Andrew Pelechaty reviews the Saturday afternoon clash between the Gold Coast and Canberra …
MATCHDAY RESULTS
SCOREBOARD
Gold Coast Titans 24
Tries: Jayden Campbell 2 (56, 79), Brian Kelly (12), Tanah Boyd (39)
Goals: Toby Sexton 4 (13, 40, 57, 79)
Canberra Raiders 36
Tries: Nick Cotric 2 (20, 26), Sebastian Kris 2 (51, 73), Matthew Timoko (4), Hudson Young (46), Joseph Tapine (65)
Goals: Jamal Fogarty 4 (5, 22, 48, 66)
MATCH REPORT
Embed from Getty ImagesAfter a slow start against the Warriors last week, Canberra took advantage of an early Titans error, with Matt Timoko scoring off a beautiful Jack Wighton short ball from the scrum. Former Titan Jamal Fogarty converted to give Canberra a 6-0 lead after five minutes.
The Titans struck back through a lovely Tanah Boyd grubber for Brian Kelly. Toby Sexton converted to tie the game 6-6 after 14 minutes.
The Titans hit the lead soon after, with another grubber grounded by Beau Fermor, but The Bunker ruled that Fermor had knocked on. Despite this denial, the Titans were looking dangerous.
Canberra struck back with fantastic ball handling by Nick Cotric. With the Raiders spreading to the left, Cotric somehow hung on to the ball on to score in the corner. A beautiful conversion by Fogarty gave Canberra a 12-6 lead after 22 minutes.
Cotric scored his second with a dummy-half dive. Fogarty’s conversion hit the post as Canberra led 16-6 after 26 minutes.
There was a bit of fire in the contest when Joe Tapine was sin-binned, leaving Canberra one short with eight minutes until the break.
The Titans had a chance to score when Aaron Booth dived for the line, but Ryan Sutton was ruled to have stripped the ball, which put more pressure on Canberra.
The Milk finally soured when Boyd dummied through to score just before half-time. Sexton converted to cut Canberra’s lead to 16-12 at the break.
Hudson Young scored off a bouncing Fogarty kick early in the second half, giving Canberra a 22-12 lead.
Canberra then extended their lead to 14 with a try to Sebastian Kris.
The Titans got one back through Jayden Campbell, cutting the margin to eight with 24 minutes left.
A successful Captain’s Challenge for Canberra gave them a prime scoring chance, which Tapine quickly converted, restoring the Milk’s 14-point lead.
Canberra seemed to push their lead further when Corey Harawira-Naera scored, but he was ruled held up after a Bunker referral. It didn’t matter as Kris scored his second try a couple of tackles later to bring up Canberra’s highest score of the season and inch them closer to the eight.
Campbell got his second try in the final minute, but it was a consolation.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 pts – Joseph Tapine (Raiders), 2 pts – Hudson Young (Raiders), 1 pt – Jack Wighton (Raiders)
Follow Nothing But League on Facebook.
