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Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has plenty of concerns after his side missed a chance to keep Gold Coast winless on Friday night.

A staggering missed tackle count is just one concern for Penrith coach Ivan Cleary after his side was beaten by the previously winless Gold Coast.

The Panthers led 6-0 and 24-18 in Robina on Friday night, but allowed the Titans to blow by them for a 30-24 victory that provided relief after a club-worst 0-4 start to the NRL season.

Penrith jagged an extra-time victory against Wests Tigers last weekend but couldn't conjure another great escape on the Gold Coast as they fell to 2-3.

"It wasn't great; we've got a long way to go in terms of being able to play consistently for 80 minutes either side of the ball," Cleary said.

"They pretty much got their points exactly the way we'd spoken about ... (with) last-tackle plays."

"We had every reason a couple of times tonight to go on with it ... but we can't quite be consistent enough."

Cleary said poorly-timed penalties allowed the Titans back into the game while he was "shocked" by the side's 39 missed tackles according to Fox Sports statistics, while NRL statistics counted 67 misses.

The health of captain Isaah Yeo (shoulder) only added to Cleary's woes.

The backrower left the field with 15 minutes to play after reportedly hearing a crack in his left shoulder.

"It's obviously a bit of a problem," Cleary said.

"He's had ongoing shoulder complaints, this time it's not feeling so good, so we'll cross our fingers on that one."