A double for Alex Johnston drew him closer to Ken Irvine's try-scoring record as the South Sydney Rabbitohs took a giant step away from the wooden spoon when they defeated the Gold Coast Titans 20-18 at CBUS Super Stadium.
It was a horror start for the home side. Repeated infringements against the Titans gave South Sydney prime attacking field position. Some poor edge defence was exposed very easily by Latrell Mitchell and Alex Johnston crossed for try 208 in his illustrious career.
The Titans did look like they would take the lead when Jayden Campbell fooled the defence, however a desperate tackle from Latrell Mitchell saved the day. Despite Campbell's bombed efforts mere moments ago, the Titans worked their way back into the contest and it was their little pivot that did it down the short side, when he exposed the left edge to find Jojo Fifita who got a great offload to Jaylan De Groot to take the lead.
The Titans were running hot, after a near opportunity with Alofiana Khan-Pereira streaking down the left touch-line, the hosts crossed for their second try when Kieran Foran targeted young Ashton Ward in defence to find Beau Fermor to score out on the left edge. A penalty for dissent against Jai Arrow allowed a penalty goal for Campbell.
South Sydney had limited attacking ball but capitalised on a cheap yardage error from Fifita. A desperation tackle stopped Jye Gray scoring moments before hand, but they weren't to be denied when Ashton Ward and Isaiah Tass combined to send Bayleigh Bentley-Hape over in the corner. Two Bentley-Hape penalty goals gave the Bunnies a 14-12 lead at the break.
Both sides traded shots in the attacking 20m, but the defences of both sides were able to answer the call. A bomb from Jamie Humphries was contested by Mitchell who somehow got a flick pass out the back to Johnston. The prestigious try-scorer had a lot of work to do, beating several defenders before getting his way to the line.
The Titans were desperate to be the next team to score and they charged over with Sam Verrills, capitalising on some poor ruck defence from the Rabbitohs on the goal-line. However, they were unable to find that critical final try to defeat the South Sydney side who scrambled so brilliantly in defence towards the final stages.