The ladder leaders travelled north with hopes of staying undefeated after building the best defensive record in the competition, but the Cowboys' dynamic fullback Matt Bowen scored two tries and saved numerous others in a masterful performance which lead Manly to a 14 nil dillema at half time.
The game looked like it was going to be an arm wrestle early on, but a piece of Bowen magic in the 25th minute broke the contest wide open.
Another Matt Bowen effort saw his cousin Brenton Bowen score on the right hand side a short time later.
North Queensland was in control of the match at 18-0 after rookie centre Ben Farrar scored on debut with a strong try just after the break.
However, the Sea Eagles managed to get back into the match after a kick from Matt Orford found the hands of Michael Robertson, who was able to bat the ball back to Jamie Lyon.
The Australian centre's missed conversion still left the visitors 14 points behind with less than 30 minutes to play but a contentious try to Chris Hicks a short time later saw the margin reduced to just eight points.
It looked to everyone but referee Stephen Clark like there'd been a forward pass in the movement but with video ref Paul Simpkins unable to rule, the four-pointer was awarded.
The Eagles had no luck with another scoring movement in the next set of six, a Stephen Bell touch down denied due to an obstruction.
This was just one of number of no-try rulings, with the Cowboys also losing out on a contentious try in the first half.
Johnathan Thurston looked to have knocked on at the half-way line before passing to Matt Bowen, who produced one of his trademark electrifying runs to the try line.
Simpkins once again ruled against the try despite referee Stephen Clark having ordered play to continue.
Matt Bowen was in everything for the Cowboys, with his second try almost sealing the result for his side before a four pointer to veteran five-eighth Jason Smith in the 63rd minute put the icing on the cake.
The Eagles hit back with three consolation tries in the final ten minutes, with two scored while Thurston was on the sidelines after being sin-binned for dissent.
The result was Manly's first loss for the year, causing a slide down to second place on the ladder
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