Gold Coast blow 14-0 lead in 30-14 loss to Wests Tigers in Tamworth
There are worrying signs on the Gold Coast after the Titans reverted back to the days of old, going down 30-14 to the Tigers in Tamworth.
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There are worrying signs on the Gold Coast after the Titans reverted back to the days of old going down 30-14 to the Tigers in Tamworth.
The Titans went into the game brimming with confidence on the back of two consecutive wins and were the better side in the opening 20 minutes, racing out to a 14-0 lead.
But they were brought crashing down to earth when the Tigers piled on six unanswered tries in front of 9799 fans at Tamworth’s Scully Park.
It was a night for the Titans to celebrate their 300th NRL match, but it was a blast from the past as they fell back to their old ways in switching off during crucial times of a game.
History suggests this loss rules the Titans out of finals contention after their predecessors failed to make the top eight when starting the year with the same 2-5 win-loss record.
It was also the club’s fourth straight away game loss and coach Garth Brennan’s men will need to fix their roadtrip record when they travel to Townsville on Friday to take on a desperate Cowboys side.
They were without forward Ryan James, who has been ruled out for the season with a knee injury, and his absence was definitely missed down the middle.
Their injury woes also continued after winger Dale Copley succumbed to a calf injury early in the first half, replaced by supersub Phillip Sami.
In the spirit of Tamworth’s country music idol Slim Dusty, the Titans showed they were ‘a club with no cheer’ last night after giving up a healthy lead to a fragile Tigers side.
It was a chance for Wests to make amends for their 51-6 drubbing to Parramatta last week and they appeared to still be shell-shocked at the start of the match.
But in a “half of two halves”, the Tigers fought back in the opening stanza to pile on three consecutive tries to take the lead 16-14 into the break.
The momentum shift was epitomised by the dramatic change in possession, where the Tigers were allowed to have 83% of the ball in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
It was always going to be tough for the Titans with the Tigers desperate to make amends for their flogging last week but their nine errors and ten penalties allowed Wests to capitalise over a poor Titans side.
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The Titans began the match on the front foot with a towering kick off by Jai Arrow proving too much for Tigers five-eighth Josh Reynolds to handle and knocked it on.
From there, Gold Coast showed a clinical display over a fragile Tigers, getting out to a 14-0 scoreline after 20 minutes.
The Tigers then swung the momentum around dramatically after that, taking 83% possession in the last 10 minutes of the first half and piled on three consecutive tries as a result.
The Gold Coast didn’t worry the Tigers at all in the second half as the home side scored another three tries to finish the game 30-14.
WESTS TIGERS 30 (M Fonua 3 R Jennings 2 E Marsters tries E Marsters 3 goals) bt GOLD COAST 14 (A Don T Peachey tries M Gordon 3 goals) at Scully Park. Referee: Jon Stone, Peter Gough. Crowd: 9,799
Originally published as Gold Coast blow 14-0 lead in 30-14 loss to Wests Tigers in Tamworth
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