Halftime vow behind Titans bounce back win against Manly

Gold Coast players vowed not to blow another halftime lead as they overcame the loss of star fullback AJ Brimson to stun the Sea Eagles 26-10 at 4 Pines Park.

Just six days after surrendering a 26-0 lead to capitulate 28-26 to the Dolphins, the Titans ground out a gutsy win without Brimson (hamstring) in the second half and veteran five-eighth Kieran Foran hobbled by a toe injury.

Foran battled on against his former Manly team-mates to steer the Titans to victory after the Sea Eagles got back to within six points midway through the second half.

Strike forward David Fifita also had a huge impact.

Fifita scored a try and laid on another for rookie winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira, who finished with a first half double to give Gold Coast a 16-2 lead at the break.

However, the Titans had to withstand a Manly fightback early in the second half, as well as the loss of Brimson, and Fifita said the players had spoken about avoiding another collapse.

"At halftime we were in the same position; we were up, and we spoke about it as well," Fifita said.

"We were embarrassed last week and hopefully our fans are happy and just keep with us because we are going to keep getting better and learning." 

The determination of Titans players to make amends for last weekend's capitulation was clear from the outset, with centre Brian Kelly and five-eighth Kieran Foran holding up Jason Saab over the tryline in the sixth minute.

A ninth minute Rueben Garrick penalty goal was Manly's only first half points as the visitors defended an early onslaught on their own tryline to dominate the opening stanza.

Brimson produced another try saving tackle when he crashed Sea Eagles winger Christian Tuipulotu over the sideline in the 20th minute before strike second-rower David Fifita imposed himself on the game.

A catch and pass in one motion from Fifita put rookie Gold Coast winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira for the opening try of the game in the 24th minute and the pressure intensified on Manly when Toafofoa Sipley was sinbinned.

Sea Eagles hooker Lachlan Croker bravely battled on with a gash under his right eye but he was unable to stop Fifita from crashing over in the 30th minute.

Khan-Pereira then grabbed his second try of the match just before halftime to give the Titans a 16-2 lead at the interval.

With Brimson forced from the field after the break due to a hamstring injury, Manly hit back through captain Daly Cherry-Evans, who produced a 40-20 kick before putting prop Sean Keppie over for a 50th minute try.

A second Garrick penalty goal narrowed Gold Coast's lead to 16-10 in the 55th minute but the Titans regained control when winger Phillip Sami outleapt Tuipulotu for a Boyd bomb to score 14 minutes before fulltime.

Gold Coast replacement Jayden Campbell, who came on for Brimson, sealed the win for his side when he broke into the clear near halfway before putting Klese Haas over 10 minutes before fulltime.