Plenty of penalties as questions loom if Canterbury can win the title.
Three tries to Gold Coast winger Kevin Gordon has helped propel his side to a 26-16 victory over the Canterbury Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.
The Titans were first on the board through Gordon to jump out to a 4-0 lead with the away team continuing their impressive start as they forced the Dogs back with their excellent kicking game.
The away side worked a silky move on their left-edge as David Mead poured through a gap to set up Gordon for his second try of the night.
It was an amazing grounding by Gordon as he took to the air to score while most of his body was outside the field of play as the score became 10-0.
Canterbury hit back when Josh Morris squeezed through a gap before finding Sam Perrett with a tough off-load to make it 10-6.
Back-to-back penalties gave the home side their best field position of the game after a lethargic start.
However, after a frenetic end to the first half, where the Bulldogs discipline let them down and added another two points to the Titans’ total, saw them lead 12-6 at the break.
Trent Hodgkinson bagged his third try for the season as he crossed to put his side back in touch at 12-10 down.
David Mead netted his 10th try for the season as the Titans earned an important lead, in what was a stop-start game, with the penalty count very high as the margin became eight.
Josh Reynolds hit back for Canterbury as Dogs proved hard to shake inside the in final 10 minutes while the Titans looked all but home after Gordon bagged his hat-trick as they hung on to win by 10.
The Titans climbed back into the top eight with the victory and John Cartwright’s men will be out to make it three wins on the trot when they play the North Queensland Cowboys at 1300 Smiles Stadium.
Canterbury still find themselves in fifth on the ladder, but after their run of three wins in a row was broken, they will be keen to bounce back to form when they travel to Canberra to tackle the Raiders in round 23.
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