The iSelect Gold Coast Titans under 20s side have suffered a 32-18 loss to the lower-placed Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Cbus Super Stadium this afternoon.
In the final game of the season, the Titans put in a performance consistent of their year and were blown away early in the match by a dominant Bulldogs outfit who took a 22-4 half-time lead.
The Titans mounted a small comeback effort in the second-half but were unable to contain the much larger Bulldogs pack who posted three tries to grab just their third win of the season.
It was a tough season for the young Titans who suffered 18 losses for the year relegating them to 15th position on the competition ladder.
The visitors opened the scoring in the fourth minute with dummy-half Alex Sorge supporting a blind-side play to give the Bulldogs an early 4-0 lead.
Back-to-back penalties gifted the Bulldogs attacking possession and they took full advantage with winger Tautalatasi Tasi scoring in the corner to give the visitors an 8-0 lead.
With the momentum in their favour the Bulldogs extended their lead in the 20th minute when Tasi finished an attacking set-piece to grab his second try and give his side a 12-0 lead.
The Bulldogs dominance continued in the 26th minute when prop Herman Ese’ese barged his way through the line to score under the posts, giving Brendan Cox an easy conversion to take the visitors lead out to 18-0.
The Titans hit-back in the 36th minute with Shaun Hudson refusing to let the ball go to ground before offloading to his winger Brian Kelly to score in the corner and reduce the deficit back to 18-4.
The Bulldogs landed a killer blow on the half-time buzzer with Renouf To’Omaga cleaning up the scraps of a Titans error to score in the corner and give his side a 22-4 half-time lead.
The Titans scored the first points of the second-half with Kane Elgey slicing through the line to score under the posts giving Deacon Fletcher an easy conversion to reel the deficit back to 22-10.
The Bulldogs responded immediately with winger Tasi crossing in the corner for his third try of the night to extend his side’s lead out to 26-10 with 25 minutes remaining.
The Titans mounted their comeback efforts in the 59th minute when Fletcher barged his way across the line from dummy-half to score out wide to reduce the score line back to 26-14.
The Bulldogs put the Titans comeback efforts on hold with To’Omaga crossing for a converted try in the 69th minute to edge the visitors out to a 32-14 lead.
The Titans scored a consolation try in the 75th minute with Shaun Hudson crossing in the corner to reel the deficit back to 32-18.
The Bulldogs finished the game in style with Brad Keighran slicing through to score untouched under the posts before prop Ese’ese added the extras to give the Bulldogs the 38-18 victory.
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 38 (T Tasi 3, R To’Omaga 2, A Sorge, H Ese’ese, B Keighran tries; B Cox , H Ese’ese goals)defeated Gold Coast Titans 18 (B Kelly, K Elgey, D Fletcher, S Hudson tries; D Fletcher 1 goal)
