The Titans proved that size doesn’t matter as their speedy backline orchestrated a 28-14 victory over a monster Bulldogs side at Cbus Super Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
All of the Gold Coast's points came from their backline stars with James Roberts scoring twice and Kevin Gordon and Brad Tighe also performing strongly.
The 14-point win was enough to see the Titans move into eighth spot on the Telstra Premiership ladder with their sixth win of the season, while the Bulldogs drop to 11th.
In a contrast of playing styles, the size of the Bulldogs was matched by the speed of the Titans after nine minutes when Gordon's break down the left touchline eventually led to a try to Roberts on the right edge, cancelling out Curtis Rona's opener three minutes earlier.
Both sides were prepared to chance their arm in the first half, to the detriment of proper ball control, with six errors taking place within the opening 30 minutes.
The Bulldogs snatched back the lead at the half-hour mark when Sam Kasiano stormed onto Tim Browne's offload to crash over next to the posts for a 10-4 advantage once Mbye added the extras.
An Aidan Sezer 40/20 kick with 15 seconds left before half-time handed the Titans a chance strike back and they did so after Daniel Mortimer's cross-field kick took a steep bounce over winger Corey Thompson's head with opposite number Gordon claiming the Steeden to score his first try of the season.
Sezer's conversion snuck over the posts to lock the score up at 10-all heading into the break.
Down to a three-man bench after Kierran Moseley failed to return from the sheds due to a knee injury, the Titans needed a boost and it came from David Mead.
Filling in at fullback due to Josh Hoffman's pre-game move to five-eighth, Mead burst through the Bulldogs' defensive line inside their half and found Mortimer who sent Tighe over the line.
Moments later Tighe found himself in the action again when he received a pass from speedster Roberts but was knocked into the corner post by Mbye's desperate tackle.
Thompson's afternoon went from bad to worse when he failed to deal with another cross-field kick – this time from Sezer's boot in the 59th minute – with an easy try to Hoffman and a 22-10 Titans lead the end result.
Titans captain Ryan James was denied a match-sealing try 13 minutes from fulltime after having his effort disallowed due to an obvious double movement.
The Gold Coast crowd started to grow nervous when Rona crossed for his second try in the 71st minute to narrow the deficit to eight points.
Those nerves wouldn't fray for long as Roberts grabbed another try with five minutes remaining to put the result beyond doubt at 28-14.
Gold Coast Titans 28 (James Roberts 2, Kevin Gordon, Brad Tighe, Josh Hoffman tries; Aidan Sezer 4 goals) def. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 14 (Curtis Rona 2, Sam Kasiano tries; Moses Mbye goal) at Cbus Super Stadium. Half-time: 10-all. Holden Cup: Bulldogs 23-10.
