Despite a valiant second-half comeback, the Raiders U20's have gone down 32-24 to the Gold Coast Titans today at Cbus Super Stadium.
28 unanswered points in the first half set up the victory for the Titans who took advantage of a mountain of possession and attacking field position.
Coach Brett White made no late changes to the team, with the Raiders lining up 1-17.
Under beautiful blue skies, the Raiders made a poor start to the game - letting the Titans score an easy try in their opening set.
The next 10 minutes saw both sides settle into the match, with the Raiders having several promising attacking opportunities.
A sloppy penalty by the Raiders gifted the Titans perfect field position and they duly crossed the stripe, before making it two quick tries in a row when Corey Manicoras finished off a long-range effort.
The home side rattled off another two tries before the break to take a commanding 28-0 lead at half-time.
The Raiders made an improved start to the second half, twice going close to crossing the line.
Zac Patch finally burst through the Titans defence to grab the Raiders first four-pointer of the day, before Fabien Paletua-Kiri showed off his power and made it back-to-back tries only moments later.
Down by 18-points with 20 minutes remaining, the Raiders were mounting an unlikely comeback attempt.
After a big surge up the field by the Titans, Harry Van Dartel used his quick footwork to break out of his own 20. Great support work by Ravalawa and Masters took the Raiders up the field, before Ravalawa was able to use a numbers advantage to score. Van Dartel's successful conversion cut the Titans lead to 28-16.
The unlikely comeback wasn't to be, with the Titans scoring late to extend their lead to 32-16 and clinch the victory. Kalani Going and Ravalwa grabbed late tries back for the Raiders, with the Titans finishing 32-24 winners.
The Raiders return home next weekend to take on the Warriors at GIO Stadium.
