The Cronulla Sharks have snapped a five-game losing streak with a 16-14 NRL win over an injury-hit North Queensland Cowboys.
John Morris' side provisionally moved level with eighth-placed Newcastle after under-pressure playmaker Shaun Johnson led the Sharks to a much-needed victory at PointsBet Stadium on Thursday.
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Even without suspended front-rower Andrew Fifita and injured pair Matt Moylan and Wade Graham, the Sharks gutsed out a second-half fightback to remain in the hunt for the finals.
Veteran Paul Gallen had his best game of the season, running for 224 metres in a 61-minute effort.
The Sharks have led just three times at halftime this season and once again found themselves down at the break after a Matt Scott try just before the siren gave the Cowboys an 8-4 edge.
And when Francis Molo pounced on a Jake Granville grubber five minutes after the resumption, the 6144-strong crowd feared a familiar story.
But the Cowboys - who have now lost five of their last six - eventually ran out of gas.
Coach Paul Green was already missing almost an entire backline with Michael Morgan, Jordan Kahu, Te Maire Martin, Justin O'Neill, Ben Hampton and Gideon Gela-Mosby on the sideline.
Their backline crisis was compounded five minutes before halftime when winger Kyle Feldt was taken from the field and did not return, which forced a backline reshuffle.
The visitors were brave with Scott Drinkwater and Tom Opacic coming up with try-savers on Ronaldo Mulitalo and the Sharks were guilty of blowing another golden opportunity when Johnson threw it forward to Sosaia Feki.
But with Cronulla enjoying 59 percent of possession in the second half, the weight of possession eventually told.
The Cowboys were cracked with a one-two punch as Josh Dugan, and Bronson Xerri scored tries just four minutes apart to give them the lead for the first time with 10 minutes remaining - an advantage they never surrendered.
Johnson threw the last pass for Dugan's four-pointer and finished with two try assists, three linebreak assists and one linebreak after being heavily criticised in recent weeks.
Morris said Johnson was allowed to come into his own because his side controlled field position, something they'd been starved of in recent weeks.
"If we can play the way we want to play, get a bit more ball down the other end of the field, you'll see Shaun Johnson come to life," Morris said.
Green said while he was proud of his troops, he still believed they should have come away with two points.
"You can't knock effort but we just need to be a little bit smarter," Green said.
"We were in a position to probably win that game. Even at 14-10, they went 100 metres, which is disappointing. There's some guys learning some tough lessons, but that's the NRL..
AAP
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