Lachy MacCorquodale reviews the final clash of round 15 between the Gold Coast Titans and the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. Here’s how the game went.
SCOREBOARD
Gold Coast Titans 24
Tries: Jayden Campbell (6), Greg Marzhew (20, 27), Patrick Herbert (31), David Fifita (37)
Goals: Jamal Fogarty (8, 33)
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 56
Tries: Tom Trbojevic (12, 14, 60), Jason Saab (43, 52), Reuben Garrick (45, 55, 57, 64), Haumole Olakau’atu (71), Daly Cherry-Evans (74)
Goals: Reuben Garrick (53, 59, 62, 65, 72, 76)
Player of the Year Points
Embed from Getty Images3 pts – Tom Trbojevic (Manly-Warringah)
2 pts – Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly-Warringah)
1 pt – Kieran Foran (Manly-Warringah)
MATCH REPORT
1st Half
Despite coming into this fixture as the underdogs, the Gold Coast Titans got off to the perfect start with a maiden try to youngster Jayden Campbell after he ran onto a grubber kick from Tyrone Peachey.
The Sea Eagles responded in quick fashion as they shifted the ball to the left hand side which saw Kieran Foran hold up several defenders before passing to Tom Trbojevic who crashed over to score in the corner.
Manly quickly took the lead after scoring on the very next set of six as Trbojevic leapt above Campbell, winning the contest and crossing over the his second try of the afternoon.
The Titans weren’t going to let the Sea Eagles bully them this afternoon and Greg Marzhew gave the Titans the lead after a great tap back from Sam Stone from an Ash Taylor kick, which landed in Jamal Fogarty’s hands who passed it to his winger to score.
The Titans continued to dominate possession and it paid off once again. This time a brilliant little grubber from Campbell on the right edge popped up for Marzhew to score his second try of the afternoon.
Gold Coast continued to shock the Sea Eagles at CBUS Super Stadium with another try off the boot of Campbell with Patrick Herbert the recipient as he charged onto the grubber to score his side’s fourth try of the afternoon.
The home side continued to bombard Manly’s defence with grubber kicks and they had no answers as David Fifita scored off a grubber kick, successfully grounding the ball after Peachey put the left foot grubber into the in-goal.
HALF-TIME: Gold Coast Titans 24 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 8
2nd Half
Manly needed to be the first team to score in the second half and that’s exactly what they did. Daly Cherry-Evans shifted the ball to the right, finding speedster Jason Saab on the bounce who blistered his way around the defence and beat Campbell to score his first of the afternoon.
The Titans began to shake in their boots as they failed to hold out Manly once again as the away side scored. Foran and Trbojevic linked up similarly to their opening try of the afternoon, but this time Trbojevic drew the opposition winger in and passed to Reuben Garrick to bring the deficit to just eight points.
The Sea Eagles continued to mount their comeback as Saab once again found himself as a try scorer being on the receiving end of a grubber kick from Cherry-Evans. With it came Garrick’s first successful conversion of the match.
It only took the Sea Eagles 15 minutes into the second half to overturn the 16-point deficit and take the lead as Garrick grabbed his second four pointer after receiving a great pass from Trbojevic.
It was the Gold Coast who now had no answers to Manly’s onslaught as Garrick scored his third try in 12 minutes, the team’s fifth try in 18 minutes of the second half.
Manly continued to dominate in the second half and the Gold Coast defence couldn’t handle Trbojevic as he bulldozed his way over from under the posts to complete his hat-trick.
It started to become embarrassing for the Titans as they couldn’t do anything to prevent the Sea Eagles from scoring. Another shift down that left edge that was so devastating this afternoon saw Garrick cross for his fourth try.
The Sea Eagles reached the 50 point mark as Haumole Olakau’atu grounded a Cherry-Evans grubber just before it reached the dead ball line.
The skipper, Cherry-Evans got his name on the scoresheet for the ninth try of the half as he supported a line break from Dylan Walker who flicked it to his halfback to score untouched in his 250th game.
48 unanswered points for Manly during the second half was an incredible turn round after a dominant first half performance from the Titans. The Sea Eagles showcased their immense class and talent during the second half with this win bringing them just two points behind the fifth placed Sydney Roosters.
FULL-TIME: Gold Coast Titans 24 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 56
Injuries
to be advised
Match Review Committee
Morgan Harper (Sea Eagles) – Grade 1 Dangerous Contact Other – Early Guilty Plea $1,350 fine, Guilty at Judiciary $1,800 fine.
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