The Dragons went down to the Cowboys 32-28 in a 12-try shootout at Allianz Stadium on Saturday evening.
The contest started in less than ideal fashion for the Red V with Jasmine Peters skying to take in a Lydia Turua-Quedley and dive over to cap off their opening set.
To add insult to injury, Nita Maynard-Perrin left the field having spent a bulk of the set down in back-play with a dislocated elbow.
The Cowboys managed their second just seven minutes in through Charlize Lloyd-Phillips to make it a double-digit game before Essay Banu crashed over for the Cowboys – despite a desperate Hannah Southwell cover effort – to make it three tries in 10 minutes.
Spurred by a Kasey Reh break, the Dragons crafted a needed answer their next opportunity catching North Queensland’s left edge short as Jayme Millard slid over in the corner off a Tahlia O’Brien delivery.
The Red V’s attack roared to life off the back of it with Tori Shipton slicing through up the middle from her own side of half-way and finding a supporting Teagan Berry who held onto the ball and went over untouched under the sticks.
In frustrating fashion for the Dragons, Lloyd-Phillips nabbed her second on the stroke of half-time off a pinpoint Rosie Kelly kick to push the visitors back ahead by double-digits.
The Dragons needed to find the first points of the second and they did with Southwell sending front-row partner Ruby-Jean Kennard-Ellis over untouched for her third try of the year.
They inched closer ahead moments later with Berry putting Maria Paseka into space down the right touchline with the winger muscling her way over multiple Cowboys to slam it down and cut the deficit back to just two.
NRLW Match Highlights: Round 8 vs. Cowboys
Lloyd-Phillips’ standout evening continued with the winger again taking in a Kelly kick and powering her way to the corner to make it 26-20 before a nightmare kick error gifted Banu her second try of the match as the Cowboys took a double-digit edge into the home stretch.
The Dragons managed to get the ball back of the kick-off and they took full advantage off it with Hopkins sending Ella Koster steaming over down the right-hand corridor to cut it back to 32-24.
Refusing to quit, the Dragons found another entering the final five minutes with Tyra Ekepati going over off a nice Hopkins ball but their late charge proved not enough as the Cowboys held on for their second win in as many weeks.
