Written off by critics as not up to NRL standard, a physical Parramatta gave Gold Coast a mighty scare at Skilled Park on Sunday evening.
The Titans escaped 28-22 after trailing 22-8 but they had their fair share of luck, especially with halfback Albert Kelly’s match-winning try in the 72nd minute.
Kelly scored after his own bomb took a deflection off teammate Luke Douglas as the Parramatta defence, including fullback Jarryd Hayne, let the ball bounce.
Hayne had pulled off a spectacular AFL-like leap to score a try in the 49th minute that put the Eels out to a 14-point lead.
Hayne also saved the day when he took debutant winger Anthony Don into touch with Parramatta clinging to a 22-16 lead.
An average spectacle for the first 40 minutes, the contest came alive after Titans forward Ashley Harrison crashed over to make it 22-14 before five-eighth Beau Henry kicked one of his six goals to reduce the deficit to six points.
Titans interchange forward Mark Minichiello levelled the scores after Kelly put him through a narrow gap 10 metres out.
Parramatta were hammered in the second half penalties 8-1 which helped the Titans’ recovery mission.
But for a team beaten 50-0 three weeks ago they took the Titans to the wire.
The visitors, coming off a confidence-boosting upset over Cronulla last weekend, muscled up on their rivals.
They led 16-8 at halftime and could have had a bigger lead just after the break had Kelepi Tanginoa not been called back for a forward pass after he raced across the Titans tryline.
The Titans, who had co-captains Nate Myles and Greg Bird named in Australia’s Test side to play New Zealand on Friday, were ordinary at times while committing a comedy of errors.
They dropped passes, dropped kicks and threw wild passes over the sideline.
Parramatta were clearly the more enthusiastic side, starting the second half well before Bird and Harrison stepped up and provided some energy to start the hosts’ comeback.