The Titans have put an end to North Queensland’s six-game winning streak by beating their rivals 22-13 at Cbus Super Stadium on Sunday.
In a see-sawing Queensland derby, the Titans took a unique nine-point lead shortly after half-time through tries to Jayden Campbell and Alofiana Khan-Pereira after the Cowboys led 13-10 at the break.
Both sides had their chances in the final 35 minutes but neither team could get over the line for the remainder of the second half with the Cowboys’ loss putting a dent in their finals hopes with the Knights and Sea Eagles hot on their heels.
For the Titans, it was a crucial win after four straight losses of their own with David Fifita and Jayden Campbell strong while Phil Sami caused havoc with eight tackle busts and over 209 metres.
The Titans crossed early through AJ Brimson but the fullback was taken after the field shortly after with a torn abdominal muscle – an injury he was able to return with after a pain-killing injection during the first half.
North Queensland went over twice in Brimson’s absence with Semi Valemei crossing on the right edge through a Scott Drinkwater pass before Coen Hess outleaped Titans defenders to score under the posts off a Chad Townsend kick.
Cowboys centre Valentine Holmes found himself in the sin-bin for a second time in a fortnight after collecting Campbell high which is likely to come under scrutiny from the Match Review Committee.
The Titans took just two minutes to take advantage of the overlap with Sami crossing out wide.
Townsend put the Cowboys ahead by three before half-time with a standard field goal on the siren but that proved to be worth little when Campbell crossed just 30 seconds into the second half.
The Titans were in again five minutes later when David Fifita got into some space to send Khan-Pereira over the line for his 18th try of the season in as many games.
North Queensland came home strong with a weight of possession in the final 15 minutes but unlike the trend of their second halves this season, the Titans aimed up in defence to deny the Cowboys including an effort on Jake Granville late.
Source: NRL.Com