Titans loss to Bulldogs sees them fall to worst start in club history
The Titans have reached dire straits, falling to their worst start to a season in the club’s history in an ugly 22-16 loss to the Bulldogs at Cbus Super Stadium.
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The Titans have reached dire straits, falling to their worst start to a season in the club’s history in an ugly 22-16 loss to the Bulldogs.
It wasn’t pretty football in front of 10,105 fans at Cbus Super Stadium and the loss has put the Gold Coast’s season on life support.
Coach Garth Brennan’s side now has two wins from the opening ten games – the first time since the club’s debut season in 2007.
It was there for the taking for the home side after leading 16-0 after 25 minutes, but they seemed to lose all life as they went on to concede four unanswered tries.
It was billed as a dance of the desperates with both sides languishing at 14th and 15th on the premiership ladder and the loss has now sentenced the Titans to the bottom of the table alongside the struggling Panthers.
The home side was simply unable to find points against a Bulldogs outfit which themselves have struggled for points this year.
Canterbury has scored the fewest points of any team in the competition (12.7 per game) but were allowed to score 22 unanswered points through costly errors and ill discipline.
Losing sides tend to refer to their inability “to put in an 80-minute performance”, but the Titans yesterday epitomised that excuse.
They looked clinical and sharp in the opening quarter of the match but all of a sudden went to sleep to allow the Bulldogs to eventually win the match.
Titans’ million dollar man Ash Taylor had to step up at the death and failed to do so for the fourth consecutive week, taking the Gold Coast to four losses on the trot.
Garth Brennan attempted to change things up in the last minute before kickoff by starting Jesse Arthars in at left centre and leaving Tyrone Peachey on the bench.
The move didn’t pay dividends but the idea was right in using Peachey as an impact player against a tired defence.
The only solace Brennan could take out of the terrible defeat was the mammoth effort put in by Queenslanders Jarrod Wallace and Jai Arrow.
The two forwards ran for 171m and 180m respectively to build momentum but the backline failed to capitalise close to the line.
It took just four minutes for the Titans to register first points through left side winger Dale Copley, on the back of a Dylan Napa knock on at halfway.
He made it a double seven minutes later to extend the Titans lead to 14-0.
The visitors were then simply welcomed back in the game through a number of costly Titans’ errors, to take scores to 16-12 going into halftime.
The Titans seemed to have no life in them coming out of the sheds as the Bulldogs piled on 10 unanswered points in the second stanza to find just their third win of the season.
CANTERBURY 22 (J Okunbor 2 J Cogger M Montoya tries N Meaney 3 goals) d GOLD COAST 16 (D Copley2 tries A Taylor 4 goals) at Cbus Super Stadium. Referee: Peter Gough, Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski. Crowd: 10,105. AAP
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