Titans make it perfect three against Raiders
Mitchell Craig & Adam Gardini
The Jestar Gold Coast Titans have made it three wins on the trot by defeating the Canberra Raiders in a grinding 24-4 victory in front of a crowd of 11,521 at Skilled Park this evening.
In a match that was as scrappy as it was entertaining at times, the Jetstar Titans led 24-nil before a late try to Canberra took some of the gloss off the result.
The win keeps the Jetstar Titans up the top of the NRL after three rounds of the competition ahead of next week's Queensland derby against North Queensland in Townsville.
Outside backs Joseph Tomane, Kevin Gordon and David Mead were all rewarded with tries while some strong individual efforts by Greg Bird and Nathan Friend late in the second half helped the Jetstar Titans over the line.
“We weren’t as clinical in attack as we’d like to be but defensively we were very good,” said Titans coach John Cartwright.
“A couple of things didn’t go our way but we competed all night.
“We played better with the ball and in all the little areas of the game that the boys pride themselves in which was good.”
Jetstar Titans captain Scott Prince said the intensity of the performance was the key for the Gold Coast.
“We had a good week at training with minimal drop ball,” said Prince.
“There was a bit of drop ball tonight but the intensity was there which was pleasing.
“We got a lot repeat sets and broke the Raiders down to the point where it was just a matter of them running out of juice late in the second half.”
The Titans showed some glimpsed of their usual attacking flare as flamboyant wingers Gordon and Mead scored a try a piece within minutes of each other.
The first came from a clever Nathan Friend penalty tap that got the Titans in ideal field position as two plays later a sneaky short side play saw second rower Mark Minichiello throw a beautiful pass to Gordon to score in the corner.
The free flowing style of attack continued as Mead found himself in the perfect position taking a pop pass from Tomane just minutes later to further the Titans lead.
The Raiders got into the contest too late as winger Daniel Vidot scored conciliation try in the corner in the final moments of play.
Earlier the Titans opened their account through a Scott Prince penalty kick in the 6th minute giving the Titans a 2-0 lead.
They did well in the opening exchanges as lock Ashley Harrison was a late withdrawal with a back injury in the warm up.
His replacement had an immediate impact as big Sam Tagataese led well up front with some enterprising carries and solid defence.
The Titans were dynamic in attack for the opening 20 minutes with a try coming from some good go forward and slick ball skills as Prince crashed over.
He converted his own try giving the Titans an 8-0 lead, in the 19th minute.
The Titans eventually muscled up as a brilliant cut out pass from five-eighth Greg Bird saw centre Joseph Tomane score a try out wide, with Prince converting to extend the lead to 14-0, in the 58th minute.
Gold Coast Titans 24(S Prince, J Tomane, K Gordon, D Mead tries; Prince 4 goals) defeated the Canberra Raiders 4 (D Vidot try)
Source: http://www.titans.com.au