Gold Coast coach John Cartwright concedes the Titans wasted a golden opportunity to storm back into the NRL finals race with a limp loss to Canberra on Sunday.

Monday night’s gritty win over South Sydney proved to be a false dawn as the Titans slumped to their seventh loss from eight matches – and their sixth-straight defeat at home – when outgunned 36-20 by the Raiders.

While Broncos-bound fullback Anthony Milford was electric for the visitors, the Titans were awful, missing 41 tackles as the Raiders split them open time and again in the second half.

Weekend losses by Melbourne, Wests Tigers and Parramatta on the fringe of the eight meant a win would have pushed the Titans to equal seventh, but they now remain two points adrift of the top eight.

From a 10-6 lead midway through the first half, the Titans conceded five of the next six tries before a consolation four-pointer after the final siren.

“We wasted a really good opportunity,” Cartwright said.

“That was a very winnable game.”

He said he had no answer for his side’s capitulation, coming just a week after a tough away win over the Rabbitohs.

“I wish I knew,” he said.

“You would think it would be easy to get up (for a home game).

“I think we were only ever in it on the scoreboard. There’s no excuses.”

Adding injury to insult, fullback William Zillman suffered another hamstring strain late in the match and is likely to miss next week’s clash with Newcastle.

With David Mead suffering a leg injury at training during the week, Cartwright said winger Kevin Gordon shaped as the man most likely to fill the No.1 jumper next week.

Second-rower Tom Kingston also faces a nervous wait after being placed on report for a late hit on Raiders halfback Josh McCrone.