Titans crank up the heat to slip past Eels
A STRONG final quarter has seen the Gold Coast Titans record a 30-18 come-from-behind victory against Parramatta Eels in their trial match in Alice Springs last night.
Trailing with just 10 minutes to play in the match, Kane Elgey, Anthony Don and Phillip Sami all crossed for late tries to earn the Titans a win in their first competitive hit out of 2017.
In trying conditions where temperatures hovered in the mid-30s, the match was sloppy early with penalties coming thick and fast for both sides in the opening minutes.
The Titans struck the first blow of the contest with Leivaha Pulu crossing for the first try in the 16th minute while the Eels struggled offensively, scoring just a penalty goal in the first quarter.
Both sides struggled to find their feet in the second quarter with neither side able to trouble the scorers.
Play opened up in the second half however with both sides scoring tries in the third quarter giving Gold Coast a 12-8 advantage heading into the final stanza.
Parramatta looked like taking the game away from the Titans early in the last quarter with tries to Atini Gafa and Honeti Tuha giving the Eels an 18-12 lead but the Titans came storming back to record their first win of 2017.
Titans coach Neil Henry benched Elgey, William Zillman, Anthony Don, Nathan Davis, Paterika Vaivai and Pulu for the start of the second half.
Burleigh’s Tyler Cornish, who is trialling for a contract, moved to fullback in place of Zillman following his impressive performance at last weekend’s Auckland Nines.
Cornish threw the last pass for young gun Tyronne Roberts-Davis to score, giving the Titans a 12-8 lead in the third quarter, and was one of the Gold Coast’s best.
Playing his first game since suffering a horrific broken leg in his NRL debut, Karl Lawton moved into the halves in place of Elgey for the third quarter.
Broncos recruit Jarrod Wallace made his presence felt in his first appearance for the Titans at lock and the Gold Coast reported no injuries in their 22man squad at fulltime.
The Titans will play their final trial against the Warriors in New Zealand next Sunday with Henry hoping to field close to his strongest team.
Eels first-graders Tim Mannah, Isaac De Gois and David Gower had their first hit-outs.