Thurston turned in a solid performance in his milestone night, but apart from his grubber to seal the Cowboys' victory, appeared short on match fitness. On the whole, it was a scrappy affair with both sides well below their best.
Kyle Feldt began his season in ideal fashion, with a towering bomb getting enough hang time to allow a pack of Cowboys forwards to drive Matt Prior back into his own in-goal.
The Cowboys showed they were ready to play patient early, as Jake Granville rolled a grubber into the in-goal to force a repeat set.
