“Again, we looked tired, didn’t we? That was probably down to the amount of work that I put into them this week. It wasn’t hard work but it was long work, so I’ve got to accept some responsibility there.”

Elliot was full of praise for Gordon and hoped the recent confirmation of several player re-signings would help his team concentrate solely on the football.

“This playing group like each other and like spending time with each other,” he said. “Those sort of distractions [player re-signings] do take their toll a little bit on our focus so hopefully now all that key stuff is put to bed, we can really focus on playing our best footy, which we’re a little bit away from at the moment.”

North Queensland opened the scoring when winger Will Tupou charged over the line after just 4 minutes.

A long pass from Panthers' lock Luke Lewis sent Gordon over in the corner in the 12th minute and a successful conversion leveled the scores at 6-all.

Cowboys’ centre Willie Tonga propelled his side ahead in the 21st minute but team mate Johnathan Thurston conceded a penalty soon after for dissent.

The Panthers converted the opportunity into points when winger Brad Tighe closed the gap to 12-10 with a try of his own in the 28th minute.

A try to Cowboys’ winger Ashley Graham five minutes before half-time stretched the Panthers’ deficit to 16-10 at the break.

The score-line remained unchanged for much of the second half and the Panthers' defense was truly tested as they found themselves tackled in-goal on three consecutive occasions.

A piece of Panthers magic was disallowed when a Luke Walsh boot bounced backwards off Lachlan Coote and into the hands of Lewis, who sent a spectacular grubber out wide to would-be try scorer Gordon in the 62nd minute.

However, video referee Steve Clark ruled Lewis offside and despite uproar among the 7 080 spectators, Elliott agreed.

“It was the right call,” he said. “Luke Lewis was inside the ten, so as the way the rules exist, the application of the decision was spot on and I’ve got no argument. As soon as I saw what they were looking for in the box, I said no try.”

The Panthers clawed their way back into contention when Nathan Smith broke free of the Cowboys’ defense before passing to Kevin Kingston, who crossed between the posts in the 70th minute.

Gordon converted to level the scores at 16-all before sealing the game with a stunning solo effort in the 75th minute.

The slick-and-sly winger maneuvered his way through several Cowboys’ players from dummy half to ignite a brilliant 55 metre dash to the try-line.

He quickly converted before slotting a penalty goal in the 80th minute to seal the win and put a desperate end to the Panthers recent losing streak.

The much-needed victory cements their top two position on the competition ladder for another week while a loss could have seen the side slip out of the top four.

The Panthers take on the Canberra Raiders at Canberra Stadium on Monday week, kick off is 7.00pm.