Titans’ loss gives lifeline to Warriors

The Warriors’ season remains alive but only just.

The Auckland-based club’s topeight hopes have been given a much-needed boost after the Panthers snatched a 15-14 victory over the Titans on the Gold Coast.

After clawing their way into finals contention during the second half of the season, back-toback losses over the last two weeks meant the Warriors needed the Titans to lose their final two matches - and win their own games - to have a chance of ending their finals drought.

For a moment it appeared as though the Warriors would be playing for pride for the rest of the season as the home side stormed back from a 14-0 deficit to level the scores in the dying minutes.

But, much to Andrew McFadden’s relief, Panthers fullback Matt Moylan had the final say, kicking a field goal with two minutes to go to seal his own team’s place in the playoffs.

And with the Titans having to make the daunting trip to Townsville next week to face defending premiers the Cowboys, suddenly a place in the top eight for the Warriors does not seem out of reach – provided they hold up their end of the equation.

Another Titans defeat will mean nothing if they fail to beat the Tigers and Eels. Those are two very winnable games, both at Mt Smart, and the Warriors will only have themselves to blame if they can’t deliver.

Their first task is Tigers on Sunday.

With Jason Taylor’s side on the same amount of points as the Warriors on the table, they would have been equally buoyed by the Titans’ defeat.

Yet the Tigers have only won once in four trips to New Zealand since 2008 and missing star fullback James Tedesco, the home to get past the side will start as strong favourites.

With Warriors players anxiously watching on TV in New Zealand, their nerves would have eased slightly when Moylan sliced through some flimsy defence to open the scoring.

They may have even thought about putting their their feet up when the Panthers marched upfield for centre Waqa Blake to stretch over before a Nathan Cleary penalty made it 14-0 in the 28th-minute.

While the Titans were playing for a place in the top-eight, so were the Panthers and only one side looked finals-worthy in the first half.

The visitors looked sharp from the outset, overpowering the Titans pack and running them ragged with play.

Gold Coast had their moments on attack but lacked the polish at the end of their sets too build any sustained pressure.

With so much to play for, the Titans were always expected to respond and five minutes into the second half they were on the board when Auckland-born forward Leivaha Pulu crashed over.

The Panthers weren’t as clinical as they were in the first half, allowing the Titans to find territory and possession much easier to come by.

But they didn’t look like scoring until the 67th-minute when Greg Bird wrestled over to cut the margin to just two points.

That set up a grandstand finish and the game seemed destined for golden-point when a high tackle by the Panthers allowed Tyrone Roberts to level the scores.

Enter Moylan, who stepped up from 30m out to win the game and do a huge favour for the Warriors in the process. Let’s see if they can make the most of it. skillful second-phase