Gold Coast Titans hold off NZ Warriors

BY ROBERT LOWE

The New Zealand Warriors were left ruing their failure to make more use of the conditions after their National Rugby League playoff hopes hit another bump today.

The Warriors fell to their second defeat in a row, a 28-20 loss to Gold Coast in a wet and windy Auckland.

They remain in the top eight, but the Titans, who were seventh heading into the weekend, have climbed above them.

The Warriors had first use of the breeze at Mt Smart Stadium, but went into halftime with the scores tied 12-12.

Coach Ivan Cleary was left with the feeling that the Warriors could have done better during the opening spell.

A period where they were "a bit erratic", making errors when in good field position, proved costly.

"We probably opened the door a little bit in the first half when we had every chance to keep it closed," Cleary said.

The Titans scored five tries to three on their way to their fifth victory in succession over the Warriors, with centre Steve Michaels and Mat Rogers grabbing two each for the visitors.

The Warriors did make a strong start with two early tries.

Skipper Simon Mannering got the first after a neat grubber in-goal by five-eighth James Maloney.

Fullback Lance Hohaia then scored after an impromptu stop-start run in which he brushed past five defenders.

When Maloney landed his second conversion for a 12-0 lead after just a quarter of an hour, it looked like the Warriors were cruising.

But the Titans stuck back immediately on the back of a Warriors mistake when skipper Scott Prince produced his own grubber into the in-goal and Michaels dotted down.

The Prince-Michaels combination was again to the fore six minutes from halftime.

The home defence failed to defuse a Prince bomb and Michaels was on hand to pick up the pieces and score a converted try to level the scores.

The Warriors hit the front again minutes into the second half thanks to a great effort from winger Manu Vatuvei.

Halfback Brett Seymour lofted a cross kick and Vatuvei rose above winger William Zillman and former Warriors centre Clinton Toopi to grab the ball and force it down.

It was Vatuvei's 14th try in 13 appearances this season and left him just five short of Sttacey Jones' club record of 77 tries.

But the Titans, with the wind at their back, began to build some pressure and they were rewarded through a well worked move.

Prince made use of a couple of dummy runners before putting halves partner Rogers through a hole for a converted try.

The visitors went further ahead minutes later with an opportunistic effort by Zillman, who picked up the loose ball after a kick hit his leg

and ran 90m down the sideline.

They sealed the win with nine minutes to go when Rogers got his second after he had given the Titans field position with a 40-20 kick.

It was left to Seymour to grab a consolation try for the Warriors four minutes from time.

Gold Coast coach John Cartwright praised the composure of his players when they found themselves 12-0 down.

"We didn't get the start we wanted but the pleasing thing is that we didn't change the approach we took into the game," he said.

"They didn't play the scoreboard. They had a pretty simple plan that they didn't waver from."

GOLD COAST 28 (S Michaels 2 M Rogers 2 W Zillman tries S Prince 4 goals) NZ WARRIORS 20 (L Hohaia S Mannering B Seymour M Vatuvei tries J Maloney 2 goals) at Mt Smart Stadium. Referee: Tony Archer, Alan Shortall. Crowd: 12,017

- NZPA