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The score of 34-14 may not seem a true indicator of this game, but for the final quarter of the Friday Night Football game between the Manly Sea Eagles and the Gold Coast Titans, the game was on a knife edge and ready to go either way.
At the 56th minute mark, the Titans were leading 14-12, and had all the momentum. An upset was on the cards.
Consecutive sets on the Manly line gave the Titans the momentum, until a scrum win to the Titans was nullified by a Brad Davis dropped ball from an Anthony Watmough hit.
From that point, the game turned.
Next set, Manly score from a botched attempt to take a kick from Brenton Bowen, and the game was over. Within 5 minutes Manly had taken the score to 22-14, and the Titans heads went down.
The final ten minutes gave the Eagles a further two tries against a disillusioned Titans outfit, who copped a blast for their dispirited play in the back half of the game.
For the Titans, Preston Campbell, Matt Rogers, Nathan Friend and Anthony LaFranchi were strong, while Mark Minichello limped off with a possible long term leg injury.
Brad Davis, so strong in many ways in his three NRL games to date, was made fully aware of how mistakes can eat away at a team at this level. His dropped ball in the 56th minute turned the game, but he gave away crucial penalties in the first half as a defender in the ruck wrestle. He does have some talent, I would hope he is better for the run tonight.
For Manly, Orford was simply great, Beaver was timeless, while Josh Perry and Watmough patrolled the forward zone well.
The score simply belied the state of this game, which hung in the balance until the last 25 minutes. One must think now, that Manly are the real deal this year, while injuries threaten to derail the Titans for their second consecutive season.
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