Dragons’ comeback falls short in Townsville

The hosts found themselves on the attack early courtesy of a Dragons error with Essay Banu held up over the line by an army of defenders.

It was her front row partner Lily Peacock however who opened the scoring with a powerful charge in behind the ruck after a prolonged period of pressure.

The Cowboys went within inches of extending their lead the following set off an Emma Manzelmann break only for Tahlulah Tillett to bounce the ball in her grounding attempt.

Jakiya Whitfeld improved the hosts’ lead 15 minutes in off a bungled Dragons kick defusal with Kirra Dibb adding the extras to make it 12-0.

The Dragons rocketed back into the contest courtesy of Kasey Reh who burrowed her way over out of dummy half for the first try of her NRLW career off the back of a strong Sara Sautia carry.

It proved the perfect encore to the 18-year-old’s Round 1 debut in which she knocked out a 51-minute, 35-tackle effort.

The visitors made it back-to-back tries soon after with Keele Browne taking in a Zali Hopkins face ball and tipping it onto Vella who stepped her way over the stripe for the side’s second.

Raecene McGregor guided the conversion over from inches inside the sideline to tie things up at 12-apiece.

An ill-timed penalty saw the Cowboys march back onto the attack with Francesca Goldthorp bumping her way over in the left corner to hand her side a four-point buffer.

Dibb linked up with back rower Tiana Raftstrand-Smith for another four-pointer the next set as the Cowboys took a 22-12 lead into half-time.

The Dragons managed a response on the other side of the half with Vella the beneficiary of a bouncing McGregor bomb to earn second double of her NRLW career.

Unfortunately, Vella was assisted from the field in the aftermath of the try with an apparent lower leg injury forcing Browne out to the wing and Shenai Lendill into the centres.

The visitors nearly went the length of the field the following set with Charlotte Basham galloping into the backfield only to have the ball ripped from her grasp short of the line.

A piggyback penalty saw the Cowboys storm back into attacking territory with Jasmine Peters powering her way over off it to improve the lead back to double digits.

The Cowboys fired in a successful challenge their following set after the ball was dislodged in a tackle shy of the halfway line.

Teagan Berry injected herself into the contest soon after slipping into the backfield off a left-side sweep and swerving past the cover to dive over and bring the scoreline back to 28-24 with 20 minutes to play.

Kimberley Hunt scored on club debut to tie proceedings at 28-apiece with Berry embarking on a fifth-tackle raid down the right corridor and launching it out to Bobbi Law who sent her winger over untouched.

The Dragons lost their challenge the following set with video officials ruling a knock-on despite appeals that a Cowboy had raked the ball out.

Raftstrand-Smith found her second to put the Cowboys back up entering the final 10 off an unsuccessful Dragons charge-down.

Whitfeld sped over off an attacking scrum to join her in the doubles column late and improve the hosts’ lead further.

Shaniah Power was placed on report late for a hair pull on Berry before Sautia joined Vella on the sideline in the final stages with another lower leg injury.

Despite the result being sealed, Soward’s squad cobbled together one of the tries of the year seconds before the siren sounded with McGregor putting a chip kick on a platter for Berry before the ball was sent out to a supporting Alexis Tauaneai for the first try of her NRLW career.