The Sydney Roosters have come back from 10 points down against Gold Coast to secure home-ground advantage in next week’s NRL qualifying final against Brisbane.
The Titans appeared to have pulled off one of the upsets of the season on Saturday afternoon when stand-in captain Kevin Proctor’s try gave his team a 16-6 advantage with 20 minutes to go.
But the Roosters roared back into the contest on the back of Michael Gordon’s 70th-minute try, before Boyd Cordner levelled the match off a Mitchell Pearce short ball.
Gordon nailed the tricky conversion and then kicked a penalty goal in the final minute to seal a thrilling 20-16 victory for the 11,212 crowd, as well as second spot to finish the season.
They have a date with the Broncos at Allianz Stadium, expected to be on Friday night.
The defeat was heartbreaking for a Titans side who battled to a 10-point lead despite having 10 players on the sideline and losing two more inside the opening hour at Moore Park.
The game appeared to have turned when Roosters forward Zane Tetevano was put on report for flooring rookie Ben Nakubuwai that forced him from the field on a medicab.
Ashley Taylor then grubbered through for Proctor in the next set, before the Roosters stormed home to head into the finals with a three-game winning streak.
The Titans end a miserable season on a seven-game losing run.
It took the Roosters four minutes to touch the ball after the Titans opted for a short kickoff.
Taylor also went for a short line dropout early on, but it failed to stop the Roosters posting first points via Luke Keary’s blindside grubber for Latrell Mitchell.
However any thought of an easy day at the office went out the window when Jarryd Hayne put Leivaha Pulu over to leave the Titans within striking distance at halftime.
The Titans seized the initiative after the break when Anthony Don raced 100 metres after intercepting a pass from Gordon in the 45th minute.
Titans forward Morgan Boyle came off with a knee injury in the 29th minute and didn’t return.