Titans run roughshod over Raiders

The Gold Coast Titans have produced a dominant display over a hapless Canberra Raiders outfit at Skilled Park, victors 36-0 in front of 12,267 supporters.

It was the home side who burst out of the blocks, with Albert Kelly and Greg Bird tries pushing the Titans to 12-0 leaders within eight minutes. The hot conditions denied the Titans further points (except for a 16th minute penalty goal), but shortly after a drinks break on the twenty-minute mark, Matt Srama found space near the line to grab a four-pointer of his own.

Leading 18-0, the Raiders finally got a couple of chances but continued to squander them with basic errors. Srama capitalised again in the 31st minute, before Albert Kelly snared himself a double right on halftime. The 30-0 scoreline showed the dominance of the Titans throughout the half, although it could have been far worse as the home side themselves failed to convert several chances and were denied by the Video Referees on more than one occasion.

The second half produced error after error, and it wasn't until the 61st minute that we saw the Titans add to their tally. Kevin Gordon dotted down in the corner, Aidan Sezer then converted for a 36-0 lead. Ultimately the Raiders looked certain to score on more than one occasion, but errors or good defence from the Gold Coast stopped them in their tracks.

For the Raiders, Reece Robinson seemed to be the pick of a bad bunch, but even he was penalised by the officials for a spirited chase on Albert Kelly, earning a sin-bin for holding the Titans' fullback down mid-way through the second half. The Titans dominance was largely because of strong performances from Kelly, Srama and Greg Bird, and will see them tracking well when they host Manly next Saturday evening. The Raiders will look to bounce back to form and continue their hoodoo over the Dragons next Sunday night at home.

GOLD COAST TITANS 36 (Albert Kelly 2, Matt Srama 2, Greg Bird, Kevin Gordon tries; Aidan Sezer 6/7 goals) defeated CANBERRA RAIDERS 0 at Skilled Park, Robina. Halftime: Titans 30-0. Crowd: 12,267. Referees: Adam Devcich and Henry Perenara.

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