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North Queensland have held off a fast-finishing Sydney Roosters to register a heart-stopping 24-22 NRL victory in Townsville.
The Roosters let slip two golden opportunities to win the game in the final three minutes, instead the glamour club slipping to their sixth straight loss.
Halfback Mitchell Pearce only had to find support in the 77th minute but his pass sailed wide, and the visitors were denied again in the final 30 seconds with desperate Cowboys defence sealing their eighth win of the season.
The Roosters could suffer a heavy toll from their latest loss with captain Braith Anasta assisted from the field in the 69th minute with what a appeared to be a serious leg injury.
The Cowboys, through State of Origin commitments, were without an arsenal of stars including Johnathan Thurston, Willie Tonga and Luke O’Donnell while the Roosters went into the match without Willie Mason, who was ruled out with a knee injury.
The Roosters also had to overcome a horror pre-game lead-up with coach Brad Fittler fining himself $10,000 after a drunken episode early on Friday morning.
The loss of strike power failed to deter either side and the points flowed freely in the first half with seven tries run in.
The Roosters exploded out of the blocks to lead 10-0 after tries to Ben Jones (first minute) and Shane Shackleton (fourth) rocked the locals.
The early blitz didn’t last and the Cowboys hit back with three soft tries on the Roosters’ line to Carl Webb (15th), Travis Burns (18th) and Aaron Payne (25th) to take the lead 18-10.
The Roosters’ Anthony Cherrington capitalised on the sinbinning of Cowboys debutant Michael Bani in the 31st minute to score a minute later.
But it wasn’t enough to halt the home side’s momentum with Steve Southern crossing in the 35th to seal a 24-16 lead at the break.
The Roosters had a golden chance to close the gap in the 56th minute if it hadn’t been for a desperate Bani holding up Sam Perrett over the line in a brilliant try-saving tackle.
The visitors did manage to cross three minutes later when Mitchell Aubusson finished off a backline move started by Anasta to close the gap to two.
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