A hat-trick to Tyronne Roberts-Davis has guided the Gold Training Titans under-20s to an emphatic 40-12 victory over the Canberra Raiders at Cbus Super Stadium this afternoon.
The win marks the Titans’ sixth victory over top-eight placed teams and is on-par with their round 20 36-6 defeat of the Brisbane Broncos as their best performance of the season.
The young Titans made their intentions clear early on and took a 28-0 half-time lead after scoring five unanswered tries including two to right winger Roberts-Davis who was proving difficult to contain out wide.
There was no stopping the Titans in the second-half with the side continuing their dominance with Roberts-Davis crossing for his third and Greg Lelesiuao grabbing a double to secure the Titans eighth win of the season.
It was the Titans who opened the scoring in the fifth minute with Lelesiuao receiving a great ball from Rory Humphreys to score in the corner for a 4-0 lead.
The Titans extended their lead in the 12th minute after some quick hands down the open-side found a flying Roberts-Davis to cross in the corner before Shaun Hudson converted from the sideline to give the Titans a 10-0 lead.
With the momentum in the favour, the Titans capitalised with Hudson barging his way across the line before converting his own try to give his side a 16-0 lead after 23 minutes.
The Titans’ dominance in the middle created space out-wide and the speed of Roberts-Davis was on display again with the winger outpacing his rivals to score his second try of the afternoon to extend the Titans lead out to 22-0.
A repeat set on the Raiders line gifted the Titans another opportunity to extend their lead and they took full advantage with a barnstorming Simione Fatefehi crashing through the defensive line to score on debut and give Hudson an easy conversion and the Titans a 28-0 lead after 35 minutes.
The first half finished with an old-fashioned fight with Titans Karl Lawton and Raiders Brett Solomon trading punches which resulted in both players being marched for 10 minutes in the sin-bin before the half-time siren sounded with the Titans taking a 28-0 lead.
The Titans continued their dominance in the second-half with a Daniel Schwass cross-field kick coming down to Roberts-Davis who got a ball away to Humphreys to score in the corner for a 32-0 lead.
The Titans defence was put to the test in the middle of the half with the Raiders mounting an attacking raid with three consecutive sets on the Titans line which proved impenetrable holding the young Green Machine outfit at bay.
The Titans were rewarded for their defensive efforts in the following set after some enterprising backline play was finished off by Roberts-Davis who crossed in the corner to grab his third-try of the afternoon and give the Titans a 36-0 lead with 20 minutes remaining.
The Titans continued their dominance and extended their lead in the 70th minute with Lelesiuao showing blistering speed to score his second-try of the night to give the Titans a 40-0 lead.
The Raiders scored two-late consolation tries through Kalani Going and Kody Parsons crossing to reduce the Titans winning margin back to 40-12.
The Titans will look to continue their winning ways when they take on the St George Illawarra Dragons at Cbus Super Stadium next Sunday.
Gold Coast Titans 40 (T Roberts-Davis 3, G Lelesiuao 2, S Hudson, S Fatefehi, R Humphreys tries; S Hudson 4 goals) defeated Canberra Raiders 12 (K Going, K Parsons tries; T Williams 2 goals).
