Gold Coast earned redemption after a horrid week and set their defensive marker for the rest of the NRL season with a heroic 24-12 away win over Canberra on Sunday.
The Titans scored 18 unanswered second half points to turn around a 12-6 halftime deficit and record a second win in three games.
On the wrong end of a 15-8 penalty count, they resisted several Raiders attacks in the last quarter.
Two opportunistic tries in the last five minutes to halfback Albert Kelly, who has scored four in three games, sealed the hard-earned win.
It was a massive contrast to last week when they shipped 42 points at home to Wests Tigers.
“I think the only way was up from last week,” said Titans co-captain Nate Myles, who tallied over 50 tackles.
“The week was a bit of a tough one to show up and show your face, our effort wasn’t there.
“Tonight we showed that we have that in us and that’s a step in the right direction.”
Titans coach John Cartwright also felt his team had set a benchmark for the remainder of the season.
“We spent plenty of time resting and recovering and getting over what we had to go through last week,” Cartwright said.
“They turned up mentally right today and and were in the right frame of mind.
“That’s our challenge now. To set a mark in the sand and say that’s what we’re going to accept.”
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said his team lost its way in attack and needed to be more patient and constructive.
“We knew they were going to be desperate and we prepared for that all week,” Stuart said.
“They’ve got half a dozen or so Origin players, so they know how to win tough battles.”
“That was a game that could have went either way, but they hung in there longer.”
The Titans struck first, with hooker Beau Falloon burrowing over from dummy half in the 16th minute.
Canberra responded eight minutes later, when centre Jarred Croker notched his fourth try of the season, after he pounced on a perfectly weighted kick from hooker Glen Buttriss.
In-form fullback Anthony Milford turned on the pace and slashed through to score the home team’s second try, giving them their halftime advantage.
The Titans hit the front with eight points in the first six minutes of the second half, with Paul Carter crashing over from dummy half and Greg Bird converting and kicking a penalty.
The Raiders lost winger Edrick Lee with foot injury, while Titans fullback William Zillman also failed to go the distance because of a hamstring issue.
ctar
Guest
Raiders 5th tackle options were absolutely woeful. Titans defence was very good but the Raiders really didnt have much to offer in attack.
ferret
Guest
I think over the past 2 years the refs have allowed the markers a little more latitude, so they can be a bit to the side of the play-the-ball. I don't mind this too much if it stops constant dummy half running. I don't want league to degenerate into touch footy where everyone just runs from dummy-half. Very boring to watch. I don't think it's a problem in the NRL as most of the games in 2014 have been fast and open and consquently quite exciting.
sham
Guest
I think they missed Fensom. A big worry is teams scoring from dummy half - this should not happen but teams seem to be targetting the raiders there. Happenned against the Cowboys as well. Dummy half tries close in close are always soft and are, to be honest, almost unforgiveble.
ferret
Guest
The biggest worry for the Raiders is how many metres they conceded each set of six. The Titans' runners, especially Greg Bird, seemed to make 10-20 metres up the guts each time they ran in the second half. The Titans would then make an error and let the Radiers off the hook. But Stuart has big problems with his defence. Maybe he needs to swap one or two of his big boppers with more mobile forwards who can tackle.