Newcastle's losing streak extended to a club-record 14 games when they were beaten 28-14 by Canterbury at Hunter Stadium on Saturday.
The last-placed Knights equalled the previous worst sequence in their history – the 13 consecutive losses of 2005 – against Manly last week.
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Knights show improvement despite fourteenth straight loss
Canterbury are tested in Newcastle but do enough to hang on for victory and a top three spot.
Their cursed run started with a 53-0 hammering by Brisbane in round seven and it is now almost four months since Newcastle's only win of the season, against Wests Tigers on April 10.
The win lifted Canterbury to third on the NRL points table, pending other results over the weekend.
The Bulldogs led 14-2 after a scrappy first half played in constant drizzle and a stiff southerly.
Overpowered by Cronulla and Manly in their previous two games, the Knights provided welcome resistance in the early exchanges and were rewarded with the first points, from a Trent Hodkinson penalty goal in the 12th minute.
The visitors soon started gaining the ascendancy, thanks largely to the hard yards provided by middle forwards James Graham, Aiden Tolman and David Klemmer.
Eventually the Knights cracked, when Bulldogs halfback Moses Mbye stepped and offloaded to hooker Michael Lichaa, who darted under Newcastle's defenders to score.
Five minutes later, Canterbury were in again when fullback Will Hopoate threw a spectacular no-look cut-out pass to winger Brett Morris, who linked with his twin brother Josh for their second try.
Mbye converted both tries and added a penalty goal in the 35th minute. Then, Newcastle sufered a setback in the 24th minute when their leading tryscorer, winger Nathan Ross, limped off.
Ross's absence prompted a backline reshuffle that left towering back-rower Jacob Saifiti defending at left-side centre.
Newcastle gained a confidence boost six minutes after the break when five-eighth Jarrod Mullen beat two tackles and flung a one-handed pass to winger Brendan Elliot, who scored in the corner.
Hodkinson, playing against his former club, then brought the Knights back within striking distance with a sensational conversion from touch.
Two minutes later, Elliot scored his second after regathering a Hodkinson chip kick and grounding it spectacularly with a one-handed put-down.
Hodkinson produced a carbon copy of his previous conversion to lock scores at 14 apiece.
Just as it seemed Newcastle were getting on top, a freak try to Mbye set them back.
Mullen attempted a clearing kick in the 54th minute, but it was charged down by Sam Kasiano and Mullen lost possession in a tackle by Graham.
Mbye pounced on the dregs to score next to the posts.
An Mbye penalty goal in the 71st minute gave Canterbury a 22-14 buffer, then winger Sam Perrett scored in the corner with three minutes of play remaining and Mbye nailed the sideline conversion.
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