Holmes the hero as Cowboys beat Sharks in golden point epic

The Cowboys progressed to their first preliminary final since 2017 with a 32-30 win over the Sharks in a golden point thriller at PointsBet Stadium on Saturday night.

Former Shark Valentine Holmes was the hero for the Cowboys with a 45-metre field goal in the 93rd minute after scores had been locked 30-30 at full-time and after 10 minutes of extra time.

With Jason Taumalolo at his damaging best the Cowboys earned themselves a week off while the Sharks face a sudden-death encounter against the winner of Sunday's Roosters-Rabbitohs game.

The Cowboys struck first in the eighth minute when Tom Gilbert flew high to pull down a Chad Townsend bomb and crash over under the posts.

It took the home side just three minutes to hit back through Toby Rudolf, who took the ball 10 metres out and left Taumalolo and Scott Drinkwater in his wake on his way to the line. Nicho Hynes' conversion made it 6-6.

A penalty against the Cowboys for a crusher tackle on Ronaldo Mulitalo handed Cronulla field position but Dale Finucane put the ball down in the next set and the visitors were off the hook.

Hynes came up with a low, hard dropout in the 22nd minute which Jeremiah Nanai was unable to control and the Sharks got possession but the Cowboys held firm when Kyle Feldt flew high to defuse a bomb.

Just two minutes later the Cowboys found themselves under the pump again and the combination of Matt Moylan and Hynes came to the fore to lay on a try for Siosifa Talakai to make it 12-6.

Cowboys five-eighth Tom Dearden then produced a stunning long-range try in the 29th minute to level the scores before Peta Hiku finished off a stunning team try three minutes later to put Todd Payten's men ahead 18-12.

The shootout continued four minutes later when Moylan and Hynes combined again to put Mulitalo away down the left side and he found Will Kennedy backing up inside for the Sharks' third try.

The game developed into an arm wrestle in the opening exchanges of the second half as both sides completed at a high percentage before a charge down on a Hynes clearing kick gave the Cowboys the opportunity to take the front and they did just that through Murray Taulagi in the 53rd minute.

The Taulagi try was beautifully constructed by the Cowboys with Scott Drinkwater, Townsend, Dearden and Luciano Leilua handling before Valentine Holmes delivered a sublime final pass for the 23-year-old to cross wide out.

Sharks bench forward Cameron McInnes was next to hit the scoreboard when he ran a tough line from close range to level the scores at 22-22 and Hynes converted a two-point lead.

A mistake in the play-the-ball by Hiku in the 62nd minute looked to have proved costly as Hynes put Connor Tracey over in the corner but the try was disallowed for obstruction by Jesse Ramien in the lead-up.

The home side stretched their lead to eight when Kennedy crossed in the 67th minute and mistakes started to creep into the Cowboys' game as they played catch-up but they received a lifeline in the 73rd minute when Tracey was sin binned for a professional foul and Holmes slotted the penalty to make it 30-24.

The Cowboys created a couple of opportunities down the right side but a kick by Kyle Feldt went dead and one by Hiku rolled into touch as the Sharks hung on.

A penalty against Moylan for ruck interference with 100 seconds to play gave the Cowboys one last shot and Taumalolo stormed over to make it 30-28 and Holmes converted to send the game to extra time.

Feldt had the first chance to score in the second minute of extra time when he flew high to drag down a Townsend kick but couldn't control the ball.

Hynes had a shot at field goal charge down in the final seconds of the first period but it was charged down by Townsend and the teams swapped ends to continue the absorbing battle.

The game then went into golden point and it was there that Holmes stood tall with a monster two-point field goal to get his team home.

"We've always felt from early on this season that we show some character around the way that we compete and 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," Payten said post-match.

"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 and we've proven it to ourselves time and time again and tonight is just another great example of that."