A TRY-SCORING blitz at the start of both halves propelled the Canberra Raiders to an entertaining 40-24 Toyota Cup win over Gold Coast at Skilled Park yesterday.
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With halfback Mitch Cornish and fullback Jack Ahearn running riot, Canberra scored eight tries to five to secure a second straight victory to begin the season.
It appeared the Raiders would romp home after racing to a 16-0 lead inside 13 minutes thanks to tries from five-eighth Mitch Cronin, centre Edrick Lee and winger Brad Smith.
But the Titans hit back hard through tries to prop Caleb Binge and centre Hymel Hunt to reduce the deficit to 16-10.
Seven minutes before the break, Cornish delivered a sublime short blind pass to fullback Jack Ahearn, who strolled over untouched.
But Gold Coast again moved to within six points when halfback Kayne Elgey passed inside to his halves partner Matthew Beddow who scored under the posts.
Ten minutes into the second half, Smith finished off a nicely executed sweeping movement by scoring in the corner.
And when Cornish found space to put second-rower Joe Bradley in beside the posts, the Raiders looked home at 32-16.
Canberra effectively secured the two points when hulking prop Shannon Boyd carried four defenders over the line on the hour mark.
AT A GLANCE
Toyota Cup Round 2 yesterday: CANBERRA RAIDERS 40 (Brad Smith 2, Edrick Lee, Jack Ahearn, Shannon Boyd, Michael Chee Kam, Joseph Bradley, Mitch Cronin tries; Mitch Cornish 4 goals) bt GOLD COAST TITANS 24 (Caleb Binge, Hymel Hunt, Matt Beddow, Sam Johnson, Tom Guymer tries; Sam Irwin 2 goals) at Skilled Park.
