After jumping out to a 17-nil after 20 minutes, and then leading 31-17 with 20 minutes to play, he could only watch on as that was whittled away and the Red Devils lined up for a conversion to level the scores with under four minutes to play.

But fortunately for the home side, it was unsuccessful and they held on for a 31-29 win.

"We got a bit comfortable I think," Wineti said.

READ ALSO: 'I couldn't fault them': Pirates turn the tables on Narrabri in emphatic fashion

They started "to defend the lead" rather than play the "high tempo" game that had got them the lead in the first place, Manu Iona opening the scoring for them in the seventh minute.

"We wanted to have a good start. Previous games we've had a bit of a slow start," Wineti said.

Against Narrabri the previous week they conceded two tries in the first 17 minutes.

As nail-biting as it was, he was very proud of his side.

"They showed a lot of heart to hold on for the win," he said.

"Years gone by we would have let that one go."

As a bonus they also wrested the Kookaburra Challenge Cup from the Red Devils' grasp.

READ ALSO: 'I can't explain the relief': Pirates hold on in dying seconds to win a thriller

"It was exciting for it to be handed over," he said.

"The key now is holding onto it."

The Highlanders have a bye this week and so will defend it against Scone in two weeks.

It will be a welcome week off having played the other three sides in the top four in the last month.

Just past the mid-point of the first round, Wineti is happy with how they are coming along, the win cementing their footing in the top four.

"We're definitely building," he said.

Their first win over one of the top four sides, he said it has given them a lot of belief.

He said "everyone stood up" but did single out skipper Luther Robinson and vice-captain Scott Houston.

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The zone best and fairest last year, Robinson has this season moved from No.8 into the front row being a bit short on troops there.

Gunnedah coach Dan Martin bemoaned what he described as the worst 20 minutes of football he's seen them play in two years.

It was a horror show of missed tackles, dropped catches and simple errors.

"We had 12 missed tackles in the first 20 minutes, three dropped catches, one forward pass, one overthrow at a lineout, one penalty at the ruck," he said.

"The first try they scored, they went through four missed tackles."

They also "didn't get off the line in D (defence)" and struggled exiting their red zone.

"After that the boys decided we'd better start doing something," he said.

They got back to 17-7 at half-time, and after a half-time "spray" won the second half. But the damage had been done.

Compounding their woes, they could have potentially lost Lachy Mack for the season, or a while at least, after he picked up a knee injury. Martin said he is going for an MRI this week.

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