The Gold Training Gold Coast Titans NYC side have suffered a 28-20 loss at the hand of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Cbus Super Stadium today.
The young Titans produced a solid first-half effort to control the contest and score three tries and go into the break with a 14-8 lead.
The Titans looked set to continue this in the second-half when they shot out to a 20-12 lead going into the final 25 minutes of play but the Bulldogs continued to fight to the end and produced three late tries to come away with the 28-20 win.
The loss is the fourth successive for Ben Woolf’s men and now means the Titans are out of contention to make the finals season.
It was a great start for the Titans with Bostyn Hakaraia collecting the scraps from a dropped bomb to cross next to the posts. With Ethan Roberts converting, the home-side took a 6-0 lead after two minutes of play.
The Titans went back-to-back with some evasive play finding space out wide for Kody Parsons to score untouched in the corner to extend the lead out to 10-0.
The Bulldogs hit-back in the 12th minute with halfback Michael Doolan throwing a deft pass to Luis Strickland to cross next to the posts. With Adam Keighran’s kick bouncing away off the upright, the Titans lead remained 10-4.
The Titans made a break from deep inside their own half and looked set to score when Brimson offloaded to Hakaraia but some great cover defence by the Bulldogs forward Kayne Kalache pulled the flying winger down just short of the line. The forwards good work was undone when referee ruled Kalache held on too long in the tackle and the prop was sin-binned for 10 minutes.
With the extra man, the Titans added to their score with Brimson throwing a lovely cut-out pass to Jaxson Paulo to cross in the corner to give the Titans a 14-4 lead with 15 minutes remaining in the half.
The momentum then switched to the Bulldogs and they managed to take advantage in the final minute of the match with centre Kiko Manu producing a miracle flick-pass to his wing-counterpart Tui Katoa to score in the corner and reduce the deficit back to 14-8 going into the break.
Both sides traded sets to open the start of the half but back-to-back penalties put the Bulldogs on the attack and they capitalised in the 49th minute with Cameron Scott crossing in the corner. With Keighran unable to convert from the sideline, the Titans held a narrow 14-12 lead with 30minutes remaining.
But an error from the Bulldogs coming out of their own end gifted the Titans a prime attacking opportunity and they extended their lead through Brimson who dummied his way through the line to score next to the posts to give Roberts an easy conversion and the side a 20-12 lead.
The Bulldogs looked set to score in the 58th minute but Brimson pulled off a last-ditch effort to hold-up a barnstorming Bulldogs prop under the posts.
There was no stopping the Bulldogs in the 64th minute with Keighran slicing his way through the Titans defence before reaching out to plant the ball down and give the away-side a small hope of a comeback as they trailed 20-16.
The Bulldogs comeback was well underway in the 70th minute with Katoa grabbing his second try of the afternoon in the corner. With Keighran converting from the sideline, the Bulldogs took a 22-20 lead with under ten minutes remaining.
The Bulldogs wrapped the match up in the final minutes of the match with Zac Cardassilaris barging his way over close to the line. With Keighran adding the extras, the visitors took the 28-20 win.
The Titans will look to hit-back when they take on the Sydney Roosters in the final round of the competition next week.
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 28 (T Katoa 2, L Strickland, C Scott, A Keighran, Z Cardassilaris tries; A Keighran 2 goals) defeated Gold Coast Titans 20 (B Hakaraia, K Parsons, J Paulo, A Brimson tries; E Roberts 2 goals)
