Fogarty the hero as Titans surge late to stun Dragons
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Gold Coast captain Jamal Fogarty answered the bell with a match-winning try, as the Titans stormed home to beat St George Illawarra 14-10 at Kogarah on Friday night.
Run down in the open field by Raiders prop Josh Papalii last week, Fogarty wasn't about to let lightning strike twice.
With the score tied at 10-10 against the Dragons and less than three minutes remaining, the Titans halfback found himself in a similar situation, but this time he made it to the try-line before being swamped by jubilant teammates.
It capped a fitting week for Titans coach Justin Holbrook, who re-signed with the club for a further three seasons on Wednesday.
"To score the winning try there isn't a better person to do it for us," Holbrook said.
"I think he's been so great for our team and has had a difficult week personally as well.
"There was Jamal ... AJ was also brilliant at the back, he's had a few weeks now and is just a quality player.
"The whole game was my highlight. As a team, we had six guys out tonight and whoever we put out there was just desperate to play.
Match: Dragons v Titans
Round 16 -
home Team
Dragons
10th Position
away Team
Titans
13th Position
Venue: Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Sydney
"We kept chipping away and couldn't get anything to go our way. I just wanted us to be proud of our performance and representing the club."
The Dragons looked on track to record a scrappy and uneventful win at 10-4 with five minutes remaining before the visitors struck a double blow with back-to-back tries through Fogarty and Tyrone Peachey.
Fogarty set up Peachey's try in the 75th minute with a deft kick before the Titans playmaker finished off an AJ Brimson line break with two minutes left on the clock to pull off a stunning win.
Match Highlights: Dragons v Titans
"Peach was great tonight and he had to be, he hasn't played his best the last couple of weeks and he knew that," Holbrook said.
"I had a good chat with him this week and asked him to step up in a lot of areas and he did it. He made some breaks, scored that try Peachey style, but he's just got that competitive nature that we know is in him."
The Dragons led 2-0 after 40 minutes. with the Titans staunchly denying the home team's attacking raids but struggling to come up with points of their own.
A try to Jacob Host and penalty goal to Zac Lomax stretched the side's lead to six with 10 minutes remaining until the Titans came to life.
Keegan Hipgrave saved a near-certain try from Adam Clune with a last-ditch effort to jolt the ball free as the Dragons playmaker reached out for the line.
Dragons winger Mikaele Ravalawa went close to surrendering a try in the first half but was saved by a Bunker referral after losing the ball near the line.
The Titans continued to grow in confidence as the game progressed but their execution on final plays let them down, as Fogarty and Ash Taylor couldn't deliver a point-scoring blow.
"That's why I was proud of the players to keep going in the game and keep asking questions," Holbrook said.
Brimson and Fogarty combine as the Titans grab the lead
"To defend like that in periods of the game against a dangerous attacking side in the last few weeks."
Ben Hunt turned provider to break the deadlock in the 46th minute. with the Maroons and Australian representative finding Jacob Host on the short side for the back-rower to cross on the left edge.
An error from Jackson Ford after points enabled the visitors to get on the board in the 51st minute with a late offload from Jarrod Wallace enough to help send Philip Sami over on the left edge.
Peachey gets the Titans level
Tyson Frizell did his best to inspire the Red V with a number of strong carries after the break before forcing the ball loose in an inspiring effort from the Newcastle-bound forward.
Another late offload from Wallace swung momentum the Titans' way, with Tyrone Peachey busting through the middle, though Fogarty's decision to kick on the following play killed off any scoring chance.
A lifting shot from Lomax, who was placed on report, gifted the Titans territory late for Peachey to score first before Fogarty closed out the game.
The result all but ends the hopes for the Dragons to reach the finals this season.
