The Titans have secured back-to-back victories for the first time in 2019, defeating a lackluster Knights side, 38-14 today in front of 11,654 fans at Robina.
Tyrone Roberts wound back the clock with a virtuoso performance, the five-eighth scored twice with an assist as the Gold Coast Titans punished an errant Newcastle Knights side, passing the 30-point mark in back-to-back weeks where they laid on six tries in a performance that will have them full of confidence after a slow start to the season.
For Newcastle, it is darkest before dawn. The first half was filled with errors, defensive misses and cries for the head coach to be sacked. They might have bought Nathan Brown some respite with their second half flurry that saw Hymel Hunt, Kalyn Ponga and Mitch Barnett cross, but when the game was in the balance, their attack was again missing.
In their first two tries the Titans only had to scoop up the ball. Two Knights errors allowed both Phillip Sami and Roberts to scoot through, aided by the sharp goalkicking from Michael Gordon had them up 14-nil after 20 minutes.
Once the Titans were on a roll, they showed their attacking chops. Brian Kelly stepped past a series of defenders for their third as it looked like a long afternoon loomed for the visitors. Gordon finished the half with another penalty goal to make it 22-nil at the break.
Again, errors and basic execution brought the Knights down, and Titans profited. Shaun Kenny-Dowall tried to spark his side with a sideways run, gave Edrick Lee a heavy pass that Anthony Don gratefully gobbled up to extend the lead to 28-nil.
Newcastle did try to spur an improbable comeback, Hymel Hunt, Kalyn Ponga and Mitch Barnett all dived over to reduce the gap to fourteen. They did have a chance to further reduce the deficit but their attack reverted back to it's first half form and the Titans held firm.
Michael Gordon and Tyrone Roberts added a pair of late scores to blow out to the scoreline to one more representative of the contest. Gold Coast executed the simple skills much better and showed some flashes of brilliance to move themselves further off the bottom and throw the Knights into the mire.
Regarding the visitors, a season touted full of promise has turned sour quickly. The constant changes to their halves, a stuttering attack and a sieve-like defense has seen them struggle through the first six weeks that has put them behind the pack.