The Gold Training under-20s team have finished their season with a loss to second-placed North Queensland after being left undermanned with injuries in the second half.
After a slow start, the Titans levelled the scores at 16-all late in the first half but could not contain the powerful and free-flowing in the last 45 minutes.
It was a poor start for the Titans with the Cowboys crossing in the left hand corner at the end of the first set of possession of the game. Left winger Marcus Jensen was the score to give the home side a 4-0 lead after just 90 seconds.
In the 11th minute the Cowboys were over again through lock Tahanui Tutavake who steamed through the defence from close range. Kalyn Pongia’s conversion made it 10-0.
However, the Titans responded quickly to get back into the game. The Cowboys knocked on straight after the kick-off and John Olive chanced his arm from dummy half and crossed in the left corner. Josh Rogers missed the conversion for the score to remain 10-4.
A 60m intercept try to Cowboys right winger Gideon Gela-Mosby turned the tables again after the Titans had forced a line-drop-out. Pongia converted for 16-4 just 21 minutes into the first half.
The Titans struck back with two tries three minutes apart to level the scores at 16-all. The first came after Sam Swift latched onto a bust by five-eighth Josh Rogers and then Brayden McGrady scored after grabbing a Rogers’ cross-field bomb to the right.
Soon after they almost took the lead after McGrady broke down the right side and passed into Ethan Roberts but the final pass to Rogers went astray.
The game turned quickly from there. The Cowboys scored two tries in the final three minutes of the half to quickly reverse the Titans’ momentum and lead 26-16 at the break.
They made it three tries in six minutes when they crossed early in the second half for 32-16 and the Titans never really were in the contest from then.
After losing winger Phillip Sami in the first half, their task became harder when Morgan Boyle (neck) and Josh Ralph (head bin) went off in the early stages of the second half and could not return.
The Cowboys scored two more tries to lead 42-16 before Ethan Roberts crossed from close range, with his try converted by McGrady to bring up the final score of 42-22.
Cowboys 42 beat Gold Training Titans 22 (Olive, Swift, McGrady, Roberts tries; Rogers 2, McGrady goals) at 1300SMILES Stadium.
