Another Shaun Johnson masterclass has inspired the NZ Warriors to victory over a 12-man Gold Coast Titans outfit in a fiery NRL contest.
Johnson scored a try-double and had two assists to lead the Warriors to a 28-18 win at Cbus Stadium, their fourth in a row.
With star captain Tino Fa'asuamaleaui serving a suspension, the Titans were dealt another blow with fullback AJ Brimson ruled out right before kickoff.
If the Titans expected their hometown fans to spur them on, they would be mistaken, with the Warriors receiving the majority of the cheers.
From the outset, the match looked as if it would boil over, with constant niggles between both teams forcing the referee to intervene.
Warriors winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak was the victim of hair pulls on two occasions by opposite Alofiana Khan-Pereira, but his cries fell on deaf ears.
Tension would soon reach a tipping point, with Titans forward Chris Randall placed on report for a high shot on Watene-Zelezniak.
If he was lucky not to be sanctioned further than a penalty, his Titans teammate Moeaki Fotuaika wasn't as fortunate.
Fotuaika was sent off for collecting Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad on the chin, a collision that would force him from the field for the rest of the encounter.
The intensity only ramped up, with Titans prop David Fifita and Warriors second-rower Marata Niukore squaring up after an exchange of light swipes of the face.
But it was Niukore who would feel the wrath of the referee's whistle, and was sin-binned, making it 12 players apiece for the next 10 minutes.
The Titans capitalised through Fifita, who muscled his way over for the game's first try - an unlikely 6-0 lead.
Down, but not out, Johnson took control of the match, winding back the years to step two defenders from close range and score his team's first four-pointer.
Less than 10 minutes later, the halfback was in again, after a miraculous offload from Watene-Zelezniak with three players draped all over him.
Watene-Zelezniak looked to be in for a try of his own right before halftime, but the bunker ruled Niukore had obstructed Kieran Foran in the lead-up.
With two tries to his name, Johnson only needed a few minutes of the second half to play facilitator, with a nice inside pass to send Jackson Ford crashing over.
Five-eighth Luke Metcalf looked to be over just moments later, but Dylan Walker's assist was called back for a forward pass.
Despite the onslaught, the Titans refused to go away, with Joe Stimson outstretching the Warriors' in-goal defence to ground a Jayden Campbell grubber kick to cut the lead to just six points.
With the Warriors tiring, Metcalf looked to do it all himself on attack with a clever chip over the Titans' defence, but couldn't get the desired bounce.
Just as it looked as if the Warriors were in again, Ford's pass was intercepted by Campbell, with the Titans fullback racing over 70 metres to dive over against the run of play, and Boyd's conversion to lock the score up at 18-all.
With just over 10 minutes remaining, Johnson forced back-to-back line dropouts to pin the Titans back on defence.
After receiving a penalty for a high shot, the Warriors marched their way downfield and club captain Tohu Harris crashed over for the go-ahead score to end his 24-game drought.
Watene-Zelezniak put the result beyond doubt after chasing down another pin-point Johnson kick downfield and making no mistake with the fortuitous bounce to touch down.
Warriors 28 (Johnson 2, Ford, Harris, Watene-Zelezniak tries; Johnson 4 conversions) Titans 18 (Fifita, Stimson, Campbell tries; Boyd 3 conversions)
