Titans hold off Eels to finish off Magic Round

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Gold Coast Titans v Parramatta Eels

Gold Coast Titans were able to hold on for a 26-24 win over Parramatta Eels which finished off Magic Round at Lang Park. 

It was the fourth week in a row which the Gold Coast Titans scored 26 points and they were able to record back-to-back results which saw them move in the top eight after another wonderful edition of Magic Round. 

The Eels got off to the best possible start. They shifted the ball to the left and tryscoring maestro Maika SIvo had the simple task of putting it down over the line to make it 4-0 for the blue-and-gold side. 

From there, it was a Titans onslaught. The old stager Kieran Foran got a quickfire double to wrestle back the lead. His first came from a superb David Fifita offload then he sliced through some feeble defence to make it 10-4. 

The Titans extended their advantage in the 23rd minute. Another break on the left side, young winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira got into plenty of space with Foran looming for the hat-trick but he chipped for himself and dived over. 

It felt like deja vu with Eels scoring from their first chance in the second half. Once again it was Sivo on the end of the play, having to take the pass down low and bustling over the tryline to get them back in the game. 

They looked to strike for another four-pointer but Khan-Pereira was there to intercept the ball and just take a night time stroll to give the Titans a 14-point advantage and close in on another win. 

The Eels refused to go quietly into the night. From an escort penalty, Sivo made it a hat-trick with another simple finish which saw the "Sivo" chants make their way up north due to the mass of blue-and-gold fans in the stadium. 

Parramatta went back-to-back with fittingly in coronation weekend, the man dubbed "The King" got on the board. He was able to pick up the scraps from a Mitch Moses kick to get it back to 22-18 with 20 minutes to go. 

Titans looked to have wrapped up the points with seven minutes to go. A wonderful shift on the right saw Phillip Sami burst through and go close. Debutant Keano Kini put it through the hands and Brian Kelly planted the ball down for 26-18. 

They were given a late scare with the Eels pushing back again. Dylan Brown sliced through the defense before he sent the ball inside to former Bulldogs Andrew Davey to score close to the posts.