Cartwright lauds his brave Titans John Cartwright hailed the Gold Coast's victory over the Sydney Roosters as one of the best in club's short history as his injury-hit side stunned the NRL high-flyers on Sunday. The Titans had to seek permission from the NRL to breach the second-tier salary cap so they could field a side and Cartwright's players stood up to the challenge and sealed a 30-22 win to keep alive their hopes of reaching the finals. Bookies were offering $14 on a Titans win with the Roosters paying a $1.03 with one punter losing $30,000 on Trent Robinson's side. "You only had to look at what the two sides were paying if you like a bet on your footy, it was a bit of a one-way street," Cartwright said. We showed plenty of character and grit considering we had close to a full side sitting on the bench. It would be right up there (as one of the best) considering who we had out and they were full strength at their home ground and not a lot went out way. We had to get permission from the NRL for Jordan Atkins to play as we had spent our bottom tier. We have 19 healthy players in the club so there wasn't much they could do. A win over Melbourne next Sunday could secure a spot in the top eight for the Titans if other results go their way and Cartwright said they had nothing to fear going to AAMI Park. "Melbourne are still a great side but we have seen over the last few weeks that they are beatable," he said. They were beaten last night and whether that is good or bad I don't really know. But it does show that if you get on your own game and pressure the opposition anything can happen. Ex-Rooster Brad Takairangi came back to haunt his former side with a storming performance that saw him score the decisive fourth try for his side having earlier set up Anthony Don's four-pointer with a brilliant flick pass. The 24-year-old centre, who can also operate in the back-row, was forced out of the club following the signings of Michael Jennings, Sonny Bill Williams and Luke O'Donnell on the eve of the season. The Cook Islands international said he held no malice towards the Roosters but did admit it was satisfying to get one over his old team. "I left here on good terms and I still have a lot of friends here but it was definitely sweet to win against them," Takairangi said. There was a big queue of players here and an option for me to cement my spot in an NRL team. It's been a good move for me. It was just before the first trial so it happened pretty fast but I am very settled on the Gold Coast with my young family. The only sour note on a good day for the Titans was the injury to Queensland star Myles who heard a crack in his ankle after being hit high by Sam Moa, who was placed on report. "He'll have an MRI tomorrow, but it doesn't look good," Cartwright said. Roosters' coach Trent Robinson was fuming after the game but adamant they could turn things around ahead of next week's minor premiership decider against South Sydney. It hasn't been good, hasn't been up to standard. We're about to find out how good we really are.