Matt Blomberg at Skilled Park
An opportunist’s field goal by Mat Rogers in the 28th minute proved a bridge too far for the Wests Tigers who were defeated 21-18 by the Gold Coast Titans at Skilled Park on Friday night.
Scott Prince kicked a penalty goal in the closing stages to open the margin to three but it was Rogers’ stab that had the Tigers in catch-up mode for the majority.
Victory earns the Gold Coast side a home semi-final for the second year running and also gives the retiring Rogers another chance to play in front of the Gold Coast crowd.
Gold Coast captain Prince went up the tunnel midway through the first-half with an AC joint injury, and with the Titans leading 12-0 but looking for direction Rogers took the one-point settler.
Prince returned for the second-half and while he looked a passenger in defence with the Tigers throwing everything at him, his pass for Kevin Gordon to score the Titans final try was decisive.
The game, played in front of 26,103 fans, failed to live up to its billing with both sides making plenty of errors in slippery conditions.
The kicking game of Prince and Rogers stood above that of the Robbie Farah and Benji Marshall with the Tigers unable to get many to stay in play.
Blake Ayshford provided the danger for the Tigers on their right hand side while Greg Bird was a colossus for the Gold Coast.
The Titans showed enterprise early with Rogers going blindside from a scrum on his own 20m and kicking long for a roaring Gordon. The ball sat up perfectly for the young flyer but a classic cover tackle from stand-in fullback Mitch Brown jolted the ball lose as he was about to cross the line.
The Titans continued to challenge the line and came up trumps when Friend dummied inside and passed outside for Ashley Harrison to cruise over.
Five minutes later and they were at it again with Bird proving a handful, standing in a tackle and off-loading for William Zillman to zip over untouched on the same corridor of grass as Harrison.
Titans fans went into panic mode when Prince was felled by an innocuous Keith Galloway tackle but Rogers steadied the ship with his field-goal from point-blank range.
Wests had their chances late in the half with Ayshford and Lote Tuqiri going close on either side of the field, but the Titans slid when they needed to slide and compressed when they needed numbers at the ruck to deny the visitors much more than a sniff.
Prince started the second half but the Tigers put a target on his chest and sent everything down the Titans left where the injured skipper was defending.
Wests started the second-half with more purpose and stretched the Titans from one side to the other before Farah sent Chris Heighington over for the first Tigers try.
Two tackles into the next set and lazy markers allowed Farah to scoot through the ruck and Tuqiri loomed on the inside to complete a 70-metre movement and bring the Tigers within a point.
But the Titans steadied again and hit back with Prince and Gordon combining on a blindside raid to extend the lead to 19-12 with Prince’s sideline conversion
Soon after the Tigers came storming back downfield and when Friend spilt a Farah grubber Englishman Gareth Ellis collected the crumbs to score.
Gold Coast Titans: 21 (Harrison, Zillman, Gordon tries; Prince 4 goals; Rogers field goal)
Wests Tigers 18 (Heighington, Tuqiri, Ellis tries; Marshall 3 goals).
Skilled Park, Robina.