TEAMS: NSWRL U17 Westpac Lisa Fiaola Cup - 2024 Round 8
26 mins ago | LeagueUnlimited Media
The Gold Coast Titans have thumped St George-Illawarra 32-12 at UOW Jubilee Oval tonight in front of 8,256 fans. The Titans snapped a two game losing streak and now leap frog the Dragons into the Top 8 to give their finals ambitions a huge boost.
The platform was laid early for the Titans, led by some pin point kicking from their halves Ash Taylor and Tyrone Roberts, with the Titans managing to secure 85% of the possession in the opening ten minutes, forcing the Dragons into 3 consecutive line drop outs. This in turn starved St George of the ball and led to two quick tries from winger Nene MacDonald and second rower Chris McQueen.
Gold Coast did likewise just after halftime and from there they never looked like losing the match. The Dragons were at times embarrassing with their lackluster attack and poor last tackle options whenever they got an opportunity close to the line. Unless they improve dramatically in the next few weeks then their season is surely over and done with as a serious finals contender for 2016.
The news wasn't all good for the visitors with representative forward Greg Bird placed on report for a sloppy high shot on Dragons five-eighth Gareth Widdop which will certainly come under the microscope from the judiciary and taking into account Bird's horrendous record and he will likely be looking at some time on the sideline.
Both sides came into this match looking to rejuvenate their Top 8 chances with the Dragons sitting eighth and the Titans breathing down their necks in ninth, but it was the Gold Coast Titans who flew out of the blocks with a near perfect start. They were rewarded with tries to a leaping Nene MacDonald who soared over two Dragons defenders to post the first try of the night and five minutes later, Chris McQueen hit a perfect short ball from Taylor to make it 8 nil after ten minutes.
There was no doubt that the Dragons were on the back foot early, however when they did get an opportunity they made it count, when centre come winger Kurt Mann managed to cleverly keep the ball off the ground close to the line and then reach out to score the Red V's first try of the night. Gareth Widdop smashed the conversion from the sideline to make it 8-6 to the Titans who missed both their conversions to their opening tries.
New recruit Tariq Sims managed to make an impact when he came on, and he and Joel Thompson were able to force Titans winger Nene MacDonald in goal to force a repeat set. Widdop pushed a grubber through the line, however it was beautifully caught by Titans new recruit Konrad Hurrell in a real momentum turning play. Off the next set, Agnatius Paasi got a superb offload to Zeb Taia who quickly found Josh Hoffman who sliced through to find Nathan Peats steaming through on the inside to score. Tyrone Roberts converted and the Titans lead 14-6 at the break.
Gold Coast came out with exactly the same attitude they did in the early exchanges and were again rewarded when a Roberts' bomb was batted back by centre Josh Hoffman to Agnatius Paasi who found fullback David Mead to score in his first match since his injury in Round 11. Roberts added the extras and it was 20-6 two minutes into the second half.
The Dragons right hand side seemed to lose confidence in taking the high ball up against the lanky Nene MacDonald, with the Dragons outside backs letting several kicks bounce rather than contest the ball. Off the back of an Ash Taylor kick which ricocheted off Dragons backrower, Joel Thompson's back the Dragons received six more tackles close to the line. Five-eighth Gareth Widdop then found an overlap but his pass was intercepted by MacDonald who ran 90 metres to score under the posts for his second try of the night, to break the hearts of Red V supporters and extend the Titans lead to twenty points.
An error from Titans centre Hoffman with ten minutes left to play gave the Dragons one more chance for a miracle but St George's attack was bordering on atrocious as they were handed two repeat sets but looked lost on both occasions. The humiliation only got worse, when a poor kick on the last was picked up by the Titans and former Warrior, Konrad Hurrell then steamrolled his way through the defence and found winger Anthony Don who streaked away to score yet another run away try for the Gold Coast.
Dragons winger Kurt Mann then scored his second try of the match as the siren went, but it merely flattered the scoreline as the Titans were always in command running out convincing winners 32-12.
The Titans now return home to the Gold Coast next Saturday night, where they take on Parramatta, in what will prove to be another vital match on their way to their first finals appearance since 2010. St George Illawarra must now get themselves booked into some intense therapy sessions before they take on the energetic and unpredictable Wests Tigers next Sunday at ANZ Stadium.
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