SPORT sundayterritorian.com.au Cooper recovers from blunder to turn into Cowboys’ saviour FORWARD Gavin Cooper an embarrassing deemed himself with a try be- The Titans got the penalty Graham, his 10th of the TITANS 20 went from villain to hero as blunder late in fore Cowboys’ centre Willie after replays showed Tamou season, and to centre Brent North Queensland regained the first half Tonga sealed the win with his slapping Minichiello in the Tate who muscled his way COWBOYS 28 fourth position on the NRL when he fumbled 76th-minute try. face with an open hand as he over in the 47th minute, al- NORTH QUEENSLAND 28 (A ladder with a gripping 28-20 the ball after gal- The match finished with ri- was getting to his feet after lowed the Cowboys to grab Graham 2 G Cooper B Tate W Tonga tries M Bowen 4 goals) d victory over a luckless Gold loping across the val forwards Mark Minichiel- a tackle. the lead 18-14. GOLD COAST 20 (W Zillman 2 S Coast at Skilled Park Gavin Cooper Titans’ try line. lo and Cowboys interchange The Titans went to the The Titans have now lost Michaels tries S Prince 4 goals) at last night. But with the Titans cling- James Tamou swinging break 14-6 ahead after Coo- their past five home games Skilled Park. Referees: Jared Maxwell, Henry Perenara. Crowd: Cooper had been looking ing to a 20-18 lead Cooper, punches, then having words per’s bombed try. since beating the Sydney Roo- 15,741. for somewhere to hide after with 10 minutes left, re- after the full-time siren. However converted tries to sters 24-13 in round eight. Manly seeks to shore up spot on ladder MANLY is looking to tighten up in defence in a bid to de- velop a gameplan to topple NRL powerhouses St George Illawarra and Melbourne. While the Sea Eagles are ideally poised in second place on the ladder, they’re con- cerned about the fact they’ve leaked roughly 40 points more than minor-premiership ri- PUB: vals the Storm and Dragons. With the likes of Michael Jennings, Lachlan Coote and NT NEWS Luke Walsh, Penrith is cap- able of scoring from any- where on the park at Cen- trebet Stadium today. ‘‘For the past month we haven’t played too well, we have had some tries leaked DATE: the past couple of weeks,’’ Manly second rower Joe Galuvao said. ‘‘We really have to make an 24-JUL-2011 impact in the latter stages of this year.’’ Penrith second rower Trent Waterhouse (knee) is ex- pected to make his return. PAGE: Bunnies get a boost for Palmerston winger Gethin Barden looks for a gap in the Brothers defence at Harvey Norman Stadium last night Picture: FIONA MORRISON run to finals 58 TALENTED South Sydney COLOR: rookie Nathan Peats hopes last round’s thrilling victory over Sydney Roosters can carry the Bunnies right Ruthless Raiders through to the finals. Chris Sandow slotted the C winning field goal to seal the 21-20 golden point win and M Peats said the victory was just Y the boost Souths needed ahead of today’s NRL clash K with the Warriors. remain undefeated The Rabbitohs sit 12th on the ladder, just two points behind eighth-placed Penrith. RUGBY LEAGUE handling errors, Palmerston of fulltime when halfback Rod had plenty of good players in- alleged head-butt during his ‘‘We’re not really going out By DAVID WHITE were a lot more clinical when Barba found open space, but cluding forwards Jayden Tan- team’s 44-12 win over an inex- there saying ‘if we lose we’re it mattered. Racing to an they’ve got plenty of work to iwha, Jeromie Edwards, Jar- perienced Litchfield outfit. out’ but we know where we THERE’S every chance that early 16-0 lead, the Raiders led do if they expect to match rod Sultana and David NIGHTCLIFF 36 (J Forrester 3, R Bloor are on the table and know Palmerston will celebrate its 22-6 at the break before Broth- Palmerston in the finals. Johanson, and backs Matt 2, M Petrelli, H Lowe tries; K Nicholls 2, L what we have to do and we Wallace 2 goals) d SOUTH DARWIN 4 (BJ 50th anniversary with a ers reduced the deficit to 22-12 It was outwide that Broth- Bennett, Matt Johnson, Geth- Nathan try). believe we are good enough to premiership. five minutes after the re- ers found it hard to nullify in Barden and Will Beers. UNIVERSITY 44 (R Ofa 4, W Sewter 2, J go out against the Warriors The Raiders maintained sumption. From that point, Palmerston’s attacking game, Brothers, who battled to put Tuisuva, A Munro, R Collins tries; J Tuisuva and get the win,’’ he said. 3, D Seden goals) d LITCHFIELD 12 (G their unbeaten record in the the Raiders asserted their but conceding two tries in the Litchfield away last week, Brown, D Dickson tries; D Dickson 2 goals). The Warriors’ quartet of NTRL with a 40-18 win over dominance with an additional last eight minutes of the first were best served by centre PALMERSTON 40 (M Johnson 2, Q props will look to carry on second-placed Brothers in three tries and at 40-12 the is- half made the Bretheren’s Leon Rotumah, prop Louka Too’Too-Ulugia, W Beers, M Bennett, D Jo- where they left off in the hanson, D Cartwright tries; M Bennett 5, C Round 11 action at Harvey sue was never in doubt. task that much harder. Constantine and Barba. Beadling goals) d BROTHERS 18 (A May, win against Canterbury in Norman Stadium last night. Brothers may have scored a Palmerston, who pounced University second rower R Barba, M Bower tries; R Barba 2, N Roach last week’s clash for the ANZ In a match riddled with consolation try on the stroke on every Brothers mistake, Ben Smith was sent off for an goals). Stadium encounter. Tigers consolidate their top-eight spot Knights slay sharks WESTS Tigers consolidated minutes to open winger Joseph Leilua who TIGERS 19 NEWCASTLE arm-wrestled SHARKS 0 their top-eight spot on the the scoring, finished in the left corner. with Cronulla for the best NRL ladder with a 19-12 win when Benji The Roosters took the lead ROOSTERS 12 part of an hour in their NRL KNIGHTS 18 WESTS TIGERS 19 (B Ayshford L over Sydney Roosters at Marshall con- for the first time on the stroke match last night, before ev- NEWCASTLE 18 (M Hilder A Uate Fulton B Ryan tries B Marshall 3 tries K Gidley 5 goals) d Leichhardt Oval last night. verted a close- of half-time when Mitchell goals B Marshall field goal) d entually pulling away to win CRONULLA 0 at Toyota Stadium. SYDNEY ROOSTERS 12 (A Guerra J In a game played in perfect range penalty, Pearce found Aidan Guerra 18-0 and re-ignite its Referees: Gavin Badger, Tony de Leilua tries T Carney 2 goals) at conditions despite the heavy Blake Ayshford before setting up with a swift pass and the finals hopes. las Heras. Crowd: 6513. Leichhardt Oval. Referees: Jason rain that hit Sydney over the Beau Ryan with a perfectly backrower barged his way Robinson, Adam Devcich. Crowd: The Knights moved into last week, both sides contrib- weighted grubber kick. over to score. 10,178. eighth spot and will stay stigan, but the Sharks sorely uted to an entertaining en- With the Roosters’ first real But Liam Fulton scored to there unless Penrith upsets missed workaholic regular counter — with the win keep- attack, on the half-hour mark, restore the hosts’ lead eight Manly today. skipper Paul Gallen. ing the Tigers in seventh spot. Braith Anasta did brilliantly minutes after the interval. Blake Ayshford added his The visitors were without Newcastle led just 2-0 at It took Tim Sheens’ side 15 to flick a last-ditch pass to And from their next set, fifth of the season. Wes Naiqama and Neville Co- half-time. 58 Sunday Territorian. Sunday, July 24, 2011. www.sundayterritorian.com.au.