IT was more gritty than pretty, but the Newcastle Knights couldn't care less after posting consecutive wins for the first time this season in a 14-8 arm-wrestle against the Warriors at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday.
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After beating the Dolphins in their previous game with a similar blue-collar defensive display, Newcastle dug deep, under intense pressure, to defend their line as the Warriors chased a last-ditch try to potentially take the game to golden point.
Two victories in as many games has been the perfect response to the doubters who said Newcastle could not win without talismanic skipper Kalyn Ponga, who will be sidelined for at least another couple of months with a foot-ligament injury that required surgery.
The result lifted Newcastle to 11th on the competition ladder, two points adrift of the top eight, and they will be hoping to make it a winning hat-trick when they clash with Wests Tigers in Tamworth on Saturday.
"I'm really proud of that performance, especially defensively on our tryline," Knights coach Adam O'Brien said afterwards.
"That second half, I don't know exactly, but we had something like 32 play-the-balls on our tryline.
"That's what we want to be known as. That's a Knights footy team, and that's what fills this stadium, that sort of effort. That's what we're chasing."
On a heavy pitch and in sporadic rain, both teams were always going to opt for conservative tactics but the Knights emerged on top after a grinding, gripping contest, played in front of 16,094 diehard fans.
Newcastle opened the scoring with a Tyson Gamble try, after winning the race to ground the ball when Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Kolkstad fumbled a wily Jackson Hastings kick.
Dane Gagai's conversion, plus a penalty goal, gave the home side an 8-0 lead, but the Warriors hit back with a Dylan Walker try in the 27th minute, and then equalised midway through the second half.
Knights prop Daniel Saifiti, reinstated to the starting line-up because his brother Jacob was injured, crashed over in the 63rd minute to break the deadlock and Newcastle defended grimly until full-time to keep their line intact.
Warriors coach Andrew Webster was disappointed with his team's execution, if not their effort, and queried why his team was not awarded a penalty try when winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak dropped a ball over the line, after a mid-air tackle by Greg Marzhew.
In further positive news for Newcastle, O'Brien was optimistic that Jacob Saifiti will be cleared to return from a foot injury against the Tigers, along with Tyson Frizell, who has missed five games with a torn hamstring.
