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Preston Campbell - Source: Getty Images -
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The New Zealand Warriors paid the ultimate penalty for an
ill-disciplined final quarter meltdown as a resurgent Gold Coast
Titans launched their NRL campaign with an unlikely 24-18
victory at Skilled Park on Sunday.
The Warriors surrendered 18 unanswered points from the brink of
halftime - and crucially two tries during the dramatic closing
stages - to mar the impressive debuts of new scrumbase combination
Brett Seymour and James Maloney.
After clocking off in defence in the 40th minute, the Warriors
could never reassert the dominance Maloney and Seymour provided
with a precise kicking game.
The Titans, who prevailed despite a substandard 25 from 45
completion rate, regained enough ruthlessness to benefit once Lance
Hohaia and Brent Tate committed unnecessary infringements at the
play the ball.
Those indiscretions gifted the Titans the platform they required to
square the contest in the 63rd minute.
After piggybacking 60m down field, smart handling from Scott Prince
and Preston Campbell allowed Wellington-born debutant Joseph Tomane
to draw two defenders before flicking a pass to David Mead who did
remarkably well to avoid Manu Vatuvei and the corner flag before he
forced the ball one-handed rolling backwards.
Prince's sideline conversion signalled the momentum shift, and
seven minutes later the Titans took the lead for the first time
when the mercurial Campbell forced a grubber to the in-goal between
the sticks.
The Warriors, offensively inert for most the second spell, conjured
up two long-distance raids in a quest to take the match into golden
point extra time but Vatuvei was dispossessed by the diminutive
Campbell when a hat-trick beckoned; Mead then came to the rescue
when booting Hohaia's 77th kick ahead dead.
Derided in the lead-up to game on the basis of a forgettable 2009
season, the Warriors missed an ideal opportunity to join Newcastle
as surprise round one winners.
Maloney and Seymour both produced pinpoint cross kicks for wings
Vatuvei and Kevin Locke to comfortably snatch ahead of Titans
defenders in the opening quarter.
Five-eighth Maloney, a recruit from the Melbourne Storm, picked out
Vatuvei perfectly in the eighth minute as the Kiwis wing towered
over Tomane to cross in the left hand corner.
Then it was reformed bad boy Seymour's turn to soothe the anxieties
of Warriors fans when the halfback - and replacement for the
legendary Stacey Jones - chipped for Locke who easily out-leapt a
stationary Gordon.
Seymour's goal kicking was also flawless to give the Warriors a
12-point buffer.
It took an unorthodox restart from Campbell to finally provide some
impetus when the fullback regathered on the 10-metre line to
instigate a rare attacking foray that climaxed with Tomane atoning
for his earlier defensive lapse by powering through Vatuvei.
Campbell then turned from hero to villain, a muffed bomb the
catalyst for four Warriors' sets. The pressure finally told in the
33rd minute when Seymour latched on to his own deflected chip and
hopefully flung the ball wide for Vatuvei to grab and wheel past
from Tomane and Mead from a standing start.
At 18-6 the Warriors went close through another Seymour cross kick
aimed at Locke but crucially Gordon defused the danger and the
Warriors discipline and defence wavered as the Titans swept 90m
downfield before Anthony Laffranchi strolled through a gaping hole
of the right flank to cross near the posts.
Seymour, thrown a career lifeline after being dumped by the Broncos
and Cronulla, admitted the first start for his new club was
disappointing.
"We switched off before halftime and it's come back to bite us on
the bum, we just had that little lapse," he said.
The oppressive South Queensland heat, a concern before the
afternoon kick-off, never eventuated though muggy conditions
contributed to a high error rate.
The Warriors host the Sharks in Auckland next week, hopeful captain
Simon Mannering (hamstring) will be available though prop Steve
Price remains doubtful with a heel injury.
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