Jason Taumalolo starred as a depleted North Queensland Cowboys stretched their winning run to three NRL matches with a 6-4 victory over Gold Coast Titans.

The Cowboys were missing State of Origin duo Michael Morgan and Josh McGuire, as well as the injured Justin O’Neill and Matt Scott for Sunday's clash at Cbus Super Stadium.

They were left with only two fit players on the bench after Gideon Gela-Mosby (shoulder) and Corey Jensen (concussion) were ruled out, but still managed to edge out the struggling Titans.

Dale Copley scored the only points of the first half, crossing in the corner after some slick handling from Gold Coast. 

The excellent Taumalolo ploughed his way over to reward a period of pressure from North Queensland and Jordan Kahu converted to put his side in front.

Ash Taylor and Tyrone Roberts missed shots at goal to level and Kyle Feldt produced a desperate last-ditch tackle on Brian Kelly right at the end as the Cowboys held on for a hard-fought win.