Raiders 28
Titans 24
The Raiders just managed to keep a fast-finishing Gold Coast at bay for a nail-biting win in their NRL clash at Canberra Stadium yesterday.
The Raiders appeared headed for a comfortable victory after Daniel Vidot scored just after halftime to give the home side a 26-6 lead.
But their trend of second-half fadeouts continued as the Titans ran in three unanswered tries to set up a tense finale.
The Titans had a chance to level the scores right on the fulltime whistle, but backrower Anthony Laffranchi was caught with possession on the last tackle after opting to go himself.
Fullback Josh Dugan got the home side off to a flying start, capitalising on a mistake from opposite number Preston Campbell to score the first try just 65 seconds in. Gold Coast centre Joseph Tomane answered back with his own four-pointer five minutes later, to even the scores at six all.
It was the start of a dominant period for the visitors, whose ball possession hovered in the 70 to 80 per cent range.
But Canberra reasserted themselves, applying pressure in Titans territory which paid off when lock Trevor Thurling reached out to find the try line in the 25th minute.
Their 12-6 lead was quickly extended thanks to another four points from centre Joel Thompson in the 34th minute, before five-eighth Terry Campese nabbed his first try of the season to see the Raiders up 22-6 at halftime.
In a refreshing change of pace for Canberra, they came out firing in the second 40 minutes, too - Vidot ploughing over the line just minutes after play resumed. Things got momentarily heated when Titans Matthew White and Nathan Friend ploughed Dugan head-first into the ground - a tackle that's now a matter for the match review committee.
However, the Gold Coast were not deterred.
Second-rower Mark Minichiello scored in the 58th minute to make it 26-12, before captain Scott Prince answered Campese's penalty goal with another try in the 66th minute to close the gap to 28-18.
Titans big man Anthony Laffranchi continued the fight back taking his team to within four points of the Raiders by the 73rd minute but he couldn't repeat the dose in the dying seconds.
- AAP
