The Sydney Roosters piled on 22 unanswered points in the second half to score a come-from-behind 32-20 NRL win over North Queensland in Townsville.
The Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce scored a hat-trick of tries as the visitors inflicted the last-placed Cowboys' 13th loss in a row.
The home crowd could sense an upset when their beleaguered team raced to a 20-10 halftime lead but the Roosters fought back strongly in the second half to win and move within two points of NRL leaders Manly.