Ash Taylor and AJ Brimson lead Gold Coast to 33-26 win over Newcastle
THE Titans have broken their five-match losing streak with a 33-26 win over the Knights with rookie A.J. Brimson scoring the matchwinners.
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KALYN Ponga continued his sensational audition for a Queensland Origin jersey but Gold Coast rookie AJ Brimson was the hero as the Titans snapped a five-match losing streak yesterday.
Brimson scored the matchwinner in his second NRL game after the Titans defied the NRL’s farcical penalty crackdown to beat Newcastle 33-26 at Cbus Super Stadium.
At one stage the Titans had just 11 players on the field after rookie Moeaki Fotuaika and Origin prop Jarrod Wallace were sent to the sin bin for minor offences.
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The Titans were at least one man down for a 19-minute period but fought back in front of 11,008 to record their first win since Round 5.
“It was character building,” Titans coach Garth Brennan said.
“We need better discipline but I want to focus on the boys’ performance more so than the refereeing.
“The boys believe in each other. In times gone by they may have lost that game.”
The Knights looked to be on the way to their sixth win of the season when Queensland Origin contender Ponga raced 95m to give Newcastle a 26-18 lead in the 62nd minute.
But tries to winger Anthony Don and five-eighth Brimson got the Titans back into the lead before halfback Ash Taylor iced the seven-point win with a 78th minute field goal to cap off a commanding performance for the Gold Coast No. 7.
“AJ has done his time, he is performing well and it is up to him to lose his spot,” Brennan said.
“He is a fairly solid ballrunner. He is fast. He is a good build and takes the line on.
“I sent the message out to start running a bit more and he did that. He doesn’t lack confidence.
“I thought Ash was enormous. He really took control of that team like I’ve asked him to do.
“If he is playing like that and AJ is supporting him we are going to be a hard team to beat.”
The Titans got on the board early through winger Phillip Sami and made their best defensive start of the year, not conceding until the 28th minute when Sione Mata’utia went over.
Newcastle’s injection of prop Herman Ese’ese swung momentum but the Titans managed to take a 12-8 lead into the break after Taylor put Dale Copley in with a deft play.
Any hope of the Titans making a quick start to the second half was dashed when teenage prop Fotuaika was sin-binned in the 42nd minute for a holding penalty, allowing Newcastle to edge ahead through a charging Ese’ese.
The 12-man Titans hit back when Sami bagged his second and they were briefly reduced to 11 when Jarrod Wallace was sent to the bin for a professional foul.
The Titans were brave while Wallace watched on but they couldn’t stop Ken Sio edging Newcastle ahead before Ponga’s solo effort gave the Knights a 26-18 lead.
Don got the Titans within two, then copped a high shot, allowing Taylor to level scores with a penalty goal in the 69th minute.
Brimson’s try four minutes from full-time ensured the Titans recorded their second home win of the season.
GOLD COAST 33 (P Sami 2 A Brimson D Copley A Don tries A Taylor 4 M Gordon 2 goals A Taylor field goal) bt NEWCASTLE 26 (H Ese’ese S Mata’utia K Ponga K Sio tries B Lamb 5 goals) at Cbus Super Stadium. Referee: Chris Butler, Grant Atkins. Crowd: 11,008
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