The Gold Coast let slip a golden opportunity to break into the top eight with a frustrating 15-14 loss to Newcastle on Thursday night.
The Titans opened the scoring in the fourth minute and led 12-6 at half-time, falling behind on the scoreboard for the first time with 10 minutes remaining.
They finished the match with more possession, run metres, line breaks and tackle breaks than their opponents but left empty handed.
"We tried hard and obviously created a couple of chances," Titans coach Justin Holbrook said.
"It wasn't a game for many opportunities, both sides struggled to get out of their own end due to some really good defence from both sides and it came down to a field goal – we missed ours and they got theirs. That was the difference in the game."
Match Highlights: Knights v Titans
Centre Patrick Herbert was the man to take the Titans' lone field goal attempt, with his long-range effort sailing wide.
"Patty backs himself a lot, he fancies himself kicking goals and kicking field goals," Holbrook said.
"He was always confident in it, but I don't know why we had to throw it 20 metres back to make it happen. And they're the things we've got to get better at. That's why we didn't win."
Fifita into the action and into wrecking ball mode
Holbrook again praised stand-in fullback Jayden Campbell and said he'd look for a way to play him and first-choice No.1 AJ Brimson together next season.
"He's been terrific for us and he was great again tonight. Hopefully we can get them both in long-term. He's doing a great job at the moment for us at fullback and we'll look at it next year."
Fermor the destroyer to set up Sami
During the first half Campbell was taken out by Sauaso Sue while attempting to chase down his own grubber kick close to the Newcastle line, with Sue penalised but not sent to the sin bin.
"Yeah I'm not sure, I've seen plenty go [to the bin] for [those incidents] – I thought it was a try-scoring opportunity," Holbrook said.
The result left the Gold Coast in ninth place and at risk of dropping behind the 10th-placed Raiders or falling further behind the eighth-placed Sharks by the end of the round.
"We'll sit back and see if results go our way over the weekend," Holbrook said.
