Centre Valentine Holmes has potted an extra-time field goal to propel North Queensland Cowboys past Cronulla Sharks 32-30 and into the NRL preliminary finals.
Locked at 30-30 after 80 minutes, the two rivals could not be separated by another 10 minutes of extra time, before Golden Point took affect. Three minutes into sudden death, Holmes slotted a 45-metre two-point dropkick to steal victory at Sydney.
The result earns them a rest week, but the Sharks will now face the winners of Sunday's Sydney Roosters v South Sydney Rabbitohs encounter to progress further into the playoffs.
Playing against the team with which he won the 2016 NRL premiership, Holmes, 27, kicked a penalty and converted four of his team's five tries, including a pressure conversion to last-minute try from lock Jason Taumalolo to level the scores and force overtime.
Fullback Will Kennedy grabbed a try double for the Sharks, including a touchdown that had his team eight points ahead inside the final 10 minutes, as they seemed to take control of the contest.
Holmes' penalty and Taumalolo's converted try bridged the gap, but neither team could snatch the initiative during overtime, until Holmes found his target with the two-point pot.
"We've always felt from early on this season that we show some character around the way that we compete," said Cowboys coach Todd Payten.
"The message we've been trying to sell as coaches for well over 12 months, it became self-fulfilling in the early part of the season, the players believe it and they're the most important ones.
"I can tell them that we've got plenty of talent and plenty of character, but they're the ones who have to believe it. We've proven it to ourselves time and time again, and tonight is just another great example of that."
North Queensland Cowboys 32 (Gilbert, Dearden, Hiku, Taulagi & Taumalolo tries; Holmes 4 conversions, penalty & field goal) Cronulla Sharks 30 (Kennedy 2, Rudolf, Talakai & McInnes tries; Hynes 5 conversions)
