Gold Coast Titans have moved off the bottom of the ladder after putting in a courageous performance to take care of a woeful, but fast-finishing Raiders outfit 26-18 at Skilled Park on Saturday night.
This bottom-of-the-table clash promised very little in the lead-up and it basically delivered in that regard in front of one of the smallest Titans' home crowds since the club's NRL inception back in 2007.
Despite scoring the opening try of the match, the Raiders offered very little in the first half to go to the break trailing 12-6.
The home side dominated much of the second stanza, posting the first two tries to jump out to a commanding 24-6 lead before the Raiders hit back with four-pointers in the 68th and 74th minutes to bring this dull contest briefly to life.
But that's where Canberra's charge ended, with the Campbell sealing the match with a penalty goal on full-time help the Titans break a six-match home losing streak and more, importantly, leapfrog the Eels into 15th position on the ladder.
It was a gutsy win by the Titans who were so short on troops that lock Greg Bird played with a broken hand and Clinton Toopi was forced to sit on the interchange bench for the entire 80 minutes despite suffering from the debilitating vertigo disorder.
The courageous Bird was the stand-out for the winners, getting through 32 tackles and 23 hit-ups while producing a first-half try-assist.
Prop Anthony Laffranchi, playing his 100th game for the Titans, went close to posting first points in the 18th minute with a strong charge over the line.
But video referee Phil Cooley correctly ruled he had lost control of the ball as he was attempting ground it in heavy traffic.
The Raiders pounced soon after when a spill from Titans full-back Jordan Rankin under the high ball handed the Green Machine possession for centre Joel Thompson to benefit from a quick shift to the right.
Centre Jarrod Croker added the extras to give the Raiders a 6-0 lead.
A Raiders turnover handed the Titans ideal field position for their first try in the 28th minute, with rookie centre Dominique Peyroux hitting the hole off a deft Bird pass to fight his way through the defence from close-range to post his breakthrough NRL four-pointer.
Bird was denied a try in the 38th minute following a series inconclusive video referee replays, but interchange forward Will Matthews would legitimately strike pay dirt just a couple of plays later when he scored after a Blake Ferguson spill from a bomb.
Campbell landed the conversion and the Titans had a rare half-time lead in 2011.
They skipped away to an 18-6 lead seven minutes after the break when flying winger David Mead sprinted 75m for a try under the sticks following another cringe worthy Canberra handling error.
A forward pass ruling denied Titans winger Steve Michaels a try in the 50th minute, but he didn't have to wait long for one to count when he plucked a William Zillman kick from the clutches of Ferguson to touch down and open up an 18-point lead for his side following the Campbell conversion.
Full-back David Milne finished off a 40m Canberra raid to put his side back in the contest, trailing 24-12 with 12 minutes remaining.
This encounter was well and truly alive in the 74th minute when Raiders prop David Shillington was