Newcastle have snapped Gold Coast's unbeaten start to the NRLW season with a 22-10 win that hoists the reigning premiers to second on the ladder.
The Knights led all afternoon at home, taking a 16-4 lead into half-time after Abigail Roache sealed a double with an 80-metre intercept try in the minute before the break.
But Newcastle struggled to shake free of the high-flying Titans, who have been one of the surprise packets of the season to date.
Newcastle were reduced to 12 players when centre Shanice Parker up-ended rookie Titans halfback Sienna Lofipo and went to the sin bin.
But Gold Coast, error-prone all afternoon, could not capitalise on the 10-minute window to take the lead, only scoring once through Lofipo herself.
"We can't keep giving away points and making errors and again we did that. There's some lessons out of that game," said Titans coach Karyn Murphy.
Star Titans hooker Lauren Brown left for a head injury assessment in the final 15 minutes, further denting the visitors' hopes of victory.
After setting Roache's first try up with a short ball, Knights fullback Tamika Upton dashed through a hole on the left to put the result beyond doubt with a four-pointer of her own.
"Today we wanted to leave a performance out there, a defensive performance that displayed plenty of grit," said Knights coach Ron Griffiths.
"That's what we aimed for all week and that's what we did."
Elsewhere, the Sydney Roosters overcame a slow start to cruise past Cronulla and continue their climb up the ladder with a 36-12 win.
The Roosters trailed 12-0 after a lifeless opening 17 minutes at PointsBet Stadium but eventually found their groove, with a classy hat-trick for winger Jayme Fressard and a monster outing from skipper Isabelle Kelly ensuring they blew the Sharks away in the second half.
The win rockets the star-studded Roosters to the top of NRLW ladder before a mouth-watering match against the Gold Coast next weekend.
Five-eighth Tarryn Aiken had a brilliant organising game and found three line-break assists, with Kelly's mammoth 239m and three line-breaks providing winning momentum for the Roosters.
"Obviously our first half wasn't the greatest and we didn't complete, but in the second half we showcased what we can do when we have footy in our hands," Kelly said.
"We just focused on us, we were a bit scrambled in the first half, probably jumping off tackles too quickly ... just doing silly things.
"(But then) we played footy and it opened up for us on our edges, and that's what we can do."
Without injured fullback Jada Taylor, Cronulla star Emma Tonegato shifted back to her previous No.1 role with Maddie Studdon playing in the halves in her first game for the Sharks.
It didn't take Tonegato long to find her feet at the back, creating the opening try for winger Kiana Takairangi before prop Holli Wheeler powered over from close range to capitalise on a soft Sydney defensive effort.