Newcastle have held on for a controversial 14-12 NRL win over Manly, claiming just their fourth-ever victory at Brookvale.
With just one man on the bench at fulltime, the Knights withstood a glut of Sea Eagles possession in the second half to move into the top four.
But the win was shrouded in controversy, with Manly prop Addin Fonua-Blake sent off after the full-time siren for dissent.
With the Knights leading by two points on the siren, Manly spread the ball right from within their own half as Tevita Funa broke down field.
The winger grubbered for himself from 20 metres out, but appeared to be taken to the ground by Tex Hoy and Bradman Best after kicking.
Referee Grant Atkins referred the play upstairs, bunker official Jared Maxwell ruled no penalty and fulltime was blown – drawing anger from a number of Manly players.
Captain Daly Cherry-Evans attempted to have the decision taken back to the bunker for a captain’s challenge, but was denied.
The late drama overshadowed a gutsy win by the Knights.
Kalyn Ponga was one of three players to finish the match off the field for the Knights, taken for a HIA after falling awkwardly in a contest for the ball.
In a second half that contrasted with the first, Manly had 61 per cent of possession and had 22 tackles in the Knights’ red zone.
But they could muster just one try, desperately missing backline stars Dylan Walker and Tom Trbojevic in attack as they collected a second consecutive loss without them.
Playmaker Walker is hopeful of being back in a fortnight against Parramatta, while fullback Trbojevic is expected to be sidelined for up to another six weeks with his hamstring issue.
Manly’s only second-half try came when Cherry-Evans helped Cade Cust burst through from close to the line from a Curtis Sironen offload in the 67th minute.
Otherwise, Newcastle were resolute.
With Sione Mata’utia concussed and Edrick Lee suffering a broken wrist, the Knights played the majority of the match with 15 men.
Andrew McCullough made 48 tackles while David Klemmer ran 188 metres and fellow prop Daniel Saifiti managed 164.
The Knights had earlier dominated the ball in the first half, capitalising on the first Cherry-Evans sin bin of his career for a professional foul to score eight points while he was off the field.
Their first try to McCullough came after Sironen was penalised for picking the ball up in the second row at the back of a five-man scrum.
Cherry-Evans got his revenge when he came back on the field, stepping and jinking his way through the line to score after Daniel Saifiti rushed up.
But The Knights took an eight-point lead to the break when Kurt Mann juggled a Mitchell Pearce kick out of Cherry-Evans’ grasp to score what proved a crucial try.