Dolphins winger Jamayne Isaako landed an 85th minute golden point penalty goal to secure a 23-21 win over the Gold Coast and keep his side's NRL finals hope alive.
The penalty came when Gold Coast utility Erin Clark was ruled off-side by referee Grant Atkins as Isaako attempted a field goal when the first period of golden point drew towards to a close.
It came after a crowd of 18,235 at Robina was treated to a Sunday afternoon thriller, though they will have left disappointed after the Titans gave up another half-time lead.
Amid high tension late in the match, Isaako landed a 74th minute field goal to give his side a 21-20 advantage.
His teammate Sean O'Sullivan then lost the ball over the line when he thought he'd scored the match-sealer.
The Titans went down the other end and half Tanah Boyd stepped up in the 78th minute with another field goal to level the scores at 21-21.
Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett praised the referee's gold point courage to award a penalty at such a crucial juncture, and was not surprised Isaako stepped up.
“I loved his courage. That was the last thing I was expecting but he was right. He made the right ruling,” Bennett said.
“(Isaako) is a great kicker of the ball. I’d rather the ball in his hands than anybody else. He is pretty fearless.”
Titans fullback Jayden Campbell broke the club running metres record previously shared by Jai Arrow and Phil Sami, at 290m, in one of the best games played in a Gold Coast jersey.
He ran for 315m in a stunning display but it was the Dolphins, ending a four-game losing streak, who got home to join the Titans on 20 points, two points outside the top eight.
O'Sullivan controlled the play superbly in the early exchanges with his kicks but it was his double pump to put Connelly Lemuelu over that got the Dolphins on the board in the 16th minute.
Veteran Titans playmaker Kieran Foran started and finished a sensational movement.
The classy No.6 lobbed a pass to flying winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira, who kicked ahead for Foran to chase and score.
Foran, captaining the side in his 275th game, was again the provider with another cut-out pass to put winger Phil Sami in to give the Titans a 14-6 lead at the break.
Campbell's hand denied a try after halftime when Jarrod Wallace broke clear and offloaded, but the Dolphins prop would not be denied minutes later when he crashed over next to the posts.
The injection of Anthony Milford off the bench gave the Dolphins spark in the second half, and he held up the Titans defence with skill to put a rampaging Kenny Bromwich over.
When Isaako snaffled a Milford bomb the Dolphins led 20-14.
Foran again inserted himself into the fray with a delayed pass to send Brian Kelly in out wide to level it up before a frenetic final 11 minutes unfolded.
It was a heartbreaker for Titans coach Jim Lenihan.
“We are a side that has been seen as one you can get at the back-end of games but I was really proud of how we stuck through the whole game,” he said.
“I think we took a step today towards being a more resilient team.”
