The Sydney Roosters Toyota Cup side has suffered a 34-22 defeat at the hands of the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday afternoon at Bluetongue Stadium.
Both sides came into to the contest sitting outside the eight with the Roosters in second last and the Titans lingering in tenth place coming off the back of a six match losing streak.
Each team had struggled to put on the points with the Tricolurs posting just one try in their last two outings and the visitors had scored just 28 points in three.
It looked like luck had jumped on the Tricolours side form the kick off when the ball bounced into touch.
The home side could not capitalise but the Titans did from the back off the scrum through Travis Drought. The visitors picked up possession on the halfway line from a Rooster dropped ball and Jordan Rankin provided the kick which took a wicked bounce giving Sam Brunton little chance of stopping the flying half. Rankin converted for a 6-nil lead.
Ryan James lead the Titans charge down the short side in the 21st minute when he steam rolled his way over the line. The second rower crashed into the defence from three metres out and was unstoppable as they bounced off him.
Olireti Samuela wrestled over from short range catching defenders unaware and perhaps the referee who awarded the try despite the ball appearing to miss the chalk. It was just reward however with the home side starting to get a roll on up the middle and the crafty dummy half caught them out to bridge the gap. Luke Towers knocked the ball between the posts to keep the Roosters on track.
Roosters captain Dylan Sharp made a try saving tackle but it was to no avail as the Titans eventually extended their lead in the next play through Kayne Lawton. The Titans hooker opted to go himself from the play the ball and burrowed his way under some soft goal line defence. Rankin kicked straight again for a 12 point lead.
Click here to read the rest of the Toyota Cup review on SydneyRoosters.com.au
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