Titans sweep the floor with the disastrous Dragons

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St George Illawarra Dragons v Gold Coast Titans

The Titans proved to be too strong for the struggling Dragons as they cruised to a 32-10 victory at Cbus Super Stadium.

It was a great start to the afternoon for the Gold Coast as they asserted their claims for a top eight spot. After an early penalty goal to debutant Toby Sexton, the home side struck through Jarrod Wallace as St George Illawarra failed to defuse a bomb from Sexton which allowed the ball to fall to Titans' centre, Patrick Herbert who passed to Wallace to score untouched.

The Dragons didn't take long to reply and it was through Queenslander Ben Hunt who was put through a hole close to the line thanks to a great short ball from Jack de Belin as the away side reduced the deficit to two points.

Both sides continued to create little half chances, but it wasn't until the 32^nd minute when the Titans next struck and it was the mammoth David Fifita who extended the home side's lead. Fifita was given early ball from Sexton about 15 metres short of the Dragons' try line but that didn't matter. Fifita identified Ramsey in the defensive line and charged at him on the edge as his raw strength and power took him over the line for his 13###sup

try of the season. The debutant Sexton made no errors with the conversion from the side line as he extended the home side's lead to eight points. ###>

The Titans didn't take long to pick up from where they left off and it was Greg Marzhew who opened the scoring in the second term for the home side. Fifita was at the centre of it once again as he charged at Ramsey for the second time this afternoon and it once again provided the Titans with a try as Fifita was too strong to handle as he offloaded to Marzhew to score in the corner.

The Dragons started to struggle in the second half and it became apparent that their chances of winning the game had dwindled as they failed to make their presence felt on the field. As a result, front rower Jarrod Wallace was granted his second try for the night thanks to a break from Sexton earlier in the set. Jamin Jolliffe retrieved the ball and took off for the line and as he was being stopped from doing so he offloaded to Wallace to score under the posts.

The Titans continued to put their foot on the pedal as the debutant Sexton scored his maiden NRL try as Wallace's offload hit Hunt and was regathered by the halfback who went on to score in a memorable afternoon for the 20-year-old.

That was it for the Titans for the afternoon, but they weren't strong enough to prevent the Dragons from departing with a consolation try. Winger Jordan Pereira found himself in space on the left edge and was just too fast for any of the Titans to stop, including fullback AJ Brimson.

It was a disappointing afternoon for the Dragons and if they continue to deliver these performances, they'll quickly see themselves disappear from the top eight. For the Titans, it's a strong performance moving forward as they attempt to sneak into the top eight.