The Warriors survived a late scare to lift themselves off the bottom of the NRL table with a 25-24 win over Gold Coast in Auckland on Sunday.
Up 24-6 with 15 minutes to go, the Warriors conceded converted tries to William Zillman and Jamal Idris, who grabbed his second of the afternoon, the close to 24-18.
The Titans had further chances, including from the second of five-eighth Aidan Sezer’s two 40-20 kicks of the afternoon.
But the home side, who had given up late leads to lose their past three matches, hung on and Shaun Johnson snapped a decisive field goal with a less than a minute to go.
The Titans did have the final say, with winger Anthony Don dotting down and Sezer landing his fourth goal from four attempts.
The Warriors’ victory came at a cost, as fullback Kevin Locke was taken off on a stretcher with 13 minutes to go with a back problem.
The Titans lost one of their playmakers as well, with halfback Albert Kelly leaving 12 minutes into the second half.
They also had forward Dave Taylor put on report for a lifting tackle on Feleti Mateo early in the second half.
The match flared up briefly shortly after, with players running in and some push and shove after Warriors skipper Simon Mannering and Titans forward Ryan James tangled.
From the ensuing penalty, the Warriors pulled out to a 20-6 lead with a try that had a hint of controversy.
A Thomas Leuluai bomb bounced free and Johnson appeared to bat the ball forward to himself to score.
Centre Ben Henry then was rewarded for a strong game by adding the home side’s fifth try thanks to a dummy-half snipe from Pita Godinet.
Earlier, the Warriors jumped out to a 10-0 lead with back-to-back tries.
Giant winger Manu Vatuvei, back from a sternum injury, grabbed the first by forcing his way over in the corner.
From the kick-off, the Warriors scored again, with Vatuvei batting a Leuluai kick back to an unmarked Mateo to dot down.
The Titans took advantage of two quick penalties to strike back, Idris forcing his way over for his first try of the season.
The Warriors then scored their third try of the half after Mannering and Henry both produced deft offloads to send Bill Tupou over.