Warriors fightback stuns Cowboys New Zealand Warriors 20 North Queensland Cowboys 18 Gavin Cooper of the Cowboys fends Simon Mannering of the Warriors. The streak is over and no longer are the Warriors the most embarrassing team in the NRL. Having gone 268 days without a win, the drought has ended at Mt Smart Stadium as the Warriors produced a superb fightback from being 12-0 down to defeat North Queensland Cowboys 20-18. Johnathan Thurston of the Cowboys kicks ahead. Having lost their previous two games and leaked 66 points in the process, the Cowboys needed to make a statement, to show that this talented side should be regarded as one of the favourites for this year's competition. But to have as many wins at this stage as the Warriors, Dragons and Raiders will get alarm bells ringing in Townsville and their coach Neil Henry should be feeling the heat more than Matt Elliott and Dragons' Steve Price have recently. As anticipated, Nathan Friend was in the starting team for the first time this season, having recovered from his shoulder injury. Which meant Elijah Taylor moved to the interchange bench and Sebastine Ikahihfio dropped out of the side. Winger Glen Fisiiahi was again absent, following the bereavement of his sister a fortnight ago, which meant Bill Tupou was given a reprieve from his poor performance against the Sharks in the previous round. Unlike in the first three games, the Warriors started well and should have scored in the second minute as they had the Cowboys' defence at full stretch, but Thomas Leuluai put through a shocking grubber kick that no one was able to grab hold of and the opportunity was gone. Despite this blown chance, the Warriors continued to play with more energy than in recent weeks, with Shaun Johnson continually able to probe the Cowboys' defence. However, in the 14th minute it was the Cowboys that struck first with Johnathan Thurston firing a pass to Michael Morgan, who then put the ball out to Kalifa Faifai Loa for a score in the corner. Thurston followed this up with a conversion and a penalty shortly after and it was hard to predict this being anything other than a Cowboys win. Brent Tate scored against his old club in the 25th minute and with 58 seconds left before the break the Warriors' statistic of being unable to score a first half point looking set extend for another week. However, at that precise point Shaun Johnson fed the ball outside him to Elijah Taylor for a try and their team mates were for once able to feel optimistic as they chowed down on the half-time oranges. Four minutes into the second half Johnson jinked his way through the Cowboys defence for the Warriors' second try and eight minutes later Konrad Hurrell charged through for a try to put his side in front for the first time in a game this year. There was plenty of frantic play for the remainder of the match and the Warriors were able to extend their lead to eight points from a Johnson penalty five minutes to go, meaning that although Antonio Winterstein was able to score a late try for the Cowboys, for the 13th time in the last 14 occasions the home side came out the winner in clashes between these clubs. In the other matches at Mt Smart earlier in the day, the Auckland Vulcans drew against Windsor Wolves 24-24, with Jerome Ropati being a late addition to the Vulcans team. The 138-game veteran, who is recovering from a knee operation last year, got through the game well and should be in contention for a place in the Warriors' team next weekend, against the Rabbitohs. In the second match the Junior Warriors beat the Cowboys 25-6. WARRIORS 20 (K Hurrell S Johnson E Taylor tries S Johnson 4 goals) bt NORTH QUEENSLAND 18 (K Fai Fai Loa B Tate A Winterstein tries J Thurston 3 goals) at Mt Smart Stadium. Referee: Gavin Badger, Henry Perenara. Crowd: 10,572.