Curtis Scott made a successful return to the field on Sunday, helping the Thunderbolts to a hard fought 26-18 win over the Titans.
In his first game back in over a month since suffering a fractured fibula, Scott was pivotal in helping Storm's Under-20s to victory including a go-ahead try in the second half.
It was a gritty win for the Thunderbolts in a contest that remained close in tough, wet conditions.
Both teams traded tries in the first half with Sam Burns scoring first for the Thunderbolts from dummy half before Joel Gittins crossed in the final minute of the half to give the visitors a 12-10 lead.
The NYC Titans responded nine minutes after the restart to take the lead before Scott stamped him mark on the contest in the 58th minute.
The with a clever move that sent him clear to score, the 18-year-old put his side in front and when teammate Angelo Leaupepe added another the Thunderbolts had one hand on the two points.
Gold Coast cut the deficit to eight with four minutes to play but the Thunderbolts were able to hang on for their third win of the season.
"It is probably the first time we've grinded out a tough win for 80 minutes," coach Eric Smith said.
"We defened our line really well and had to for back to back sets on numerous times. We turned them away numerous times and our boys worked really hard in that area of the field.
"I thought we did a good job to hold them out, considering how much ball we were giving them on our line… that was what our win built around."
The late inclusion of Scott to the side was a welcome sight for Smith who was pleased with the youngsters first game at NYC level.
"Curtis was good, he got through the game and he got a run under his belt which was the most please thing.
"He scored a try under the posts which put us back in the lead. He was really good, especially in the first half getting us out of our end and getting some good metres for us."
