Cowboys winger Will Tupou sealed a much-needed 28-24 victory for the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys over the Newcastle Knights, skirting down the touchline to score in golden point time at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

With both sides desperate to win this round 20 clash, the game was a real arm wrestle.

Newcastle opened the scoring when Ben Rogers crossed in the 10th minute before Luke O’Donnell scored just three minutes later, swooping on a clever Matt Bowen kick and the game settled into a tussle with the scores locked at 6-6.

A solid completion rate and dominant forward charges gave the Cowboys the upper hand and when Anthony Watts scored in the 24th minute, the 12-6 lead looked like the start of bigger things to come.

Newcastle had other ideas though and after gaining some field position they struck back through winger Akula Uate to lock the game up at 12-12 as half time loomed.

A penalty conversion to Johnathan Thurston seconds from half time gave the Cowboys a 14-12 lead at the break, but when Kurt Gidley converted a similar Knights penalty five minutes into the second half, the game was again locked up at 14-14.

More repeat sets and a solid kicking game allowed the Cowboys to gradually build ascendancy again and the deadlock was broken when Willie Tonga scored in the 60th minute.

Scoring again in the 66th minute when Luke O’Donnell crossed for his second, the Cowboys held a commanding 24-14 lead with 14 minutes to go.

The Knights proved they were far from finished when Akuila Vata crossed for his second try in the 73rd minute and the crowd sensed danger.

With just under two minutes on the clock, the Knights scored again following some Cowboy handling errors and Kurt Gidley landed a sideline conversion to force a golden point showdown with the scores locked at 24-24.

The magic moment for Cowboys fans came when Tupou benefited from an overlap and raced down the touch line to score.

Both captains had fine games and apart from Luke O’Donnell’s two try haul, the Cowboys forwards led from the front with Matt Scott having a huge game.

North Queensland Toyota Cowboys 28 (Luke O’Donnell 2, Anthony Watts, Willie Tonga, Will Tupou tries, Johnathan Thurston 4 goals) d Newcastle Knights 24 (Akula Vate 2, Ben Rogers, Cooper Vuna tries, Kurt Gidley 4 goals)