NRL: Titans clean up Dragons

Scott Prince. Photo / Getty Images

Titans 28 Dragons 14
Lady luck finally smiled on Gold Coast as the Titans overcame a patched up St George Illawarra 28-14 to give their flagging NRL premiership hopes a much-needed boost on Friday night.

After struggling to a 8-4 halftime deficit against a Dragons side ravaged by injury and State of Origin call-ups, the Titans came out firing after the break, halfback Scott Prince the chief architect of the much-needed comeback.

It was the Dragons' first loss since March, the absence of six stars in Origin camps too much for the premiers to overcome.

Prince put the Titans ahead when he grubbered ahead for himself to score adjacent to the posts just after the restart, but it was a try to Mark Minichiello on 50 minutes that signalled a change in fortune.

Having twice had promising first half raids - including William Zillman crossing the stripe - called back for dubious forward passes, the video referee finally gave the Titans a break after Dragons debutant Alex McKinnon lost the ball ten metres out from his own line.

It took the gloss of what was a promising two-try performance from the 19-year-old Toyota Cup star, with Joseph Tomane appearing to strip the ball forward before Minichiello pounced to extend their lead to 18-8.

The Titans looked home when David Mead scored to make it three tries in 12 minutes but, when McKinnon barrelled over for his second of the night, the premiers were down by just six with more than 15 minutes left on the clock.

What was a gallant effort from the barely recognisable Dragons fell short of a fairytale comeback when Titans hooker Matt Srama capped an impressive performance with a try off a deft Ben Ridge offload.

The Titans made the perfect start in a bid to get off the bottom of the ladder when Prince bombed for Tomane to score, Jason Nightingale making a meal of the kick as fullback stand-in for Queensland winger Darius Boyd.

Nightingale made amends as he set up two tries in three minutes, the first to Ratu Peni Tagive before McKinnon - a backrower in his fourth year in the under 20s thrust into the centres to replace NSW centre Mark Gasnier - scored with his second touch of the ball after a basketball pass from the Kiwi international.

- AAP