Organic fertilisers enhance crop drought resilience by improving nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) use efficiency and soil-plant water relations. However, the underlying mechanisms governing their effects across different drought timings in wheat under sandy soils remain unclear. This 120-day controlled-environment experiment assessed how compost, sheep manure, and their combinations applied at 25 g kg(-)(1) ameliorate wheat yield under drought (35%WHC; -10 kPa) imposed at two timings: early- (tillering, 20 DAS) and late-stage drought (heading, 60 DAS) in a sandy soil. The manure alone and combined amendments (CM50SM50 approximate to CM25SM75, approximate to CM75SM25 > SM100) retained more soil moisture compared to the compost alone treatment. Compared with the control, compost and the half-half-blend with manure increased grain yield by up to 2.3-fold under early drought and only 1.4-fold under late drought. The compost-rich treatments increased root N uptake by 2.6-3.5 fold and sustained grain-based N utilisation efficiency during early drought. Manure-rich treatments showed higher P uptake, but P utilisation efficiency remained lower compared with the compost-rich treatments across drought timings. During early drought, half-half-blend increased soil organic carbon by 90%, and plant available water by 21% over the unamended control. Compost-rich treatments improved microbial N mineralisation under early drought by increasing microbial biomass nitrogen by 8.1-fold and nitrate-N by 2.4-fold. The Partial Least Squares Path Modelling analysis confirmed the relationship between field capacity, microbial activity, nutrient availability, and grain yield. Oveall, manure-rich treatments enhanced moisture retention, while compost-rich treatments balanced nutrient acquisition and utilisation by rapid P supply from manure with sustained N mineralisation from compost, enhancing wheat resilience more under early than late drought. Therefore, we recommend compost and manure combination as a potential approach to increase dryland wheat yield during early-stage droughts in sandy soils.