The South Sydney Rabbitohs have won their opening finals match of the 2010 season, taking down the Gold Coast Titans 24-22 at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast last night (Friday).

Despite being forced to overcome a five-day turnaround, a trip to their opposition's home ground even though they finished minor premiers, and a 16-point deficit midway through the second half, the comeback kings of the Toyota Cup competition turned in an electrifying 20 minutes of football to register the win and advance to the third week of the finals.

The opening section of the first half was your quintessential arm wrestle. Both sets of forwards were taking to each other up the middle of the ruck, with neither pack taking a backward step. The Rabbitohs were making some in roads through Francis Laulu, Adrian Ha'angana and Blake Judd, complemented by a good kicking game from Matt Mundine and Adam Reynolds.

The Rabbitohs scored the first points when halfback Reynolds slotted a penalty goal in the 12th minute of play. The Rabbitohs marched up field on the back of three back-to-back penalties and a high tackle by Ryan James on Junior Vaivai, which was placed on report, led to the shot at goal.

The Titans bounced back, scoring relatively soft tries in the 18th minute to Kurt Foggo and the 23rd minute to Josh Coyle. Both tries were short range, direct charges from the big forwards and the Rabbitohs were not able to hold them out.

The video referee rightly denied the Rabbitohs two tries in the 29th and 32nd minutes, when Junior Vaivai and Mal Webster spilled the ball just short of the line.

The Rabbitohs could not be held out though, with Kane Morgan scoring the Rabbitohs' first try in the 35th minute of play. On a repeat set, the ball went to the right to second-rower Adrian Ha'angana who ran to the line and grubber kicked into the in-goal, finding an open Morgan who scored the try. Reynolds' conversion attempt bounced off the upright to take the scores to 12-6 in favour of the Gold Coast.

The Rabbitohs had one more chance to score before the siren, but Matt Mundine dropped the ball just short of the line to thwart the scoring opportunity.

The Rabbitohs looked good with ball-in-hand, with Reynolds and fullback Mal Webster bamboozling the Titans' defence at stages. If the Rabbitohs can hang on to the ball in the second half they are sure to register more points on the scoreboard.

The Titans registered first points in the second half when Jordan Rankin scored the easiest try of his career, palming off a Rabbitohs defender to score from a scrum. He converted his own try to take the score to 18-6 in favour of the Gold Coast.

The Gold Coast scored again in the 56th minute when centre Dominic Walsh scored on the left hand side of the field after a mistake from the Rabbitohs deep in their own half. The Titans had a 16-point buffer with only 20 minutes remaining on the clock.

The Rabbitohs bounced straight back with captain Nathan Peats fighting his way through defenders from dummy half to score in the 61st minute. The Rabbitohs made the most of a repeat set-of-six to register points and get back to within ten points of their opponents.

The Rabbitohs scored in the next set of play, with powerful front rower Francis Laulu scoring his first try in the 64th minute. A break from hooker Brendan McKinnon set up the try, with Laulu barging over from close range to register his first four-pointer of his Toyota Cup career. Reynolds' conversion took the Rabbitohs within four points with 15 minutes remaining.

Kane Morgan scored his second try in the 71st minute after forcing the turnover which gave the Rabbitohs possession. A big bomb from Mundine was taken beautifully by Morgan in-goal, and Reynolds' conversion gave the Rabbitohs the lead with seven minutes left on the clock.

Fullback Malcolm Webster pulled off the play of the game to deny the Titans a 76th minute try, knocking the ball free from the grasp of Titans winger Ryan Tongia over the line when the Titans were attacking strongly.

The Rabbitohs were denied a try in the 78th minute of play by the video referee when Kane Morgan looked to have wrapped up the game with his third possible try, but he was ruled to have knocked the ball on over the line.

The Titans had one final chance to score but the Rabbitohs were able to make the final tackle and force an error on Titans' NRL star Joseph Tomane to record the win and progress through to week three of the finals.

The Rabbitohs are the comeback kings of the Toyota Cup competition, again mounting a strong second half comeback to register a close win. It's becoming a habit of this Rabbitohs under 20s outfit, and Coach David Kidwell will be hoping his players can produce stronger first halves in the back end of the finals series.

For the Rabbitohs, Francis Laulu and Adrian Ha'angana were the best forwards, with Adam Reynolds and Matt Mundine controlling the attack throughout the 80 minutes.

The Rabbitohs will not know their next opponent until the end of the second week of the finals. A win in that game will see them head to their home ground at ANZ Stadium for the Toyota Cup Grand Final on Sunday 3 October.

South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 (Kane Morgan 2, Nathan Peats, Francis Laulu tries; Adam Reynolds 4 goals)
defeated
Gold Coast Titans 22 (Kurt Foggo, Josh Coyle, Jordan Rankin, Dominic Walsh tries; Jordan Rankin 3 goals)