Titans win in stunning fightback

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Gold Coast Titans v Canberra Raiders

A history of high scoring games between these two sides continued at the Gold Coast, with the Titans staging an unbelievable fightback to snatch a win at the death 30-28 over the Raiders.

Raiders new recruit and replacement for star rake Josh Hodgson, Siliva Havili, made a solid start with a good run from dummy half after just two minutes of play. The next tackle saw the Raiders kick to the wing, where the Titans lost possession. With a fresh set of six and just 5 out from the line, the Raiders wasted no time getting on the board when Havili shaped to pass left and then ran into the space behind marker on the right hand side to score. Croker converted.

Just three minutes later the Raiders were again on the attack. On the last the ball went to Wighton, who was allowed to run towards the left corner. He got around Latu and powered through the sliding and back pedalling defence to score a good try. Croker nailed the conversion from out wide.

The Green Machine was in stunning form as they scored yet again just two minutes later. Williams with a tidy dummy on halfway, made a break before passing back in to Whitehead who streaked away for a try under the sticks. Croker again converted and after ten minutes, his side lead 18-0.

They looked set to score again when Papalii made a break, but his pass to Croker was grassed. The Titans marched downfield from the scrum, where Taylor sent Proctor over from a strong try. Gordon converted.

Leilua steamed onto a Tapine offload and got across the Titans line, however the defence knocked the ball loose before he could ground it. The Titans then sat themselves on the Raiders line for 6 minutes but couldn't bridge the gap on the scoreboard.

The Raiders got a piggyback penalty and marched downfield, where Sezer gave a neat inside ball to Paulo who barged over to score under the dot again. Sezer converted.

With just 6 minutes left in the half, Taylor put in a deft grubber which was pounced on by Elgey who scored. Gordon converted to reduce the Raiders halftime lead to 24-12.

Titans scored first after the break after picking up three straight sets inside the Raiders 20, before a short side play saw Taylor perform a brilliant catch and cut-out pass off his toes to Sami to put the winger over. Gordon's sideline conversion snuck inside the uprights.

The Titans kept the fightback going in the 55th minute, when Elgey lobbed a long pass to Copley, who got between two defenders to score out wide. Gordon was unable to level the scores with his sideline conversion.

The Titans halves managed to get a pair of back-to-back drop outs for their side with neat grubbers, which lead to the Raiders giving away a penalty. Gordon stepped up and slotted the goal to level the scores at 24 apiece.

With just 15 minutes left, the Raiders hit back when Austin's cross kick was pushed back by Rapana to Leilua who wrapped around and scored out wide. Croker was unable to convert.

With just two minutes remaining, Taylor put in a wobbly grubber which looked to sidestep everyone, except Hurrell who regathered and dived over between the sticks to score. Gordon converted to give the Titans the lead for the first time in the game and the win.

Next weekend the Titans will head across the Tasman on Saturday afternoon to face the Warriors, while the Raiders have a full week to lick their wounds before hosting Newcastle at home on Sunday night.