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A brave and undermanned North Queensland have held Gold Coast scoreless in the second half to claim a 6-4 NRL win.
North Queensland winger Kyle Feldt's last-ditch tackle to deny Gold Coast's Brian Kelly epitomised the Cowboys' never-say-die attitude in their 6-4 NRL win over the Titans.
Down to just two fit players on the bench and with the siren about to sound, the Cowboys' brave resistance appeared to be for nought as Kelly closed in on the tryline.
From nowhere, Feldt flew across and bundled Kelly into touch - securing the Cowboys' their third-straight victory and one that clearly meant plenty to coach Paul Green.
"That was one of the toughest wins I've ever been involved in as a player or a coach," Green said.
"That was just enormous the effort that was shown out there tonight to get the result."
With State of Origin pair Josh McGuire and Michael Morgan unavailable and Matt Scott and Justin O'Neill injured, the Cowboys had already headed south with a patched-up team.
By halftime on Sunday at Cbus Super Stadium, they were trailing 4-0 after Dale Copley's ninth try of the season, while Gideon Gela-Mosby (broken collarbone) and Corey Jensen (concussion) were already out of the game.
Despite those obstacles, the Cowboys held the Titans scoreless in the second half, meaning Jason Taumalolo's burrowing try in which he wrestled free from AJ Brimson to plant the ball down was enough to secure the win.
Green said the win displayed a character he thought his team had lost earlier this season during a four-match winless run.
"There was a couple of losses there that worried me, in particular how we defended, but I thought the last six weeks we've shown a lot better resolve in defence," Green said.
"The form that we've shown in that period has been built off the back of that defence."
While the Cowboys celebrated, it was a hollow feeling at fulltime for the Titans.
Against a tiring opponent, the Titans opted twice to take penalty goal shots in favour of pushing for a try, missing both.
The second attempt came with just six minutes to play and was taken by Tyrone Roberts after star halfback Ash Taylor opted out after his earlier miss.
Roberts' miss came after he'd been floored following a kick by Kurt Baptiste - a challenge that led to the Cowboys' utility being placed on report.
With Kevin Proctor's try ruled out for a knock-on, the penalty was awarded where Roberts' bomb had landed but the Titans' captain narrowly missed his attempt.
Despite that, the Titans thought they had the match won when Tyrone Peachey's grubber and regather broke the resolute Cowboys' defensive line and found Kelly wide open on the left wing.
That was before Feldt's dramatic intervention.
"We kept coming at them. We just couldn't finally get that knockout blow, unfortunately," Titans coach Garth Brennan said.
"We had some opportunities and we just couldn't nail it. We'll learn from that."
The defeat leaves the Titans second last on the competition ladder with six points, while North Queensland join four other teams around the top eight with 12 points.
