The Cronulla Sharks have come from behind twice to stun the North Queensland Cowboys 20-14 at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
Coming off the back of a win against reigning champions Manly on Monday night, the Sharks scored late tries in both halves to claim their first win against the Cowboys since 2010.
Trailing by eight points in the dying minutes of the first half, the Sharks scored two tries in two minutes to take a surprise 14-10 lead into the break.
Half-back Jeff Robson’s grubber took a fortunate deflection off the goal post padding to bamboozle Johnathan Thurston and allow Andrew Fifita to score.
It was a Thurston dropped ball a minute later that allowed the Sharks to take the lead with Ben Pomeroy getting across the line.
Fullback Matt Bowen, who was the attacking linchpin for the Cowboys as co-captain Thurston struggled to find his kicking range, set up first half tries for Gavin Cooper and Ash Graham and scored one himself from dummy half on 43 minutes to put the sides on an even pegging.
But Paul Gallen, who had been in the thick of the action all night, put the Sharks back into the lead on 72 minutes when he spun past three defenders to give Cronulla back to back wins.
The Sharks will be sweating on the fitness of fullback Nathan Gardner, who was helped off the field after being accidentally knocked unconscious by a Brent Tate knee on 42 minutes, and missed the remainder of the match.
The Cowboys will also have some worry with Bowen, whose kicking game and magic from dummy half kept his side in the match, was put on report for a late hit on Gardner in the first half.