Jake Clifford has nailed a dramatic field goal in the 79th minute to fire North Queensland to a 15-12 NRL upset of the Sydney Roosters in Gosford.
Clifford had missed two attempts on Sunday afternoon before converting his third chance to ensure Gavin Cooper celebrated his 300th game in style.
In a tense final six minutes, Roosters duo Cooper Cronk and Luke Keary had three looks combined, but one was charged down and the other two sailed wide.
Playing without captain Michael Morgan due to concussion, Clifford sealed the win with a penalty after the siren to help snap a three-game losing streak.
The 21-year-old also posted his first career try in a breakthrough performance.
The defending premiers, without rested star pair James Tedesco and Boyd Cordner, drop to third spot, eight points back of pacesetters Melbourne.
The Roosters had earlier appeared to overcome a slow start when they posted back-to-back tries after being held scoreless for the opening 52 minutes.
Making matters worse for coach Trent Robinson, prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves might be looking at a suspension again after being cited for leading with the head.
And it was returning co-captain Jake Friend, playing his first game since rupturing his bicep in round seven, who kicked them into gear.
The veteran hooker first effected a 40-20 kick to turn defence into attack, and followed it up by dummying his way over from close range to level the scores.
Brett Morris' 60th-minute try gave them the lead.
However, Cowboys five-eighth John Asiata set up a grandstand finish when he willed his way over in the 70th minute, leading to a field-goal shootout.
The "home" crowd of 14,668 at Central Coast Stadium had little to crow about in an evenly contested first half that yielded just one try to Clifford.
Waerea-Hargreaves and Josh McGuire provided some early fireworks with a feisty individual battle, including one incident that landed the Roosters' prop on report.
Waerea-Hargreaves had bundled McGuire over onto his backside before appearing to charge into him on the ground with his head.
He wasn't put on report until minutes later after advice from the bunker.
Clifford was also put on report for tripping in the first half, while teammate Jordan Kahu failed to finish the match due to concussion.
AAP.
