Cowboys 24
Sharks 4
A gritty performance clinched the Cowboys' sixth consecutive home win when they outclassed and outlasted the Sharks in Townsville.
They played much of the game with only 14 fit players but it was the Sharks who eventually wilted after a strong first spell.
Johnathan Thurston, in his 100th game for the Cowboys, became increasingly influential as the Sharks were blitzed by three converted tries between the 23rd and 30th minutes of the second half.
The Cowboys' Luke O'Donnell lasted only 19 minutes before he injured his left knee in a spectacular tumble and was helped from the field. The Cowboys had already lost hooker Aaron Payne who was playing his 150th NRL match, to a shoulder injury eight minutes earlier.
There was no score at halftime, the closest call when Sharks' winger Blake Ferguson took out the corner flag as he dived over in the corner after 28 minutes. The Sharks dominated territory and possession, won the penalty count 5-2 and the Cowboys were without their usual authority, sparked only by the occasional run from fullback by the elusive Bowen.
There was immediately more urgency about the Cowboys in the second spell and they scored off their first set of six after three minutes, right wing John Williams just getting the ball down inside the corner flag for his eighth try of the season. In keeping with the Cowboys' fortunes, he injured his thigh in the tackle and limped off.
The Cowboys, who had looked on the ropes themselves at times in the first half, delivered the knockout blow midway through the second spell with two tries in three minutes by Bowen.
The first was his 50th at Dairy Farmers Stadium and the second his 17th career double. Scott Bolton off-loaded for the first, Grant Rovelli put him into space for the second and, suddenly, the Cowboys were home and dry at 18-0.
Cowboys 24 (J Williams, M Bowen 2, T Williams tries, J Thurston 3 cons, pen) Sharks 4 (M Wright try). Halftime: 0-0.
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