Newcastle come back from 14 points down to beat Gold Coast 30-24
NEWCASTLE have staged one of the best comebacks of the year, overturning a hefty 24-10 second-half deficit to down Gold Coast 30-24.
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THE two worst defensive teams in the competition offered a promise of plenty of points and though it took until the second half for them to start flowing, flow they did giving a grandstand finish at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Newcastle and Gold Coast are the only teams in the competition to have conceded more than 400 points and they added plenty more to those totals but saved most of the scoring for the second half as the Knights came home for a 30-24 win.
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The first half delivered just a try for each team and only two points separated the sides at the break, a penalty goal giving the Gold Coast a 12-10 advantage. But five tries in the second period lifted the match to entertaining status and the 14,095 Knights fans went home happy with back-to-back wins for the first time since rounds seven and eight.
With where the two were placed on the ladder coming into this weekend, the Knights and Titans at 11th and 12th respectively, finals hopes are all but extinguished meaning games are as much about next year as they are this.
There were positives for both coaches. While the raft of points shows issues in defence — the Titans missed a whopping 42 tackles to the Knights’ 17 — it also shows an ability to create chances.
The Knights were again a faster side with Mitchell Pearce guiding them around the park, while Connor Watson and Nick Meaney were also effective and injecting themselves into play.
Watson set up the Knights’ try to take the lead with six minutes to play, a beautiful inside ball to Shaun Kenny-Dowall allowing him to go over untouched.
Coach Nathan Brown is happy for him to play his natural running game and he again clocked more than 100 metres with 114 from 14 runs.
Meaney showed in his second NRL game why he’s long been earmarked as a player with a big future. Quiet on debut last week while filling in for the injured Kalyn Ponga, Meaney was far more noticeable this week, crossing for a try just before halftime off a Pearce cross-field kick and putting in the kick for the Knights’ first that second-rower Mitch Barnett cleaned up off a deflection.
Bulldogs-bound in 2019, his new club will be pleased with what they saw and on that performance showed why he’s been the Knights’ under-20s player of the year in 2016 and 2017 and has represented NSW Residents and NSW Under-20s.
The Titans also showed their talent in attack. An ability to keep the ball alive kept them in the game and ahead for the most part.
Newcastle knew the danger Ash Taylor possessed leading into the game and he had a hand in most tries. Deft kicks, quick passes helped the Titans roll forward early in the second half.
Two quick tries in the 44th and 46th minutes to wingers Anthony Don and Phillip Sami — Taylor featuring in both — looked like they could go on with it and post a big score. But discipline and execution in defence hurt them as the game wore on.
They’ll need to correct that with the Warriors awaiting them next week.
NEWCASTLE 30 (M Barnett 2 L Fitzgibbon S Kenny-Dowall N Meaney tries K Sio 5 goals) bt GOLD COAST 24 (A Don 2 M Fotuaika P Sami tries M Gordon 4 goals) at McDonald Jones Stadium. Referee: Gavin Badger, Peter Gough. Crowd: 14,095
Originally published as Newcastle come back from 14 points down to beat Gold Coast 30-24
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