Lachlan Jeffery reviews Gold Coast’s drought breaking win over Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
MATCHDAY RESULTS
SCOREBOARD
Gold Coast Titans 44
Tries: Beau Fermor 2 (46, 80), Jaimin Joliffe (7), Jojo Fifita (22), Brian Kelly (32), AJ Brimson (55), David Fifita (57)
Goals: Tanah Boyd 8 (8, 23, 34, 39, 47, 56, 59, 80)
Manly Sea Eagles 24
Tries: Reuben Garrick (11), Jake Trbojevic (26), Brad Parker (61), Tolutau Koula (70)
Goals: Reuben Garrick 4 (12, 27, 63, 71)
MATCH REPORT
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Gold Coast Titans have broken a ten-match losing streak and climbed off the bottom of the NRL ladder with a stunning 44-24 thrashing of Manly at CBUS Super Stadium.
The Titans got off to the worst possible start when Jaimin Joliffe dropped a poor pass from Jojo Fifita off the kick-off.
They were lucky to hold on in the early stages as Manly threw a pass into touch, before a Haumole Olakau’atu try was overturned by the Bunker due to a knock on in the lead up.
Joliffe made up for his earlier error when he crossed for the opening try in the seventh minute, after being set up by the returning Jarrod Wallace.
It only took two minutes for Manly to hit back, taking advantage of a loose Titans offload to go on the attack, eventually scoring an entertaining try through Reuben Garrick.
The Sea Eagles lost Dylan Walker to the sin bin in the 21st minute for a swinging arm to the head of Fifita. From the ensuing set, a spectacular cut-out pass by Boyd allowed Fifita to score in the corner.
Much like the first try, Manly hit back immediately with Jake Trbojevic sneaking through the line and just touching down, despite the desperate Titans defence.
The try-for-try nature of the match continued in the 32nd minute when Brian Kelly snatched an intercept from Daly Cherry-Evans and raced 60 metres to score under the posts.
Gold Coast extended the lead to 20-12 with a penalty goal just before half-time after a Cherry-Evans drop out went out on the full.
The Titans got off to the perfect start in the second half, receiving a repeat set for an escort, before an AJ Brimson kick ricocheted perfectly for Beau Fermor to score out wide.
The Titans had numerous chances to score, in the sets that followed, but were unable to do so until Brimson put on some slick footwork to cross alongside the posts in the 55th minute.
With all the momentum going their way, they crossed again in the next set as David Fifita powered through the Manly defence and charged 60m to score to open up a 38-12 lead.
Manly’s afternoon got worse as they lost Jason Saab with a suspected ACL injury off a short kick.
Gold Coast fans would have been nervous that their team’s habit of giving up big leads was coming back again when Brad Parker and Tolutau Koula both scored in the final 20 minutes, however the Titans held on, with Fermor completing his double on the siren for a 20-point win.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 pts – AJ Brimson (Titans), 2 pts – Beau Fermor (Titans), 1 pt – Tanah Boyd (Titans)
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