Sydney Roosters have beaten Gold Coast 18-12 in the NRL clash at Skilled Park, making it the Titans' worst start to a season in their six-year history.
Sydney Roosters consigned the struggling Gold Coast to their fifth consecutive loss with an 18-12 victory in a nail-biting NRL clash at Skilled Park on Saturday night.
The defeat ensures the Titans (1-5) have recorded their worst start to a season in the embattled club's six-year history.
Roosters centre Shaun Kenny-Dowall bagged a brace of tries while halfback Mitchell Pearce enhanced his claims to retain his No.7 jersey for NSW with a strong performance.
For the Titans, Queensland Origin forward Nate Myles was superb against his former club while strike weapon Jamal Idris inspired his team with some brutal defence after being injected from the bench in the 26th minute.
Idris pulled off a try-saving tackle on Pearce and then a bone-jarring hit on back-rower Boyd Cordner that forced a knock-on as the teams went to the halftime break locked at 6-6.
But his best hit came early in the second half when he smashed Roosters skipper Braith Anasta in the in-goal area to force a line drop-out in front of 11,478 boisterous fans.
It was no coincidence that the Titans conceded two tries - to Kenny-Dowall and fullback Anthony Minichiello - when Idris was off the field getting treatment on his sore hamstring.
Those tries allowed the visitors to jump out to an 18-6 lead after 56 minutes against a Titans outfit missing international forward Greg Bird (ankle) and hooker Kayne Lawton (hamstring).
Winger David Mead, in his return from a broken jaw suffered in round two, scored the second of his two tries in the 71st minute to keep the Titans in the match.
The home side kept attacking in the dying stages but, in a tense finish, the Roosters held on grimly to notch their fourth win of the season.
Roosters coach Brian Smith praised the dominance of his side's defence.
"I was looking at our battered boys and they looked like warriors who had gone out and ripped in," Smith said.
"I started to think about how brave you need to be to play footy. Sometimes, you need to be brave to watch it."
Anasta said "thanks for that" when reminded about the hospital pass from Minichiello before Idris crunched the Roosters veteran.
"I was on the highlight reel last year when (Tariq) Sims smashed me up in north Queensland so I'm just going to be on it again," he joked.
Anasta said Myles, who made 46 tackles and 17 hit-ups, was "fantastic" against the Roosters.
"I didn't expect anything less from him - he does it every week," Anasta said.
"I'd knew he'd want to have a big game tonight and I thought he did."
The only sour note for the Roosters was a broken jaw to lock Frank-Paul Nuuausala, who suffered the injury in the first tackle of the match.
A frustrated Titans coach John Cartwright said he couldn't fault his players' hunger and commitment but they simply "lacked polish" at the end of sets.
However, he wasn't about to write off their finals hopes after six rounds of the competition.
"I can't worry about the season slipping away," Cartwright said.
"We're disappointed with this result. If I worry about the season, I'm not going to worry about what's up next week (Manly at Brookvale Oval on Saturday).
"It's an opportunity lost but I know with the effort that is there, we're going to turn it around. I've got no doubt about that."
Cartwright said Idris was taken off the field as a precautionary measure to protect his hamstring.
"He hasn't re-injured it (the hamstring). It just seized up on him a bit," he said.
