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The Cowboys have secured a crucial top 4 spot and a double chance in the semi-finals with a 32-16 victory over the Titans in Townsville tonight.
The eighth-placed Titans will now have a sleepless night and will be cheering on the Raiders tomorrow afternoon. They will only play finals football if Canberra beat the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval.
The game went according to script in Townsville. The Cowboys had too much firepower in attack, but the Titans showed their usual gutsy resilience to hang in the match without ever looking like they could score enough points to win it.
The Cowboys scored the first two tries of the game. Justin O’Neill leapt to take a Lachlan Coote cross-field kick for the Cowboys first four-pointer. Antonio Winterstein capitalised on a Jarryd Hayne fumble of a Coote grubber soon after to score the Cowboys’ second try.
The Titans hit back late in the first half, scoring their own try off a kick. David Mead did well to take a Nathan Friend cross-field kick and plant the ball down, especially after he was on the receiving end of a head knock early in the game.
The Titans would have been happy to head into the sheds only trailing by 12-6. Jason Taumalolo was his usual destructive self, making a lot of metres for the Cowboys in attack.
In the second half, the Cowboys skipped away with an early try by Gavin Cooper. Both teams then traded tries with Ryan James (Titans, 57th minute), James Tamou (Cowboys, 66th minute), Konrad Hurrrell (Titans, 70th minute), and Gavin Cooper (79th minute) all crossing the line.
The Cowboys will face the minor premiers in the first week of the finals.
Click here for full match report
Cowboys – 32
Titans – 16
A top-four and a top-eight spot are on the line when the North Queensland Cowboys host the Gold Coast Titans in the last round before the 2016 NRL finals series. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 5:30pm (AEST).
For the Cowboys, a win will secure their top four spot and a double chance in the finals. They would either play Melbourne or Cronulla, depending on who wins their clash at AAMI Park later tonight and ends up as minor premiers.
The Titans also have their finals destiny in their hands. A win will see them secure eighth spot and allow them to sleep easy tonight. A loss will leave them sweating on the Tigers losing against Canberra at Leichhardt Oval tomorrow afternoon, so that they can stay in the eight.
It’s the first time the two teams have met this season and it’s a big assignment for the Titans, with the Cowboys having won ten of their 11 home games this season.
Their only loss was to ladder leaders the Melbourne Storm, in Round 21, while the Cowboys were also impressive in beating the Bulldogs last week at Belmore.
North Queensland coach Paul Green has been forced to promote interchange forward Scott Bolton to his starting line-up, with prop and co-captain Matt Scott ruled out with a broken finger. Veteran Ben Hannant returns to the interchange bench after being sidelined for a month with a knee injury.
Coach Neil Henry has made no changes to the squad that lost a thriller against Penrith last week, other than prop Luke Douglas returning to the starting line-up and Agnatius Paasi dropping back to an extended bench.
Prediction
The Titans to be gallant as usual but the Cowboys will have too much firepower. The Gold Coast will be cheering on the Raiders tomorrow afternoon to keep their season alive.
Join The Roar at 5:30pm (AEST) for score updates and debate in our live blog.
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