Rugby league: Gold Coast Titans end year-long NRL losing streak with victory over Wests Tigers

The Gold Coast Titans celebrate their win over Wests Tigers. Photo / Getty

The Gold Coast Titans celebrated their first win in almost a year with a 28-23 victory over the Wests Tigers tonight.

Benji Marshall looked like confirming victory for the Tigers when his 76th-minute field goal gave his side a 23-22 lead at Suncorp Stadium.

But the Titans flagged the chance to level the game again with their own late field goal, with Phil Sami diving on a Brian Kelly infield kick in goal for a dramatic 78th-minute winning try, ending a 14-game losing streak.

The prospects didn't look great for the wooden spoon favourites when the Tigers took a 12-0 lead inside 12 minutes but the Titans fought back well to level the halftime score at 12-12.

Gold Coast competed gamely in the first half of their comeback match nine days earlier, trailing 14-6 at halftime before shipping 22 unanswered points to lose 36-6 to the Cowboys.

Fans may have feared a similar collapse when the Tigers again scored twice in the first 12 minutes of the second half, including an early try of the year contender finished by Joseph Leilua.

But the Titans again worked their way back into the match, levelling the scores at 22-22 heading into the final 10 minutes.

Gold Coast's decision to turn down a great field goal opportunity appeared costly when Marshall kicked the 16th field goal of his career to edge the Tigers ahead with less than four minutes remaining.

And the Titans again snubbed a handy field goal chance with less than two minutes on the clock but that proved the right call when the ball bounced up into Sami's arms in goal for the winning try.

The victory was the Gold Coast's first since beating the Broncos 26-18 in Brisbane on June 9, 2019.

In tonight's early game, the Newcastle Knights moved into second on the ladder, upsetting the Canberra Raiders 34-18.

The Knights led 16-6 at halftime, before two quick tries to Edrick Lee after the break grew their advantage to 22 points. The Raiders reduced the deficit to 10 with 20 minutes remaining but came no closer, suffering their first defeat of the season.