St George Illawarra prised defeat from the jaws of victory on the Gold Coast on Sunday, with Toby Sexton emerging as the unlikely hero in a 20-18 win for the Titans.
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Recalled to cover the absence of veteran half Keiran Foran - one of two key outs for the hosts alongside AJ Brimson - Sexton came up with the match-winning try three minutes after Ben Hunt looked to have sealed victory for the Dragons.
On an afternoon that saw both sides seemingly do as much to lose they contest as they did to win, it was the hosts who found something late despite trailing by four with seven minutes to play.
Sexton's try, and Tanah Boyd's clutch go-ahead conversion proved the final blow in a contest high on entertainment, if lacking polish.
Having once again been close to the Dragons' best, Hunt looked to have fittingly got his side over the line when he scored off a Jack Bird offload for an 18-14 lead as time ticked down.
Zac Lomax's attempt at adding the extras was waved away, with a short kickoff from the Titans falling into the arms of Isaac Liu for the crucial possession.
In Foran's absence, it fell to Sexton to guide his side home, dummying past Hunt on a 15-metre solo effort for the final try.
The Dragons had one last shot at pulling the match out of the fire, but it literally slipped through Hunt's fingers as he fumbled his side's last shot at a Hail Mary with seconds left.
Having gone the past three years without tasting finals action, it shapes as one the Dragons will rue should it again rear its head in a tight finals race come the back end of the season.
"There were just vital times, both with the ball and without the ball, that we were clunky," coach Anthony Griffin said.
"We were a bit clunky all night. There was a lot of energy and obviously a lot of effort, it was a really tight game of footy, but we gave away a lot of penalties, legged them up out of our own end.
"In attack we ended up with 18 points, and they scrambled really well, but we didn't execute the way we needed to at vital times with the field position we had. We've got to be smarter and better than that.
"We couldn't clean it up once we got to 18-14. That's probably the bottom line, but I thought we'd earned the right to have the game more in our control by that time. We probably earned the right to get more points but, to their credit, they hung in really well.
"I thought that in general we went about that game [well] and finally wrestled it to the way we needed it but in the end, all those little things count."
The loss will no doubt renew pressure on Griffin, but whether victory would have provided any answer the most pressing question surrounding the club is debatable.
For all the talk about what he needs to do to 'save' his job, there's thus far been very little chat about what he can do to keep it.
That factor, perhaps even more than immediate results, is behind the club's decision to begin its due diligence on potential replacements.
The joint-venture has not been a club to rush to any decision but, with a draw that sees the Dragons take on the Raiders, Bulldogs and Tigers in three of their next four games, a call on the coach's future will loom again.
It seems unfair given the way his side emptied the tank in pursuit of victory on Sunday, but it remains the reality in the wash-up.
The Dragons led 6-0 through 19 minutes, and could have led by a lot more despite losing Francis Molo to the sin-bin for a high shot on Mo Fotuaika just four minutes in.
It did little to slow the visitors momentum, with Mat Feagai and Mikaele Ravalawa both crossing in the following 10 minutes only to be, rightly, called back for forward passes.
Ravalawa also produced an early contender for 'bombed try of the year' when he managed to miss an unmarked Tyrell Sloan and Jaydn Su'A with a simple pass after being put away down the right-hand flank.
Griffin's side did manage to score first through Lomax in an end-to-end first half that saw the scores locked at eight apiece at halftime, with both sides ruing a host of opportunities gone begging.
Both were also fortunate not to lose a man to the bin following a melee eight minutes before halftime that saw Su'A and Titans dummy-half Erin Clark warned, but not dispatched.
The Dragons seized the early momentum through Ravalawa two minutes into the second stanza before Phillip Sami capped a Herculean effort for the hosts on the right flank with a four-pointer 10 minutes later.
Su'A was reported for an alleged hip-drop tackle that left Boyd clutching at his knee but able to recover quickly enough to force his way into the Dragons in-goal from the ensuing penalty.
He was denied by some desperate defence that was rewarded when Tino Fa'asuamaleaui spilled the ball first carry off the ensuing line dropout.
Brian Kelly made a costlier error at his own end, inexplicably attempting a diving catch of a Hunt bomb drifting into no man's land.
It handed the visitors a fresh set 20 metres out from the Titans line, with Moses Mbye miraculously held up over the line three times in seven tackles without finding the grass.
Jack Bird looked to have produced the match-winning turn went he sent Hunt over with an offload for a four-point lead with seven minutes left.
Lomax missed his shot at ensuring the Dragons couldn't lose within the distance, before Sexton's late heroics got the hosts home.
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
