Cronulla's torment at home continued when they slumped to their 10th consecutive defeat at Remondis Stadium on Saturday after squandering an eight-point half-time lead to lose 24-22 to the Titans.
To a chorus of full-time boos Cronulla now sit at the bottom of the NRL ladder; winless to start the season. The Sharks looked to have an unbeatable two-point lead before a James Roberts intercept sunk the hearts of the Cronulla faithful.
Roberts pounced on an early-tackle wide shift by Wade Graham to race 60 metres in the 77th minute and hand the Titans their first win of their season in front of 9566 people. It was the last of two second-half blunders to cost the Sharks and hand Roberts a second-half double.
Fullback Michael Gordon allowed a Kane Elgey grubber to bounce in the in-goal only for Roberts to sneak in for a try. Debutant Elgey was among the best for the Titans along with Roberts and skipper Nate Myles.
Cronulla looked to have the ascendancy thanks to an impressive first-half effort from David Fifita, whose go-forward carried the Sharks attack. Michael Ennis also played his best game for the Sharks.
The Titans scored four tries to three with the Sharks adding three penalty goals.
It was the Sharks who blew a 14-6 half-time lead. The Titans drew level with 20 minutes remaining before a Michael Gordon penalty goal opened up a two-point lead. They added another two points to open up a four-point lead.
The Sharks' only second-half try came off a Jeff Robson crossfield quick that found Valentine Holmes in the corner. A deft Myles pass split Cronulla's defence to open a saloon passage for Agnatius Paasi to draw the scores level in the 60th minute.
It was perhaps fitting that both sides scored their opening tries against the run of play as they struggled to build any pressure with the ball. The Titans – trailing by two – scored the first try when David Mead stripped the ball just before completing a tackle on Matt Prior. The ball found Dave Taylor who stunned a Cronulla defence – catching them unawares – to score in the 21st minute.
Cronulla had their own slice of luck when a disjointed last-tackle play found Gerard Beale. The centre rushed a kick only for the ball to bounce off Josh Hoffman to land in the hands of Holmes for his first try.
Off the back of another good start to the set by Fifita – following the penalty goal - the Sharks stormed up the field. A rehearsed play with Ennis finding Paul Gallen, who passed inside to Gordon, created space. Ennis supported on the inside to extend Cronulla's lead to 14-6.
Gordon should have had a try of his own before half-time only to be denied because Ennis made contact with opposite hooker Matt Srama as he attempted a tackle.
Gold Coast forwards Ryan James (high tackle) and Beau Falloon (dangerous throw) were placed on report either side of half-time.
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