Two Newcastle tries inside the final four minutes has condemned North Queensland to a 30-18 loss at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
Jarrod Mullen's 76th-minute try broke an 18-all deadlock after the Cowboys had fought back from a 14-point deficit - and Kurt Gidley finished them off with his second try in the dying seconds.
It was North Queensland's seventh straight loss of a disastrous season.
The Knights climbed back into the top eight but were made to do it the hard way after throwing away a big lead.
It took North Queensland just four minutes to open the scoring through winger Ben Farrar.
The ball went through half a dozen sets of hands before Farrar stepped back inside opposite James McManus and wrestled his way over the line.
Newcastle replied with a spectacular try 11 minutes later.
Veteran Adam MacDougall, grassed in a tackle but not held, jumped to his feet and linked with his support, eventually the ball finding its way to Danny Buderus.
Buderus came to full-back Anthony Watts and put a soft shoe shuffle on the Cowboys No.1, hitting the ground but flicking a sublime flick pass for Chris Houston to score.
Gidley kicked the conversion for a 6-4 lead.
The Knights went further ahead two minutes before the break via a try stunning in its simplicity.
Matt Hilder took a pass from dummy half and easily pushed away Scott Tronc to score, the Cowboys' goal-line defence failing to aim up.
Gidley's kick made it 12-4.
It took only two minute of the second half for the Cowboys' defence to be breached again.
Mullen found a rampaging Richard Fa'aoso with an inside ball, the explosive forward standing and off-loading basketball-style for Gidley to touch down under the posts.
The conversion took the visitors out to an 18-4 lead.
North Queensland clawed its way back into the contest at the 50-minute mark when Farrar chalked up his double after the Cowboys used quick hands to take advantage of an overlap.
Jonathan Thurston's conversion dipped over the bar for an 18-10 scoreline.
The hosts were back to within two when replacement Matthew Bartlett ran onto a Thurston pass close to the line and crashed his way over in the 62nd minute.
The teams were back on equal terms when a Thurston penalty goal locked it up at 18-all after 70 minutes.
Gidley then missed a penalty from in front and Mullen blew an opportunity for a field goal before the pair made up for it with a try each to win the match for the Knights.
North Queensland 18
Tries: Farrar (2), Bartlett
Goals: Thurston 3
Newcastle 30
Tries: Gidley (2), Houston, Hilder, Mullen
Goals: Gidley 5
Sportal Player of the Year
3 - Danny Buderus (Knights)
2 - Kurt Gidley (Knights)
1 - Jarrod Mullen (Knights)