warriors, having spent plenty of time in the own territory, came back out with the second wind.

They finally managed to get a fair share of possession and got on the board after a Shaun Johnson’s bomb was batted back for Chad Townsend to score.

The game then opened up and the Warriors continued to threaten, but mistakes stymied their hopes.

However, they got themselves back in touch with 15 minutes to go when former Canberra back Matt Allwood scored on debut for his new club.

Five minutes later, another Johnson bomb led to Solomone Kata’s fourth try in four matches of his rookie season.

Johnson couldn’t convert to leave the score tied.

The Broncos’ win was their first at Mt Smart Stadium since 2009, ending a run of four losses at the ground.

They built plenty of momentum in the opening 40 minutes, helped by their repeated off-loading, Parker prolific in setting up second phase.

With Ben Hunt accurate with his kicking game, the visitors camped inside Warriors territory.

The home side, starved of possession, weren’t helped by a high mistake rate, which led to two of the Broncos’ three tries in the half.

Jonathan Wright’s drop from a bomb was punished with marker Corey Oates going over off an excellent Justin Hodges cut-out pass.

Another slick attack created the opening on the other side for Lachlan Maranta to dot down.

With half-time approaching, winger Manu Vatuvei lost the ball in a play-the-ball and the Broncos took advantage, Jarrod Wallace forcing his way over for his first NRL try.

The Warriors did have one huge chance to get on the board at 10-0 down, but Townsend’s big break died when his pass went behind his support.