Titans 22 Plymouth Albion 19

A thrilling top-of-the-table clash in National League 1 lived up to its billing as Rotherham Titans edged out Plymouth Albion 22–19 in dramatic fashion at Clifton Lane.

With the scores locked at 19-19 the match was settled in the final play when Titans fly half Lloyd Hayes nailed a 25 metre drop goal in front of the clubhouse end to send the bumper crowd into raptures.

The win keeps Rotherham at the summit of Nat 1, but with three games remaining there’s still lots of rugby to be played before the seasons end.

Played in bright sunshine, the contest between first and second was as tight as expected, with momentum swinging throughout before being settled by a moment of individual brilliance.

It was the visitors who struck first, as fly-half Iwan Jenkins demonstrated his accuracy from the tee with long-range penalties on 16 and 23 minutes to give Plymouth an early 6–0 lead.

The away side extended their advantage on 29 minutes in opportunistic fashion. A charge down inside the Rotherham 22 fell kindly for Joel Broadhurst, who reacted quickest to touch down and push Albion further ahead.

Rotherham responded strongly before the break. Sustained pressure and powerful wing play created the opening for Jackson Barling, who crossed on 34 minutes to get Rotherham on the board and keep them within touching distance at half-time.

Rotherham came out for the second half with renewed intensity, and their forward dominance soon paid dividends.

After relentless pressure near the Plymouth line, the referee awarded a penalty try on 49 minutes as the visitors’ defence finally gave away ‘one too many’ penalties under the severest of Titans pressure, bringing the hosts right back into contention.

However, Plymouth regrouped and reasserted control through the reliable boot of Jenkins, who slotted further penalties on 55 and 60 minutes to stretch the lead back out to seven points.

The league leaders refused to fade however and on 65 minutes, Xavier Valentine finished off a powerful drive and Isaac Shaw added the conversion to level the scores and set up a grandstand finish.

With the clock winding down, Rotherham launched a breathtaking counterattack from deep within their own half. Shaw nearly capped it with a spectacular try, only to be stopped just short inside the Albion 22.

From the ensuing phases, Rotherham kept their composure. As the final seconds ticked away, scrum-half JB Bruzulier fed Lloyd Hayes, positioned perfectly in the pocket.

Hayes delivered under immense pressure, striking a flawless drop goal that sailed straight through the uprights. The final whistle followed immediately, sealing a remarkable 22–19 victory and sending the Clifton Lane crowd into raptures.

In a match worthy of its top-of-the-table status, Rotherham showed resilience, power, and composure when it mattered most. Plymouth Albion will rue missed opportunities, but it was Hayes’ moment of magic that ultimately decided a gripping encounter.

Reflecting after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I think that game was worthy of a first versus second; Plymouth came with a specific game plan that put us under a huge amount of pressure in the first half, and they deserved their lead with the two early penalties.

Uncharacteristically we were charged down and were looking at 12-0 and then a big moment before half time saw us grab a try which helped us to get back in the game.

“In the second half what a tremendous effort by our pack on the line, they were outstanding and also, I have to say the game was very well refereed.

Those defensive sets from us through the back end of the game were exceptional as we were waiting to get our opportunity to get back up the pitch.

“At 19-19 three of the final four minutes were played in our half of the pitch, so we had to get ourselves up the pitch and we did that.

“The players said that our training helped at the end because we do train how to get up the pitch under pressure to get a result and fair play to them, they transferred training into the game and came away in the big moment.

“If you just pause for a moment and reflect how far we have come as a club in the last 2 years. That’s testament by the big games we’ve played and the number of supporters who are here today.

“And also, we’ve gone about this campaign as Rotherham Titans; we’ve not got loan players, we’ve not got any dual-registered players from Premiership clubs; we’ve just gone about our business as a club and I’m so proud of the squad.”

Titans: Barling (T), Valentine (T), Penalty Try, Shaw (1C), Hayes (D/G)

Plymouth Albion: Broadhurst (T), Jenkins 4P, 1C)

Yellow Card: Hodges & Bishop (Plymouth), Hayes (Titans)

Referee: Ben Simpson

Assistant Referees: Jason Garrick & Ian Farrell

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 12 Travis Gordon 11 James Norman, 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 73), 2 Morgan Veness, 3 Andrew Foster, 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Valentine 55), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.) (Baldry 28), 8 Callum Bustin. 

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Jack Baldry, 20 Sinjin Broad. 

Plymouth Albion: 15 Harry Legg, 14 Bobby Wiggington, 13 Oscar Stewart (Wilkinson 48), 12 Nicholas Lilley (Hill 40), 11 Noah Fenton (Raivalitia 73), 10 Iwan Jenkins, 9 Jack Oulton © (Bailey 55), 1 Liam Bishop, 2 Rhys Williams, 3 Harry Wilkinson (Courtis 47), 4 Freddie Stevenson, 5 Joel Broadhurst, 6 Huw Taylor (Stewart 67), 7 Angus Hodges, 8 Ben Moa.

Replacements: 16 Gabe Mead, 17 Joe Bailey, 18 Harvey Courtis, 19 Ben Raivalitia, 20 Archie Hill.  

Blackheath 22 Titans 15

Rotherham Titans put in a massive effort before ultimately going down 22-15 against a good Blackheath side on a bright, but blustery afternoon at The Utilita.

The South Yorkshire side were outscored by 4 tries to 2 with Lloyd Hayes and Jackson Barling dotting down, the former also added 5 points from the tee.

Importantly for Rotherham they secured a losing bonus point which keeps them top of the table, a point ahead of Plymouth Albion who are Titans next opponents at Clifton Lane on Saturday.

Blackheath started with great intensity and duly raced into a 12-0 lead inside the opening 8 minutes as flanker Noah Sloot and hooker Billy Harding barged their way over for powerful scores.

Titans were having difficulty in getting the ball and then maintaining possession once they did.

However, on 16 minutes they worked themselves back into the game with a lovely try from Lloyd Hayes after some strong work down the right wing from Jackson Barling.

The remainder of the half was a more even contest and very competitive; although Titans would have been disappointed not to score just before the break when a wayward pass meant a golden opportunity was missed.

The second half saw the hosts start well and they were next to score when winger Tom Hughes finished off to extend Blackheath’s advantage.

Rotherham nibbled back when Lloyd Hayes knocked over a penalty, but Club secured the try-bonus point when hooker Billy Harding grabbed his second of the match and 41st of the season!

Whilst the momentum was now clearly with Blackheath, Rotherham never gave up and their determination was rewarded late on with a try from Jackson Barling, his determination to get over the line was exceptional.

Lloyd Hayes added the extras to reduce Titans arrears to just 7 points, but they couldn’t find a way through to share the spoils and the hosts deservedly held out for the win.

Rotherham will now regroup and prepare well for the next test which comes at Clifton Lane on Saturday with the visit of second placed side Plymouth Albion.

Speaking after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“It was always going to be tough coming away to Blackheath, they’re a form team and playing very well.

“Their line out and maul functioned very well and they put us under pressure, and we did well to fight our way back into a game that could have very easily gone the other way.

“We absolutely believe in our squad and our squad was tested today.

“We’ve had a little bit of adversity with losing JB at the last minute, during the game we lost our fly half and unfortunately our line out caller went down and suddenly you’re having to problem solve and face that adversity.

“So, the credit I’ve got to give to the players is coming away with a point against a team that’s in form.

“There will be learnings from that game and there were key stages where we invited pressure and we need to address that.

“In terms of our discipline, we weren’t on the right side of the referee and so we’ve got to make sure we go away and look at that and make sure we change that before our next game against Plymouth.”

Titans: Barling (T), Hayes (T, C, P)

Blackheath: Harding (2T), Sloot (T), Hughes (T), Morley (1C)

Yellow Card: Gascoigne (Titans)

Referee: Owen Taylor

Assistant Referees: Henry Lowis & Dewald Swart

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Rob Povey (Broad 39), 9 Will Metcalfe, 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 58), 2 Luke Cole (Veness 53), 3 Andrew Foster (Valentine 58), 4 Frankie Gascoigne, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox (Maguire 8), 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Jack Baldry. 

Replacements: 16 Morgan Veness, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Curran Maguire, 20 Sinjin Broad.

Blackheath: 15 Ed Dunford (Emery 58), 14 Tom Hughes, 13 Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas, 12 Luke Pollock, 11 Jake Hennessey, 10 Sam Morley 9 Jordan Burns (McGhie 77), 1 Archie Holland (Cornish 77), 2 Billy Harding (Capt.) (Bourne 78), 3 Rory Marsh, 4 Archie Smeaton, 5 Ed Scragg, 6 Josh Smart, 7 Noah Sloot, 8 Finn Osborne.

Replacements: 16 Archie Bourne, 17 James Cornish, 18 Tom Johnson, 19 Tom Emery, 20 Kyle McGhie.

Titans 33 Birmingham Moseley 7

Rotherham Titans continued their winning ways with a hard-fought 33-7 victory over a big, physical Birmingham Moseley side on a wet afternoon at Clifton Lane.

No sooner had the referee blown his whistle to start the game, the heavens opened, meaning much of the first half was played in torrential rain.

Despite this however Rotherham started quickly and went ahead inside 5 minutes after a clever chip over the top from Lloyd Hayes was collected by him and then fed to John Okafor who made good ground before slipping a nice inside pass to centre Travis Gordon for a lovely score.

In no time at all Titans had their second try when a break downfield saw the Titans pack set up on the Moseley line before skipper Harry Newborn grabbed the ball to crash over from close range.

Rotherham had to wait for the third try as conditions worsened and Moseley battled hard to keep the South Yorkshire side at bay.

However, the wait was worth it as a set move from a scrum saw JB Bruzulier find Rob Povey who then slipped a neat inside pass to the onrushing winger James Norman who raced through to slide in next to the posts.

Just before half time Rotherham secured the bonus point, when fittingly on his 100th appearance for the club, hooker Luke Cole dotted down from the tail of a powerful maul. His team mates and the Clifton Lane crowd celebrated loudly his achievement!

The second half, although not a damp squib, did lack some of the intensity of the first 40; this was not due to a lack of effort, as both sides gave their all, it was more to do with the truly difficult winter conditions.

Indeed, we had to wait until the hour mark for the next score and when it came it came for the visitors.

Moseley’s big number 8 Ollie Stedman was the man to emerge from under a pile of bodies as he dotted down following a powerful drive from the Midlanders.

Rotherham did have the final say however when late on referee Daniel Rowlands awarded the home side a penalty try after persistent infringements from Moseley on their own line.

The win for Rotherham, coupled with Plymouth Albion’s home defeat to Blackheath, leaves the Yorkshire side at the top of the table with an extended lead of 5 points.

Speaking about the game afterwards, Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“That’s the end of a pretty tough seven weeks block; the boys deserve their week off. Coming up against Birmingham Moseley as last of the seven was always going to be a big test; they’re big, heavy team in attack.

“When we saw the heavens open at the start of the first half we thought “oh no, here we go,” but we had a great first half where we took most of our opportunities and we only let a couple of them slip.

“Then you could see how difficult it was coming into the second half; we were struggling to see our shirts through the mud.

But to come away with another 5-point win and with the boys in good spirits it will be nice for them to put their feet up for a week before we get back on it.”

Titans: Gordon (T), Newborn (T), Norman (T), Cole (T), Pen Try, Hayes (3C)

Birmingham Moseley: Stedman (T), Jolly (1C)

Yellow Card: Priest & Sam McNulty (Moseley)

Referee: Daniel Rowlands

Assistant Referees: Simon Park & Jono Sidwell-Keeton

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 James Norman, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier (Metcalfe 55), 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 55), 2 Luke Cole (Veness 47), 3 Andrew Foster (Valentine 47), 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Maguire 45), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Jack Baldry. 

Replacements: 16 Morgan Veness, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Curran Maguire, 20 Will Metcalfe.

Birmingham Moseley: 15 Freddie Painter (Bingham 24) (Painter 32), 14 Sam Clarke, 13 Elliott Creed, 12 Isaac McNulty (Egodo 60), 11 Aquile Smith, 10 Tommy Taylor, 9 Jack Jolly (Gipson 66), 1 Ethan Priest, 2 Ben Pogson (Sam McNulty 50), 3 David Langley, 4 Callum Allen, 5 Harry Butler (Pogson 62), 6 Will Safe (Mifsud 38), 7 Santiago Edwards, 8 Ollie Stedman (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Sam McNulty, 17 Nick Bingham, 18 Louis Mifsud, 19 Harry Gipson, 20 Tuoyo Egodo.

Tonbridge Juddians 21 Titans 41

Rotherham Titans putt in an outstanding performance to beat a very good Tonbridge Juddians side 41-21 on a soft surface at The Slade.

Rotherham were made to graft hard by a spirited Tonbridge outfit and after trailing narrowly at the interval, the Yorkshire side stormed back to run out worthy winners.

The first half however was full of tribulation for Rotherham despite racing into an early lead when winger Mitchell Lacey-Babalola showed good footwork to score near the posts.

Juddians responded when centre Lewis Gjaltema crossed before Titans went back ahead through a Luke Cole dot down from the tail of a maul.

Disaster then struck for the Titans when in the space of 4 minutes they lost 2 players to the sin bin. Harry Newborn and John Okafor were given 10 minutes on the sidelines for their indiscretions.

During this spell and whilst down to 13 players Tonbridge made the most of their numerical advantage as they added two scores from hooker Will Hollins and second rower Alfie Scopes to lead 21-12.

Crucially, just before the break Rotherham steadied the ship when JB Bruzulier found Isaac Shaw with a lovely miss pass which saw the full back skilfully pluck the ball out of the air to score in the corner.

The second half, whilst still hugely competitive, saw Rotherham keep the hosts scoreless as they went on to add a further 3 tries.

The first of which came inside 2 minutes of the restart when scrum half JB Bruzulier found a gap to squeeze over.

This was followed by a Lloyd Hayes penalty before Isaac Shaw broke away down the right wing to cut back inside and dot down under the posts.

The final score came courtesy of the Rotherham pack when a powerful driving maul was finished off by Morgan Veness.

The win keeps Rotherham at the top with a slender one-point advantage over Plymouth Albion and the focus will now quickly shift to the visit of Birmingham Moseley to Clifton Lane on Saturday.

Reflecting after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“To come away from home and pick up another five points is huge.

“We faced a fair bit of adversity; we picked up two injuries and had to problem solve and then because of that we probably took a little bit of time to get settled and unfortunately our discipline waivered through those moments.

“However, during those tough moments and even when we were down to 13 men we stuck at it.

“Then the way the players responded in the second half, having taken on the messages at half time, to go out and deliver what we wanted was exceptional.

“Tonbridge kept playing and fair play to them for that, they put us under pressure, and they did get their line breaks. I’m not sure what the stats will say in terms of possession because we had to defend for large parts of the game.

“However, the effort and the energy to get back and defend and really have pride in your goal line was excellent. The set piece went well, and we worked hard without the ball; the enthusiasm was outstanding and as a group they are really stepping up.”

Titans: Shaw (2T), Lacey-Babalola (T), Cole (T), Bruzulier (T), Veness (T), Hayes (1P, 4C)

Tonbridge Juddians: Gjaltema (T), Holling (T), Scopes (T), Lloyd (3C)

Yellow Card: Newborn & Okafor (Titans), Osgood (Tonbridge)

Referee: George Ounsley

Assistant Referees: Michael Maple & Paul Clayton

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling (Broad 30), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 63), 2 Luke Cole (Veness 50), 3 Andrew Foster (Valentine 55), 4 Frankie Gascoigne, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 Jack Baldry, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin (Okafor 23).  

Replacements: 16 Morgan Veness, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 John Okafor, 20 Sinjin Broad.

Tonbridge Juddians: 15 Tom Mannix, 14 Tom Kendrick, 13 Shadyn Osgood, 12 Lewis Gjaltema, 11 Curtis Barnes, 10 Sam Evans (Sims 55), 9 Connor Lloyd, 1 Luke Boon (Watson 76), 2 Will Holling (Vajner 64), 3 Bobby Bratton, 4 Ben Harrison (Powell 70), 5 Alfie Scopes, 6 Vince Everitt (Smith 55), 7 Tommy Nicoll (Capt.) (Everitt 63), 8 Lucas Brooke.

Replacements: 16 Joe Vajner, 17 Josh Watson, 18 Elliott Powell, 19 Harrison Sims, 20 Jay Smith.  

Titans 47 Dings Crusaders 12

Rotherham Titans maintained their place at the top of National 1 with a well-deserved 47-12 win over Dings Crusaders on a bright, but cold afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Rotherham outscored Dings by 7 tries to 2 with dot down from Isaac Shaw, James Norman, Travis Gordon, Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, Sinjin Broad and a brace for Lloyd Hayes, with the latter also adding 12 points from the tee.

Most of the action and try-scoring came in a frenetic first half as Rotherham raced out of the blocks against a Dings side that had just 5 starters from the previous fixture at Shaftesbury Park earlier in the season.

Rotherham wasted little time in laying down a marker in this one, as inside the opening 6 minutes they crossed the line twice as centre Lloyd Hayes helped himself to a quick-fire brace.

The first came after a long miss-pass from JB Bruzulier was collected by Mitchell Lacey-Babalola; he offloaded to Travis Gordon who in turn managed to pop a short pass to Hayes for him to score in the corner. Hayes dotted down again moments later following an interception.

Titans had their third score when this time Hayes as the provider found Isaac Shaw with a miss-pass to send him in on the stands side corner.

Dings as expected mounted a response as their adventurous style enabled scrum half Matt Jones to cross the whitewash for an unconverted try.

Rotherham however soon extended their advantage and bagged the bonus point try when another Hayes pass arrived with James Norman; the speedy winger showed impressive footwork to step back inside and score close to the sticks.

Back came Dings and this time it was powerful work from their pack that saw hooker Sam Cantwell dot down from the tail of a catch and drive.

Any nerves Rotherham may have had were dispelled just before half time when a lovely interchange of passes between Mitchell Lacey-Babalola and Travis Gordon resulted in a marvellous try for the latter and with Hayes nailing the conversion from out wide Titans went in at the break leading 33-12.

The second half was unable to match up to the thriller of the first 40 and indeed it wasn’t until the game went into injury time that the next score arrived.

When it did it was for the Titans as John Okafor showed good strength bounce off the Dings defence before flipping a short pass to Lacey-Babalola on the wing for the easiest of scores.

There was still time for one final try and again it came for the home side when full back Isaac Shaw produced a lovely weighted angled grubber infield for Sinjin Broad to collect and race in from 25 metres for a fitting finale.

Reflecting afterwards Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I’m impressed that we have another 5-point victory at home, I think we showed some real moments of class in difficult conditions which is very good.

“Dings came at us and probably played an uncharacteristic way a lot of the time which we then had to adapt to, in terms of how they were trying to attack. They clearly came with the ambition of trying to get the try bonus point.

“There were lots of moments where people were throwing offloads and long miss-passes and sometimes they come off and sometimes they don’t; but they were coming off today and we were having to stay in some long defensive sets and that’s good for us as preparation as we continue with the season.”

Titans: Shaw (T), Norman (T), Gordon (T), Lacey-Babalola (T), Broad (T), Hayes (2T, 6C)

Dings Crusaders: Jones (T), Cantwell (T), Boulton (1C)

Yellow Card: Rutherford (Titans), Stanley (Dings)

Referee: Owen Taylor

Assistant Referees: Simon Williams & Jason Garrick

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 James Norman, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon (Capt.), 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Harris Rutherford, 9 JB Bruzulier (Broad 50), 1 Zach Toerien (Donkor 45), 2 Morgan Veness (Cole 57), 3 Tom Bairstow (Foster 50), 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Newborn 45), 5 Curran Maguire, 6 John Okafor, 7 Jack Baldry, 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Andrew Foster, 19 Harry Newborn, 20 Sinjin Broad.

Dings Crusaders: 15 Tommy Foot, 14 Sol Taufa (Ly 48), 13 Harry Tarling, 12 Greg Welling (Lloyd 58), 11 Harry Rowson, 10 George Boulton (Capt.), 9 Matt Jones (Knight 48), 1 Archie Stanley, 2 Sam Cantwell (Bonello 76), 3 Brian Ncube (Welling 70), 4 Will Thompson, 5 Alex Bilton, 6 Matt Bennett, 7 Josh Carr (Hales 76), 8 Callum O’Donnell.

Replacements: 16 Caleb Bonello, 17 Josh Lloyd, 18 Sam Hales, 19 Tom Knight, 20 Omar Ly.

Photo: Ian Manewell

Titans 54 Clifton 0

Rotherham Titans returned to the summit of National 1 with a convincing 54-0 win over a hard-working Clifton RFC side on a yielding surface at Clifton Lane.

Titans ran in 8 unanswered tries with James Norman and Morgan Veness grabbing a brace, whilst Isaac Shaw, Zach Toerien, Will Metcalfe and Callum Bustin also crossed the whitewash, with Lloyd Hayes adding 14 points from the tee.

Bustin’s try was his 52nd for Rotherham and with that milestone he is elevated as the Club’s all-time leading try-scorer, taking him one ahead of former club captain Zak Poole.

Titans started quickly in the testing conditions as they raced into a 14-0 lead inside the opening 10 minutes.

Winger James Norman charged through to score near the corner for the first, whilst full back Isaac Shaw dotted down moments later after receiving a long miss-pass from Lloyd Hayes.

However, despite Rotherham dominating much of what followed, they had to wait until five minutes before half time for their next score. This arrived when loosehead prop Zach Toerien powered his way over.

In the final play of the half Rotherham wrapped up the bonus point when scrum half Will Metcalfe was on hand to finish off after a couple of offloads in the build-up created an overlap.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with the home side enjoying lots of territory and possession.

Inside the opening ten minutes of the second half the moment finally came for Callum Bustin as he received a short pass to break through and score under the posts for his club-record try.

Hooker Morgan Veness then chipped in with a brace as he dotted down from the tail of two powerful driving mauls, before James Norman wrapped things up late on with his second and Titans eighth try when he finished off in the corner after the ball was spread smartly across the full width of the pitch.

The result and performance were impressive in extremely testing conditions and it lifts Rotherham to the top of the league, just a single point ahead of Plymouth Albion in this tightest of divisions.

Reflecting afterwards Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“That for me was a very impressive result; we came up against a team that knew they’d dropped into the relegation zone and they were always going to turn up and there was going to be emotion in their group.

“We’ve had a huge amount of adversity, everyone knows about the weather, and we’ve had to be at different training venues just to try and get some sort of preparation in.

“On Thursday we had to manufacture training on the side of our pitch to try and save it for today and the amount of effort that everyone has given to get the game on today is massively appreciated.

“When you’re playing in conditions like these it’s always going to be tough and for us to be as disciplined as we were and to come away with a result like that was very impressive.

“I spoke last week about our group showing some control and again they’ve shown that control and maturity today.

“It’s not often you get to nil a team and that effort to do so was epitomised late on when our defensive set went on for three minutes. That’s tough going and it was impressive how we remained physical right until the end.

“And just finally to say it’s great for Callum Bustin that he’s now the club’s leading try scorer; that’s special and some achievement; let’s hope he can keep that going.”

Titans: Norman (2T), Veness (2T), Shaw (T), Toerien (T), Metcalfe (T), Bustin (T), Hayes (7C)

Clifton:

Yellow Card: Cano (Clifton)

Referee: Jack Moorhouse

Assistant Referees: Richard Arthur & Tom Doig

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 James Norman, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon (Capt.) (Bruzulier 60), 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Rob Povey, 9 Will Metcalfe, 1 Zach Toerien (Donkor 55), 2 Morgan Veness, 3 Xavier Valentine (Foster 66), 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Okafor 50), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox (Cole 55), 6 Curran Maguire, 7 Jack Baldry, 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Andrew Foster, 19 John Okafor, 20 JB Bruzulier.

Clifton: 15 Harry Johnson, 14 Max McCarthy, 13 Zak Hamid, 12 Matt Smith, 11 Jack Perrins, 10 Ollie Milner, 9 Mitch Spencer (Spragg 57), 1 Ricky Cano (Buckley 48), 2 Tom Hatch (Anderson 57), 3 Armani Symonds, 4 Shay Sainsbury, 5 Dan Owen, 6 Toby Hutchinson (Capt.) (Hayes 21), 7 Jack Churchill (Thomas 64), 8 Oliver Stirling.

Replacements: 16 Jake Buckley, 17 Tom Anderson, 18 Josh Hayes, 19 Conor Thomas, 20 Ollie Spragg.

Photo: Gareth Lyons

Rosslyn Park 26 Titans 36

Rotherham Titans put in one of their best performances of the season to run out worthy 36-26 winners over a very good Rosslyn Park side on a cool afternoon at The Rock.

Titans victory, their first ever at Park, saw them outscore the hosts by 5 tries to 4 as Mitchell Lacey-Babalola grabbed a brace with one each for John Okafor, Jack Baldry and Jackson Barling, with Lloyd Hayes adding 11 points from the tee.

The win keeps Rotherham hot on the heels of leaders Plymouth Albion as the campaign approaches the business end of the season.

The match saw Rosslyn Park start much the brighter and they found themselves ahead after just 6 minutes when following a good break from skipper Jack Digby, centre Tom Stanton finished off clinically.

Rotherham responded shortly after when a catch and drive on the 22 crabbed infield allowing scrum half JB Bruzulier to break off before slipping a nice inside pass to John Okafor who galloped in under the sticks to level.

The game had an adventurous, entertaining feel to it now and a sharp looking Rosslyn Park retook the lead when a slicing backs move resulted in outside centre Joe Luca Smith going in for an unconverted try.

Maybe in the past Rotherham would have started to doubt themselves and wilt from the challenge, but not this team.

Just after the 20-minute mark Rotherham went ahead when back rower Jack Baldry dotted down from close range after a period of forward pressure. The conversion gave Titans a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

That lead was extended before half time when fly half Rob Povey delivered a delightful cross-field kick to allow Mitchell Lacey-Babalola to sour high above Park’s full back, Charlie Walker, and pluck the ball out of the air to score a lovely try in the corner.

Rotherham expected a response from the home side after the break and Rosslyn didn’t disappoint.

Just two minutes in Rosslyn reduced their arrears to 2 points when hooker Charlie Piper crashed over following a break from Joe Luca Smith.

Undeterred Titans powered onwards and on 53 minutes secured the bonus point try when winger Jackson Barling charged down the line from 30 metres to score, having received a delightful back-handed pass from full back Isaac Shaw.

The lead was extended further when Mitchell Lacey-Babalola grabbed his second of the match when he showed great strength and desire to crash over near the corner, after receiving a nice pass from JB Bruzulier.

Late on in the game Rosslyn Park collect the bonus point when they were awarded a penalty try, but it wasn’t enough for them and Titans saw out the game in a controlled manner.

Commenting afterwards Titans Harvey Biljon reflected:

“Firstly, Rosslyn Park are a very good team and when they turn it on, they can really turn it on, and we saw glimpses of that this afternoon.

“However, I’ve got to commend not just the 20 players that was involved today, but our whole squad, because the way they prepared the team this week was exceptional.

“We put a game plan in place, and whilst you can always do that, they only work if your players back them up and go and deliver and I think our players really stepped up in that space today and they thoroughly deserved the bonus point victory.

“When Rosslyn Park got those two early scores we were talking as coaches about how we didn’t seem to lose or lack any composure, we didn’t panic, we stayed controlled and that’s what I mean when I talk about the game plan.

“We didn’t veer from that; we just stuck to our process and if you look at that over the 80 minutes we came away with the right result.

“Our discipline was very good, Rotherham have worked very hard on that in the way they communicate with the referee and the way in which we are really trying to work with the officials, and I think that makes a huge difference.

“However, whilst the result was outstanding, at the same time we won’t get ahead of ourselves. We know what works well for us as a team, we’ve got to turn up on Tuesday and make sure we put in the training time.”

Titans: Lacey-Babalola (2T), Okafor (T), Baldry (T), Barling (T), Hayes (4C, 1P)

Rosslyn Park: Stanton (T), Smith (T), Piper (T), Penalty Try, Johnston (2C)

Yellow Card: Okafor (Titans), Hosking & King (Rosslyn Park)

Referee: George Ounsley

Assistant Referees: Henry Lowis & Paul Fincken  

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 60), 2 Morgan Veness (Cole 12), 3 Andrew Foster (Valentine 64), 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Okafor 64), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor (Maguire 22), 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.) (Broad 66), 8 Jack Baldry.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Curran Maguire, 20 Sinjin Broad.

Rosslyn Park: 15 Charlie Walker (Cordy-Redden 45), 14 Luke Mehson, 13 Joe Luca Smith (Walker 63), 12 Tom Stanton, 11 Benji Marfo, 10 Bill Johnston (Mulchrone 38), 9 Ewan Fenley, 1 Maurice Nwakor (Cade 54) (Nwakor 67), 2 Charlie Piper (Fraine 54), 3 Ali Wade, 4 Jake Cleet, 5 Tom Bell (Orchard 71), 6 Jack Digby (Capt.), 7 Archie Hosking, 8 Cameron King.

Replacements: 16 Max Fraine, 17 Conrad Cade, 18 George Orchard, 19 Charlie Mulchrone, 20 James Cordy-Redden.

Titans 73 Leicester Lions 24

Rotherham Titans put on a clinical display of rugby as they ran in eleven tries to overcome a spirited Leicester Lions side 73-24 on a cool afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored the visitors by 11 tries to 4 with Jackson Barling crossing for a hat trick and Travis Gordon grabbing a brace, there was one each for Luke Cole, Rob Povey Jack Baldry, John Okafor, Jamie Major and Lloyd Hayes, with the latter also adding 18 points from the tee.

The result keeps Rotherham in second place, four points behind leaders Plymouth Albion, with a game in hand.

Despite the scoreline the game was a competitive affair with little to choose between the sides in the first half.

Titans went in at half time just outscoring Lions by three tries to two, the first of which came when winger Jackson Barling received a long miss-pass from Lloyd Hayes to dive over in the corner.

Lions hit back when number 8 Max Humphries dotted down from a driving maul, but Rotherham extended their lead with two quickfire tries when Travis Gordon barged his way over from close range and hooker Luke Cole dabbed down from the tail of a driving maul.

The second half however saw Titans click into gear and after Jackson Barling and Theo Mannion traded early scores, the home side ran in 7 tries in 23 minutes!

Travis Gordon got the fifth try after great work in the build-up from Frankie Gascoigne, before Gordon and Hayes interlinked for the score.

Fly half Rob Pover glided through the Lions defence for the next, before Hayes scored a beauty after breaking the line from 40 metres before dummying the last defender to score under the posts.

Jackson Barling grabbed his hat trick in the corner following another long miss-pass from Hayes, before Jack Baldry got his first try for the club when dotting down from the back of a powerful scrum.

Titans penultimate try was a belter from John Okafor; from a counterattack well inside their own half Jack Baldry made 40 metres downfield before Rob Pover found Okafor who galloped home from 30 metres.

Rotherham’s final try came from replacement hooker and debutant Jamie Major after receiving a long pass from JB Bruzulier he fended off the last defender to go over in the corner.

In the final play Lions’ skipper James Stubbs scored a bonus point try to give the visitors a well-deserved reward for their endeavours.

Speaking after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I think there’s always a temptation that complacency can creep in when you are playing a team that’s at the bottom of the table.

“Last week after not playing for 4-weeks we went and put a real good performance in, and the challenge was to build on that going into the new year and the whole squad showed up in training this week.

“We made a couple of changes this week and to go and put 70 points on a team showed that the players stuck to task, showed that they were committed and showed that they can transfer the work that they’re putting in during the week into the weekend and that’s important.

“Leicester kept us honest and they deserved their point; we had a couple of moments there when things didn’t go our way and we had to battle through because they weren’t going to give up, but we made some adjustments at half time and give credit to the players because they really opened things up in the second half.

“I think finding the balance in our game is important and we were able to identity opportunities and go after them and when you get a couple of scores ahead it builds confidence and it enables you to push those passes and get your reward.”

Titans: Barling (3T), Gordon (2T), Cole (T), Povey (T), Baldry (T), Okafor (T), Major (T), Hayes (T, 9C)

Leicester Lions: Humphreys (T), Burrows (T), Stubbs (T), Mannion (T, 2C)

Yellow Card: Dawson & Crane (Leicester Lions)

Referee: Adam Wookey

Assistant Referees: Ian Farrell & Paul Fincken

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes (Valentine 72), 12 Travis Gordon, 11 James Norman, 10 Rob Povey, 9 Sinjin Broad (Bruzulier 50), 1 Zach Toerien (Donkor 80), 2 Luke Cole (Major 59), 3 Xavier Valentine (Bairstow 56), 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Maguire 56), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox (Cole 67), 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Jack Baldry.

Replacements: 16 Jamie Major, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Tom Bairstow, 19 Curran Maguire, 20 JB Bruzulier.

Leicester Lions: 15 Ollie Farquharson, 14 Lui Natui, 13 Cam Scott, 12 Ahren Crowley (Metcalf 54), 11 Jake Sterland (Lafferty 61), 10 Theo Mannion, 9 James Stubbs (Capt.), 1 Liam Burrows (Roberts 54), 2 Joe Plunkett (Park 61), 3 Aaron Dawson, 4 Will Smith, 5 Ed Bryan, 6 Liam Saayman (Crane 49), 7 Cam De Beer, 8 Max Humphreys (Burrows 62).

Replacements: 16 Ben Park, 17 Will Roberts, 18 Oliver Crane, 19 Jake Metcalf, 20 Joe Lafferty.

Photo: Gareth Siddons

Bishop’s Stortford 27 Titans 35

Rotherham Titans shook off the cobwebs to run out impressive 35-27 winners over a spirited Bishop’s Stortford side on a cool afternoon at Silver Leys.

This was Titans first game for a month, and the game turned out to be every bit as tough as expected, against one of the form teams in the division. 

The sides shared 8 tries in this entertaining encounter with Titans scores coming from Harry Gilson-Fox, Jackson Barling, Morgan Veness and Lloyd Hayes, with the latter also adding 15 points from the tee. 

The bonus point win keeps Rotherham in contention at the business end of the table and no doubt they would have been delighted to return home with a full allocation of points. 

The match itself, despite the long lay-off for Rotherham, saw the South Yorkshire side start much the brighter, racing into a 13-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes.

All the points came from Lloyd Hayes; the powerful centre bulldozed his way over for the first try and added the conversion and 2 further penalties.

Bishop’s responded when Tom Hitchcock slipped a nice pass to blindside forward Harrison Langworthy who showed terrific pace to skip through and score near the posts for a converted try.

Lloyd Hayes and Chris Bolton then traded penalties before Rotherham grabbed their second try when Harry Gilson-Fox dived over after a period of forward pressure.

Just before half time Bishop’s laid siege to the Rotherham line, but crucially for them the visitors managed to repel the threat and go in at the break leading 23-10.

Titans started the first half brighter, but it was Bishop’s who started the second half much the better as their intensity levels increased.

Inside ten minutes Bishop’s scored two tries through back rower and captain Ollie Jones and centre Jack Biard with Chris Bolton converting the former to reduce their arrears to a single point.

In what was now an absorbing contest it was Rotherham that scored next when powerful winger Jackson Barling barged through to dot down in the corner following a lovely long miss-pass from JB Bruzulier. The touchline conversion from Hayes narrowly missed its target.

Five minutes later and Bishop’s had their bonus point try when following a line-out close to the line hooker Isaac Bell downed from the back of a maul. The conversion from out wide missed leaving Titans with the narrowest of leads at 28-27.

Ten minutes from time Rotherham gave themselves some breathing space when hooker Morgan Veness scored off the back of a maul and Hayes converted to stretch the lead to 8 points.

Bishop’s had a late penalty to nab a second bonus point, but Bolton’s efforts missed its target and the game was up.

Commenting on the pitch afterwards a delighted Harvey Biljon explained: 

“I just said to the players not to underestimate how important this result is, especially coming away from home to Bishop’s Stortford who were clearly very emotionally up for the game. 

“You can see from the introduction of new players into their squad and the results they’ve been getting of late, it was always going to be a challenge.  

“I just want to highlight that we haven’t played for 4-weeks and so for how the players trained this week and the way they’ve turned up today was outstanding. I’m not just talking about the 20 here today, but also about the other 15 players that helped prepare the team, because that makes a huge difference. 

“You could see the threat that Bishop’s Stortford brought, they were always going to challenge us across the pitch both at set piece and out wide in particular. I was impressed with how we adapted defensively and how we changed our kick strategy to nullify the kicking game they were trying to impose on us. 

“Then it was about being able to take our opportunities and when we found field position, except on one occasion, we took our scores. 

“They were also some big moments; just before half time holding them out on our try line and then coming into those last five minutes holding them out on our tryline again; that was very good from our players.” 

Titans: Gilson-Fox (T), Barling (T), Veness (T), Hayes, (T, 3C, 3P) 

Bishop's Stortford: Langworthy (T), Jones (T), Biard (T), Bell (T), Bolton (2C, 1P) 

Yellow Card: Langworthy (Bishop’s Stortford) 

Referee: Alex Powdrell  

Assistant Referees: Michael Maple & Paul Clayton  

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 48), 2 Morgan Veness (Cole 70), 3 Andrew Foster (Valentine 69), 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Maguire 66), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Jack Baldry. 

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Curran Maguire, 20 Sinjin Broad. 

Bishop’s Stortford: 15 Jake Morris, 14 Alex Gilham, 13 Jack Biard, 12 Tom Hitchcock (Pope 70), 11 Seva Kava, 10 David Hayes (Johal 75), 9 Chris Bolton, 1 Tristan Smith (Ducci 51), 2 Isaac Bell, 3 Toby Hill, 4 Hamish Ferguson, 5 Kennedy Sylvester (Kiff 41), 6 Harrison Langworthy, 7 Ollie Jones (Capt.), 8 Reggie Hammick (Rayment 41). 

Replacements: 16 Alex Rayment, 17 Damien Ducci, 18 Fraizer Kiff, 19 Jai Johal, 20 Austin Pope.  

Leeds Tykes 19 Titans 18

Rotherham Titans crashed to a 19-18 defeat away at Leeds Tykes on a cool afternoon at Headingley Stadium.

The West Yorkshire side outscored Titans by 3 tries to 2 with their dot downs coming from dual-registered Sale Sharks wingers Albert Bradshaw (2) and one for Nathan Greenwood.

Titans two tries came from Luke Cole and Callum Bustin, with Lloyd Hayes adding 8 points from the tee.

Despite the disappointing loss Rotherham remain at the top of the league going into the 2-week Christmas break.

The defeat once again demonstrates how there are no easy games in National 1 and no doubt Titans will now enjoy their break before coming back stronger in the second half of the season.

Rotherham were put under an enormous amount of pressure in the opening 30 minutes of first half, but somehow through a heroic defensive display they managed to keep Leeds out.

Titans would have been disappointed then after all their efforts, to allow Tykes in following a couple of errors which saw scrum half Ewan Laughton put in a nice grubber kick for Sale Sharks dual-registered flying winger Albert Bradshaw to score.

Rotherham got on the board shortly after when Lloyd Hayes knocked over a penalty, but from the restart Leeds went in for their second try when a mix up in the Titans defence allowed Bradshaw in for the easiest of tries. Turagabeci impressed with the touchline conversion.

Just before half time Rotherham scored their first try when Luke Cole managed to get the ball down after a massive drive from the Titans pack. Hayes narrowly missed with the extras.

Just four minutes into the second half and Rotherham reduced their arrears to a single point when Hayes added his second penalty of the game.

The momentum had now shifted, and Rotherham were starting to enjoy more possession and territory.

They converted this pressure into points and the lead when number 8 Callum Bustin took a quick tap-penalty and barged his way over the line for a converted try.

Titans now looked to stretch their advantage and indeed had opportunities to position themselves into good areas on the pitch; unfortunately for them those opportunities were missed.

Credit must be given to Leeds however as their desire never wilted and eleven minutes before time, they grabbed their third try through another Sale Sharks winger, Nathan Greenwood, who showed great pace to galop home for a converted try.

Rotherham did their best to overcome the 1-point deficit, but it wasn’t to be their day, and Leeds deservedly ran out the victors.

Commenting post-match Harvey Biljon said:

“We knew going in league positioning goes out of the window when you play in derby games and give credit to Leeds for the amount of enthusiasm they brought to the match.

“I think the players they brought in from the Premiership made a massive difference to them, whilst at the same time we knew those challenges were coming and we had to combat that.

“In the first half we weathered a huge amount of pressure; they scored two tries, both came from our mistakes, but we worked our way back into the game.

“In the second half we were just starting to get a foothold, we got the score and then we had an opportunity to get field position; unfortunately we missed out on a couple of those moments and that was the turning point, and they showed great enthusiasm through the back end of the game.

“If you put into context the injuries we’ve had through the pack and particularly in the second row area and the other changes throughout the team, I think we can be proud of where we are currently at, but we know there’s a lot more growth and a lot more to come.”

Titans: Cole (T), Bustin (T), Hayes (2P, 1C)

Leeds Tykes: Bradshaw (2T), Greenwood (T), Turagabeci (2C)

Referee: Jack Moorhouse

Assistant Referees: Ian Farrell & Jason Garrick

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier (Broad 80), 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 63), 2 Luke Cole (Veness 60), 3 Andrew Foster (Bairstow 73), 4 Frankie Gascoigne, 5 John Okafor, 6 Ellis Thomas (Maguire 32), 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin (Cole 74).

Replacements: 16 Morgan Veness, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Tom Bairstow, 19 Curran Maguire, 20 Sinjin Broad.

Leeds Tykes: 15 Seremaia Bai Turagabeci, 14 Albert Bradshaw, 13 Charlie Venables, 12 Ben Dixon (Capt.) (Krippner 58), 11 Nathan Greenwood, 10 Eddie Crossland, 9 Ewan Laughton, 1 Alex Pleasants, 2 Aarin Yorke (Bailey 55), 3 Will Dennis, 4 Huw Davies (Walsh 47), 5 Dylan Hodkinson, 6 Connor Walker, 7 Jonny Teague, 8 Eddie Brown.

Replacements: 16 Ben Bailey, 17 Josh Hough, 18 Lucas Walsh, 19 Sebi Krippner, 20 Kit Keith.

Photo: Gareth Siddons

Titans 40 Sedgley Park 15

Rotherham Titans were made to graft hard before eventually running out 40-15 winners over a very good Sedgley Park outfit, on a windy afternoon at Clifton Lane.

The South Yorkshire side outscored Sedgley by 6 tries to 2 with dot downs from Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, John Okafor, Travis Gordon, Luke Cole, Xavier Valentine and Jackson Barling, with Lloyd Hayes adding 10 points from the tee.

The first half of this pulsating encounter was extremely tight with very little to choose between the sides, but it was the visitors who scored first when hooker Ben Gregory crashed over for a converted try after early pressure from the Sedgley pack paid dividends.

Rotherham quickly responded however and grabbed their first score when the ball was fed out to winger Mitchell Lacey-Babalola who squeezed over in the corner under pressure. The conversion from Lloyd Hayes was pushed across the posts by the ever-increasing wind.

Park stretched their lead midway through the half with an Ollie Glasse penalty after Titans managed to repel some stern pressure from the visitors.

Again, Rotherham were quick to respond when just five minutes later Lloyd Hayes slipped a lovely inside pass to John Okafor who galloped in from 25 metres. Hayes’ conversion gave the home side a 12-10 lead which they took into the break.

The second half was as fiercely contested as the first and again it was Sedgley who scored first when on 55 minutes veteran winger Andy Riley ran in for an unconverted try to reclaim the lead for his side.

With 20 minutes remaining you could feel the tension around Clifton Lane as Rotherham went in search of a win which would keep them top of the table.

In an extraordinary final quarter, Rotherham ran in four unanswered converted tries!

First up centre Travis Gordon burst the line to crash over from close range after receiving a sharp pass from JB Bruzulier.

Next up came Luke Cole who picked up from the base of a ruck, before showing great desire to barge his way over.

Shortly after replacement prop Xavier Valentine scored a similar try when he too demonstrated good strength and desire to score under pressure.

The final try came late on when winer Jackson Barling once again displayed enormous strength to bulldoze his way over after knocking defenders sideways in the process.

The victory keeps Titans at the top of National 1, but they will quickly regroup and prepare accordingly for the big Yorkshire derby against Leeds Tykes at Headingley Stadium.

Speaking after the game Titans Harvey Biljon reflected:

“There is no doubt we were in a battle; we had to fight against the elements in the first half, the wind was probably stronger than we’d anticipated and don’t underestimate what Sedgley Park brought today.

“They were clearly up for it, you could see that through the warm-up with their body language, they were sharpening their edges, and I wish them well next week in their derby game against Sale FC.

“From our players I was really pleased with how they stayed composed and stuck to task throughout.

“Sedgley Park are known for their attacking game and there were periods during the game when we didn’t have the ball and we had to put in long defensive sets and that really stood out for me and then almost every time we got into the zone we managed to come away with points.

“In the second half I could feel the momentum coming and that’s when a good team takes their opportunities when they come and that’s what we did today.”

Titans: Lacey-Babalola (T), Okafor (T), Gordon (T), Cole (T), Valentine (T), Barling (T), Hayes (5C)

Sedgley Park: Gregory (T), Andy Riley (T), Glasse (1P, 1C)

Yellow Card: Bradley (Sedgley Park)

Referee: Alan Chandrachud

Assistant Referees: George Ounsley & Richard Arthur

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola (Broad 46), 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 49), 2 Morgan Veness (Cole 52), 3 Andrew Foster (Valentine 55), 4 Frankie Gascoigne, 5 John Okafor, 6 Ellis Thomas, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin (Baldry 68).

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Jack Baldry, 20 Sinjin Broad.

Sedgley Park: 15 Josh Ree, 14 Rhys Henderson, 13 Sam Thorpe, 12 Nathan Pope, 11 Andy Riley, 10 Ollie Glasse, 9 Jacob Tansey (Sturgess 68), 1 John Blanchard (Downham 65), 2 Ben Gregory (Mallinson 68), 3 Beltus Nonleh (Rylance 49), 4 Bob Birtwell, 5 Billy Addy (Deans 70), 6 Connor James (Capt.), 7 Lewis Bradley, 8 Isaac Deans (Will Riley 49).

Replacements: 16 Austin Downham, 17 Adam Mallinson, 18 Danny Rylance, 19 Will Riley, 20 Matt Sturgess.

Photo: Gareth Siddons

Rams 31 Titans 35

Rotherham Titans retained their place at the top of National 1 with a hard-earned 35-31 win over Rams on a wet afternoon at Old Bath Road.

Titans put in a huge physical effort to grab the spoils in a bonus point win with tries from Travis Gordon, John Okafor, Jackson Barling and Lloyd Hayes, with the latter adding 12 points from the tee; Rob Povey also added a 3-pointer.

An outstanding first half performance laid the foundations for Rotherham’s impressive victory over a top end side.

As early as the third minute Titans signalled their intentions with a lovely try from centre Travis Gordon after good work from Isaac Shaw and Lloyd Hayes.

Despite Rams levelling matters shortly after through second rower Liam Elston, Titans quickly restored their advantage when Lloyd Hayes knocked over a penalty before sending in John Okafor for Titans second try.

Rams responded to narrow the deficit when midway through the half winger Oli Rhoads raced in near the corner.

Undeterred however, Rotherham pressed home their dominance with a further two tries before the break.

More good work from Hayes saw him send in winger Jackson Barling who showed good desire to get over the line, before Hayes himself finished off a lovely team try as he dummied his way over to send Titans in at the break 29-12 to the good.

A second half response was expected from the home side and they didn’t disappoint.

The Berkshire outfit ran in a further 3 scores from Stone, Kalling-Smith and Clow, the latter try came with a minute remaining which set up a tense finale.

However, second half penalties from Hayes and Povey meant Rotherham had enough points on the board to see out their deserved win.

Reflecting after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“Let’s not forget Rotherham have never beaten Rams away and that just shows what a difficult place it is to come and get a result!

“I’m absolutely delighted with the performance; in the first half there was some rugby that I was really impressed with considering the conditions.

“And then we just needed to adapt and become a little more disciplined through the second half and unfortunately that just gave them a few opportunities, and they fought until the end.

“However, the way the players showed their control and kept their composure meant they thoroughly deserved it, and I think there was one or two scores that on another day get awarded.

“What people may not see is the adversity we faced during the game where we lost three or four players.

“We lost our line-out caller, we lost our number 8, we lost a midfielder and a prop, and we had to manage with all those comings and goings.

“So, we were having to problem solve with players in different positions and I think that’s the sign of a really good team, to be able to show their resilience and because that is what disrupted our second half.”

Titans: Gordon (T), Okafor (T), Barling (T), Hayes (T, 3C, 2P), Povey (1P)

Rams: Elston (T), Rhoads (T), Stone (T), Kalling-Smith (T), Clow (T), Cooke (3C)

Yellow Card: Hayes (Titans)

Referee: George Ounsley

Assistant Referees: Michael Maple & Richard Waller

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola (Valentine70), 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 38), 2 Luke Cole (Veness 46), 3 Xavier Valentine (Foster 38), 4 Frankie Gascoigne, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox (Baldry 55), 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin (Broad 70).

Replacements: 16 Morgan Veness, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Andrew Foster, 19 Jack Baldry, 20 Sinjin Broad.

Rams: 15 Zach Clow, 14 Axel Kalling-Smith, 13 Ellis Jones, 12 Rowan Grundy (MacRae 60), 11 Oli Rhoads, 10 Mike Cooke, 9 Sam Boxhall (Hodgson 54), 1 Paddy Harris (Marris 50), 2 Max Hayman (Capt.), 3 Ryan Lomas (Baker 50), 4 Connor Stapley (Duda 54), 5 Liam Elston, 6 Harry Stone, 7 Aaron Tull, 8 Willo Bicknell.

Replacements: 16 Ant Marris, 17 James Baker, 18 Morgan MacRae, 19 Mikey Duda, 20 Ollie Hodgson.

Plymouth Albion 22 Titans 21

Rotherham Titans suffered late heartbreak as Plymouth Albion scored an injury time penalty to snatch a 22-21 win on a heavy pitch at Brickfields.

Titans outscored Albion by three tries to one and had they been able to hold on, it would have been a worthy victory for a side that gave everything against all the odds.

For a variety of reasons getting a win away to Plymouth is always a challenge, but Rotherham came as close as any side has done this season.

Even after Albion had taken an injury time lead Rotherham thought they had earned an opportunity to win the game, when referee Dan Rowlands awarded them a kickable penalty, only to change his decision and reverse the penalty for Albion.

Nevertheless, Rotherham can be proud of their efforts under difficult circumstances and with Rosslyn Park suffering a surprise loss to Bishop’s Stortford the South Yorkshire side remain top of the pile.

The game itself was played with good intensity and although Albion scored an early penalty through Iwan Jenkins, Rotherham stormed into the lead with a fine try.

JB Bruzulier collected the ball around halfway and proceeded to make great headway up the blindside before finding winger Jackson Barling, he showed good strength to power over for a converted try.

Titans followed up their success shortly after when a lovey cross-field kick from Lloyd Hayes was superbly taken by Isaac Shaw who went over for a superb converted try to extend his side’s lead. 

Albion tried their best to penetrate the Rotherham defence in an attempt to narrow the deficit.

Unfortunately for them they were unable to cross the whitewash, but they did add two further penalties from Jenkins to trail 14-9 at the break.

Jenkins popped over another 3-pointer just before the hour mark and then Titans suffered more misery when Isaac Shaw was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on inside his own 22.

Whilst reduced in numbers Rotherham finally conceded a try when winger Shea Cornish ran in under the sticks.

Shortly after an Albion player was also adjudged to have made a deliberate knock on inside his 22, but this time a penalty was ruled as sufficient punishment.

Nevertheless, Titans stuck to their task and retook the lead 8 minutes from time when hooker Morgan Veness scored a converted try from the back of a powerful driving maul.

Unfortunately for the Yorkshiremen they just couldn’t hold on as Jenkins slotted his fifth penalty of the game to clinch it for the Devonians.

Commenting after the match Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I am immensely proud of the effort our players put in right through to the end.

“It was a tough day at the office from a point of view of missed moments. 

“And some of those we have to look at ourselves to make sure when you play a top-end game you can overcome those.

“We have to look at the discipline, I thought the balance across some of those were tough, but I think we’ve got to learn that away from home not everything always goes your way.

“I think you could see how much it meant to Plymouth today, they had to dig deep and credit to them for doing that.

“We also had one or two moments where we could have taken it ourselves, but we look forward to the return fixture.”

Titans: Barling (T), Shaw (T), Veness (T), Hayes (3C)

Plymouth Albion: Cornish (T), Jenkins (5P, 1C)

Yellow Card: Shaw (Titans)

Referee: Dan Rowlands

Assistant Referees: Nick Marshall & Emmerson Wood

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Sinjin Broad, 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 68),  2 Luke Cole (Veness 47), 3 Xavier Valentine (Foster 40), 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Maguire 47) (Cole 79), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Ellis Thomas (Baldry 76).

Replacements: 16 Morgan Veness, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Andrew Foster, 19 Jack Baldry, 20 Curran Maguire.

Plymouth Albion: 15 Frankie Dart, 14 Shae Cornish, 13 Oscar Stewart, 12 Archie Hill, 11 Robert Wiggington, 10 Iwan Jenkins, 9 Jack Oulton ©, 1 Jenson Boughton, 2 Rhys Williams, 3 Dan Pullinger, 4 Freddie Stevenson, 5 Joel Broadhurst, 6 Jake Clemson 7 Jago Sheppard, 8 Angus Hodges.

Replacements: 16 Gabe Mead, 17 Liam Bishop, 18 Ben Moa, 19 Ben Raivalitia, 20 Harry Legg.

Titans 24 Blackheath 19

Rotherham Titans came out on top in a massively physical contest to beat Blackheath 24-19 on a wet afternoon at Clifton Lane.

The sides shared 6 tries with Titans 3 scores coming from JB Bruzulier, Sinjin Broad and a penalty try, with Lloyd Hayes adding 7 points from the tee on a difficult afternoon for kicking in drenched conditions.

It was never going to be a high scoring affair, and we had to wait until the 14th minute before the visitor’s livewire scrum half, Jordan Burns, collected and raced around the Rotherham defence to go in near the corner for an unconverted try.

Titans didn’t take long to react, and they nosed themselves ahead a couple of minutes later when their own scrum half, JB Bruzulier, got in the thick of the forwards action to come up with a try, which Lloyd Hayes converted; the latter then stretched the advantage ten minutes later with a penalty.

Blackheath are not considered a top side without good reason, and they proved that when before the half hour mark, they retook the lead when hooker Billy Harding dotted down from the tail of a driving maul.

The final ten minutes of the half saw Rotherham step on the gas and enjoy a purple patch as firstly Sinjin Broad went over in the corner following good work in the build up from Mitchell Lacey-Babalola and Jackson Barling.

Then the Titans were awarded a penalty try after a long looping pass from JB Bruzulier looked to send in Jackson Barling on the wing. However, a deliberate knock-on from Blackheath winger Alex Earnshaw prevented the score for which he received a 10-minute rest.

With Rotherham now in full control and with the momentum in their favour the South Yorkshire outfit looked to wrap up the bonus point before half time.

Following a series of scrums and penalties on the Blackheath line this looked inevitable; unfortunately for them they were penalised on their own scrum, and the opportunity was lost, but they still however went in at the break with a worthy 24-12 lead.

The second period proved to be as equally as competitive as both sides battered each other in an attempt to gain the ascendancy.

Just after the restart Hayes missed a difficult penalty opportunity for what would have opened a 15-point advantage, but no blame could be attached to any kicker in these challenging underfoot conditions.

Blackheath narrowed the deficit to just five points before the hour mark when hooker Billy Harding popped up again to finish off another driving maul.

With plenty of time remaining the game was up for grabs and both sides did their very best to wrestle the advantage.

Titans came close to stretching the lead to a crucial 8-points inside the final ten minutes with a penalty kick, but this was narrowly missed.

With the nerves jangling at the death there was a huge sigh of relief on full time as the Titans held on for a tough, but well-deserved win in tricky conditions against a very good side.

Titans will now rest a few bruised bodies before quickly turning their attention to next week’s challenge against Plymouth Albion.

Speaking after the game Rotherham’s Harvey Biljon reflected:

“Today I’ve got to credit our players on the discipline with pretty big, long defensive sets. In the second half we were under pressure at line out, we were under pressure at set-piece, and we had to find another way.

“When you talk about character, effort, but also being composed and understanding the situation, that was a big moment of maturity for the group.

“On days like today you’re never going to get away from opposition and it’s always going to come down to that one score.

“In these conditions not everything is going to go right every time, but I am immensely proud of how far they have come today because that Blackheath team came with everything.”

Titans: JB Bruzulier (T), Broad (T), Penalty Try, Hayes (2C, P)

Blackheath: Harding (2T), Burns (T), Hennessey (1C), Dalrymple (1C)

Yellow Card: Earnshaw (Blackheath)

Referee: Ben Simpson

Assistant Referees: Adam Carpenter & Ian Farrell

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 12 Travis Gordon (Capt.), 11 Sinjin Broad, 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 54), 2 Morgan Veness (Cole 67), 3 Andrew Foster (Valentine 74), 4 Frankie Gascoigne, 5 Cory Teague (Maguire 67), 6 John Okafor, 7 Jack Baldry, 8 Ellis Thomas.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Curran Maguire, 20 Corben Ollivent.

Blackheath: 15 Jake Hennessey, 14 Jake Lloyd, 13 Luke Pollock, 12 Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas, 11 Alex Earnshaw (McGhie 44), 10 Ed Dunford (Dalrymple 40), 9 Jordan Burns (Sloot 74), 1 Archie Holland (Cornish 67), 2 Billy Harding (Capt.), 3 Andrew Boye, 4 Finley O’Sullivan, 5 Ed Scragg, 6 Archie Smeaton (Jameson 44), 7 Noah Sloot (Bourne 67), 8 Finn Osborne.

Replacements: 16 Archie Bourne, 17 James Cornish, 18 William Jameson, 19 Kyle McGhie, 20 Matt Dalrymple.

Birmingham Moseley 15 Titans 33

Rotherham Titans had to battle hard for their well-deserved 33-15 win over Birmingham Moseley on a bright afternoon at Billesley Common.

Titans outscored the hosts by three tries to two with scores from Luckas Sableman-Blue, Ellis Thomas and Lloyd Hayes, with the latter also adding 18 points from the tee.

The win, Titans eighth in nine outings, keeps them second in the league and well in the mix at the top, just two points behind leaders Rosslyn Park.

The game was keenly contested throughout but it was Rotherham who enjoyed the lion’s share of territory and possession.

However, it took the visitors until the 17th minute before they turned pressure into points, when Lloyd Hayes knocked over a penalty.

Hayes quickly added to the score moments later when he eyed a gap in the Moseley defence to squeeze through to score, before dusting himself down to add the extras.

Enjoying the limelight Hayes added to his personal tally just after the half hour mark with his second penalty, after more Titans pressure reaped its rewards.

However, in the final play of the half Moseley got on the board when winger Sam Clarke scurried over in the corner for an unconverted try.

Following the break, in a slightly more even half, Moseley opened the scoring when Tighe Maxwell-Whiteley slotted over a 3-pointer.

The sides then traded scores when firstly Titans wing Luckas Sableman-Blue finished off after receiving a nice pass from Travis Gordon, before Mose second rower Fin Smith darted over shortly after, to keep the home sides deficit to just 5 points.

However, two more penalties from the reliable boot of Hayes soon relieved the pressure as he extended Titans advantage to 11 points.

The icing on the cake was applied for Rotherham late on when powerful number 8 Ellis Thomas bulldozed his way over.

Titans were unable to collect the try bonus point in the time remaining, but any win at Billesley Common is considered a tremendous result.

Titans will now make sure they prepare accordingly for the visit of Blackheath to Clifton Lane on Saturday.

Speaking afterwards Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“That was one hell of a game, it looked like a top end National 1 game.

“For whatever reason Birmingham Moseley haven’t started the season as well as they would have hoped, but they showed today they’re going to push a lot of teams throughout the season. They were organised and kept going right up until the end.

“Our players stepped up to the heavy physical battle that Birmingham Moseley offered; we showed a fair bit of composure and control, yet we still come away with a feeling like did we miss one or two opportunities?

“Now, I’m immensely proud of that performance, we looked organised and controlled, but we just need to make sure we can close out those one or two opportunities.

“I was impressed with the team’s discipline, which makes a big difference; our control of the pitch and our defensive sets inside our 22.”

Titans: Sableman-Blue (T), Thomas (T), Hayes (T, 4P, 3C)

Birmingham Moseley: Clarke (T), F. Smith (T), Maxwell-Whiteley (1P, 1C)

Yellow Card: Safe (Moseley)

Attendance: 782

Referee: Jack Moorhouse

Assistant Referees: Ian Farrell & Matt Daubney

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling (Broad 75), 13 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue, 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 Sinjin Broad (Metcalfe 57), 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 67), 2 Morgan Veness (Cole 67), 3 Andrew Foster (Valentine 55), 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Teague 55), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Ellis Thomas.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Cory Teague, 20 Will Metcalfe.

Birmingham Moseley: 15 Perry Humphreys (Jones 79), 14 Sam Clarke, 13 Elliott Creed, 12 Harry Jones (Taylor 55), 11 Aquile Smith, 10 Tighe Maxwell-Whiteley, 9 Harry Gipson (Jolly 55), 1 Ethan Priest (Ma’a 41), 2 Ben Pogson (McNulty 34), 3 David Langley (Priest 57), 4 Harry Butler, 5 Fin Smith (Mifsud 78), 6 Louis Mifsud (Edwards 51), 7 Morgan Dawes, 8 Will Safe (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Sam McNulty, 17 Fred Ma’a, 18 Santiago Edwards, 19 Jack Jolly, 20 Tommy Taylor.

Titans 38 Tonbridge Juddians 28

Rotherham Titans mounted a stirring second half comeback to beat a spirited Tonbridge Juddians 38-28 on a windy afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans trailed 21-12 at the break against a lively Juddians outfit, but Rotherham’s power eventually took its toll as they overran the visitors 26-7 in the second half.

In this high scoring National 1 thriller the home side ran in 6 tries with a brace each for Jackson Barling and John Okafor, with Morgan Veness and Isaac Shaw also going over; Corben Ollivent added 8 points from the tee.

Rotherham had lots of possession and territory throughout the game, but several mistakes led to the visitors clinically punishing them with tries.

Indeed, the visitors were alert enough after just 6 minutes to pounced on a loose ball that saw flanker Archie White charged in for a try, converted by Connor Lloyd.

Titans worked their way back in and took the lead following a catch and drive try from hooker Morgan Veness and a dart over from Jackson Barling after the ball was spread nicely across the park, the latter was converted by Corben Ollivent.

Unfortunately for the Titans two more errors before the break cost them dearly as an intercept was punished by scrum half Connor Lloyd and a brief lapse in concentration was exploited and finished off by Tom Nicoll to send the visitors in at the break with a healthy advantage.

One thing this group of Rotherham players has repeatedly displayed is a huge amount of character and desire to get a result, especially when things don’t always go to plan - and this they did again.

Just two minutes after the restart Titans reduced their deficit when John Okafor charged down a clearance kick and then maintained his cool to collect and theatrically dive over for an important score.

Despite Tonbridge grabbing their second intercept try of the game through flying winger Curtis Barnes to extend their advantage to 28-17, you just felt Rotherham were starting to dominate again.

And that’s how it played out as the South Yorkshire side scored three converted tries in an 8-minute scintillating spell of rugby.

First up Jackson Barling grabbed his second try when receiving the ball close to the line before bludgeoning his way over.

Then full back Isaac Shaw raced through for a lovely score near the sticks after receiving a neat pass from Travis Gordon.

Finally, to end the scoring big John Okafor was on hand to receive a nice pass from Isaac Shaw before proceeding to gallop home to effectively seal the game.

Following this first block of 8 games Rotherham now have a week off to hopefully mend a few bruised bodies and come back fresh for the visit to Birmingham Mosely next month.

Speaking after the game Harvey Biljon reflected:

“I am immensely proud of the group; we’ve had a tough 8 weeks, there’s been numerous changes through selection during that period and as a whole squad and a group everyone that’s come in has been able to contribute.

“We gave them three scores in the first half and most of the time you can’t work your way back into a game. But what I thought was impressive was we stuck to task, we took on the half time messages, and I think that is the main reason why we came through in that second half.

“It’s really great to start and see young players come through and they have to be in those positions in order to grow, improve and get better.

“So, when we are playing again in a couple of weeks’ time and there will be other scenarios that are going to put them under pressure, at least they’ve worked their way through it and they’ve seen how by doing that they can get the reward.”

Titans: Barling (2T), Okafor (2T), Veness (T), Shaw (T), Ollivent (4C)

Tonbridge Juddians: White (T), Nicoll (T), Barnes (T), Lloyd (1T, 4C)

Yellow Card: None

Referee: Ben Rayner

Assistant Referees: Jack Moorhouse & Jason Garrick

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Kieran O’Meara (Metcalfe 66), 10 Corben Ollivent, 9 Sinjin Broad, 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 61), 2 Morgan Veness (Cole 62), 3 Andrew Foster (Valentine 61), 4 Curran Maguire (Baldry 55), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Ellis Thomas.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Jack Baldry, 20 Will Metcalfe. 

Tonbridge Juddians: 15 Oscar Yandall, 14 Tom Kendrick, 13 Shadyn Osgood, 12 Lewis Gjaltema (cc), 11 Curtis Barnes, 10 Sam Evans (Mannix 61), 9 Connor Lloyd, 1 Luke Boon (Wheeler 67), 2 Will Holling (Pybus 74), 3 Bobby Bratton, 4 George Merrick (Scopes 29) (Merrick70), 5 Isaac Ridge, 6 Archie White, 7 Tom Nicoll (cc) (Everitt 49), 8 Oscar Waite.

Replacements: 16 Alex Pybus, 17 Max Wheeler, 18 Alfie Scopes, 19 Vince Everitt, 20 Tom Mannix.  

Photo: Gareth Siddons

Dings 50 Titans 31

Rotherham Titans suffered their first loss of the season with a heavy 50-31 defeat away to Bristol based side Dings Crusaders, on a breezy afternoon at Shaftesbury Park.

Titans collected a try bonus point for their efforts with their five scores coming from Isaac Shaw, Jackson Barling, Morgan Veness Harry Newborn and Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, with Lloyd Hayes adding 6 points from the tee.

The defeat sees Rotherham drop to second in the table one point behind leaders Rosslyn Park on an afternoon where there was a number of surprising results in the division.

Dings fully deserved their victory as they matched Rotherham in all areas throughout the game.

The hosts made a rapid start and raced into a 19-0 lead inside the opening 15 minutes as Thompson, Stanley and knight all crossed the whitewash.

Rotherham responded through full back Isaac Shaw who burst through to give the league leaders hope of stabilising the ship.

However, Dings chose to write their own script and before the break added two further scores through Morris and Rowson to send the hosts in at the break with a huge 31-5 lead.

It was always going to be tough for Rotherham to overturn such a deficit and despite winning the second half, that’s how it turned out.

A Jackson Barling try early in the second half may have given the visitors hope of an unlikely comeback, but that was quickly snuffed out when Dings winger Rowson grabbed his second try shortly afterwards.

The final 20 minutes saw the sides trade scores as Morris and Jenkins crossed for the hosts and to their credit for never giving up Rotherham added three more from Veness, Newborn and Lacey-Babalola.

The South Yorkshire side will now reset, work hard and prepare for the challenge that Tonbridge Juddians will bring to Clifton Lane next Saturday.

Commenting post-match Harvey Biljon reflected:

“First of all, we have to give credit to Dings Crusaders, they clearly had a reaction from their result last weekend, they had a nice little injection of players come in for them, which clearly made a big difference, and at times they out enthused us in moments.

“We can’t get away from that, we’ve had a big couple of weeks and for maybe 50 minutes we were off the pace, and you have to give them credit, they got some great scores, as did we.

“We scored 31 points on the day and when you do that you don’t expect that outcome, but we’ve got to work both sides and today took us a little while to get up to speed.

“There was two or three moments in the first half where we didn’t convert and because we didn’t convert, we were under pressure and in those moments, we’ve got to be better.

“That’s the great thing about this game, as I’ve just said to the players in the huddle, we get to train Tuesday and Thursday and we get another go next week.”

Titans: Shaw (T), Barling (T), Veness (T), Newborn (T), Lacey-Babalola (T), Hayes (3C)

Dings Crusaders: Morris (2T), Rowson (2T), Thompson (T), Stanley (T), Knight (T), Jenkins (T), O’Grady (5C)

Yellow Card: Halliwell (Dings)

Attendance: 531

Referee: Alex Powdrell

Assistant Referees: Emmerson Wood & Dave Philpot

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Joe Cummins, 9 Noah Cowan (Broad 54), 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 49), 2 Luke Cole (Veness 59), 3 Andrew Foster (Bairstow 59), 4 Curran Maguire, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox (Cole 89), 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Fraser Hastie (Gascoigne 54).

Replacements: 16 Morgan Veness, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Tom Bairstow, 19 Frankie Gascoigne, 20 Sinjin Broad.

Dings Crusaders: 15 Evan Morris (Sol Taufa72), 14 Harry Rowson, 13 Victor Worsnip, 12 George Boulton (Capt.), 11 Sol Taufa (Rivers 70) (Morris78), 10 Lewis O’Grady, 9 Tom Knight (Jones70), 1 Archie Stanley, 2 Tomos Gwilliam (Cantwell 69), 3 Jimmy Halliwell (Ncube71), 4 Will Thompson, 5 Matt Bowler, 6 Kenzie Jenkins, 7 Kofi Cripps, 8 Paddy Pearce (Bilton 69).

Replacements: 16 Sam Cantwell, 17 Brian Ncube, 18 Alex Bilton, 19 Matt Jones, 20 Max Rivers.

Titans 27 Rosslyn Park 26

Rotherham Titans retained their position at the top of the league with the narrowest of victories over a dangerous Rosslyn Park side 27-26 on a sunny afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans claimed the try bonus point with scores from Jackson Barling, Morgan Veness, Harry Newborn and Travis Gordon, with Lloyd Hayes, who was making his 150th appearance for the club, adding seven points from the tee.

This top-of-the-table clash was expected to be a tight affair and that’s just how it played out, as each side gave their all in a physical battle between two top sides.

Titans victory was built on a solid pack performance which allowed the home side to enjoy large periods of possession and territory.

However, credit to Rosslyn Park must be given for their determination in defence which repeatedly throughout the game repelled the Titans when a score looked imminent.

Indeed, it took Rotherham 22 minutes to break the deadlock, after dominating the game up to that point, when winger Jackson Barling showed good strength to power over in the corner for an unconverted try.

To Rotherham’s disappointment, Park quickly went ahead when full back Luke Mehson skipped through to score on the visitors first real foray into the Titans half.

Nevertheless, Rotherham remained undeterred and continued to have the better of things, as the possession stats will no doubt show.

Five minutes before the break the pressure told again on Park and this time hooker Morgan Veness scored a pack try following a powerful drive.

But again, Rosslyn Park bounced back, this time after just 2 minutes and what a belter it was. The visitor’s backline worked the ball at pace and made quick yards downfield, before sending in back rower Arthur Ellis to score under the posts.

If Rotherham were disappointed, they didn’t show it and they made sure of going in at the break ahead when skipper Harry Newborn crashed over in the corner in the final play of the half to make it 17-14.

The intensity from both sides increased even higher in the second half, but it was Rotherham who scored next when centre Travis Gordon showed good footwork to burst clear and race through for his side’s bonus point try. Hayes’ conversion stretched the homes sides advantage to ten points.

Whilst Rotherham continued to have the lions share of the ball, Rosslyn Park were always dangerous with ball in hand, and it probably wasn’t a surprise when scrum half Ewan Fenley darted through to score a converted try.

As the running clock went past the 80-minute mark Rotherham were awarded a penalty 40-metres from goal. Up stepped the reliable boot of Lloyd Hayes to knock over the 3-pointer.

There was always a possibility of a sting in the tail and that came in the shape of Rosslyn Park’s Ewan Fenley. The livewire scrum half was on hand following a breakaway to run around the defence to score near the corner and reduce Park’s deficit to one point, with the conversion to come.

The conversion was close to the far touchline and not at all an easy kick. Unfortunately for Steff James his effort narrowly missed the target and although the game did restart it finished moments later to the raucous cheer of the home crowd.

Whilst Rotherham fully deserved their win, massive credit goes to Rosslyn Park who played their part in this high-class National 1 thriller.

Reflecting after this pulsating encounter Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“That is what top-of-the table clashes are all about, both teams went deep into the game and any neutral here today would have see an unbelievable game of rugby.

“I one hundred percent believe we deserved that victory; our territorial possession both in the first half and for parts of the second half was probably the difference which allowed us to take the result.

“I am greedy though and I want us to be better; there were moments in the game I felt we could have taken our opportunities, and we need to stay composed in those moments.

“We were well aware that Rosslyn Park have X-Factor players that can give you X-Factor moments and that’s why they’re always in the game right up until the end. They came away with points, and they deserved those points.

“We have to make sure we don’t plateau and that we keep building on our performances.

“We probably had our toughest training session of the season on Tuesday and it’s testament to the players that no one hesitated around what we asked of them and they wanted to put themselves in the best place they could going into this game.

“They’ve worked hard and today they got their reward.”

Titans: Barling (T), Veness (T), Newborn (T), Gordon (T), Hayes (2C, 1P)

Rosslyn Park: Fenley (2T), Mehson (T), Ellis (T), James (3C)

Yellow Card: None

Attendance: 250

Referee: Ben Rayner

Assistant Referees: George Ounsley & Simon Park

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Rob Povey (Broad 45), 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Zach Toerien (Mitchell 68), 2 Morgan Veness (Cole 68), 3 Andrew Foster (Valentine 55), 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Maguire 45), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Ellis Thomas.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Calvin Mitchell, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Curran Maguire, 20 Sinjin Broad.

Rosslyn Park: 15 Luke Mehson, 14 Charlie Walker, 13 Tom Stanton (Volley 65), 12 Sam Kennaugh, 11 Benji Marfo, 10 Steff James, 9 Ewan Fenley, 1 Mo Nwakor (Wade 17), 2 Charlie Piper, 3 Matt Woodward (Nwakor 63), 4 Jake Cleet, 5 Jordan Martin, 6 Henry Spencer, 7 Arthur Ellis (Capt.), 8 Harry Ledger.

Replacements: 16 Max Fraine, 17 Ali Wade, 18 Connor Kennison-Cook, 19 Freddie Roddick, 20 Ed Volley.

Leicester Lions 25 Titans 41

Rotherham Titans continued their fine start to the season with a hard-earned 41-25 win over Leicester Lions, on a gusty afternoon at Westleigh Park.

Titans outscored the hosts by 7 tries to 3 as James Norman and Sinjin Broad helped themselves to a brace, with Harry Newborn, Morgan Veness and Jackson Barling chipping in with one each; Lloyd Hayes added 6 points from the tee.

The win keeps Rotherham at the of the table on the same points as Rosslyn Park, who are Titans next opposition at Clifton Lane on Saturday.

The game turned out to be as challenging as expected for Rotherham, with the hosts offering plenty both in the forwards and backs and with the conditions as such, it was never going to be a straightforward day at the office.

Nevertheless, it was Rotherham who got the scoreboard moving first when winger James Norman finished off in the corner after the ball was shifted the full width of the pitch. Lloyd Hayes attempt with the extras was unsuccessful as the wind hindered his effort.

Soon after however the hosts took the lead when openside flanker Cam De Beer burst through for a try which was converted off the right-hand post by Luke Bouchier, who shortly after extended his sides lead with a penalty.

Unflustered by this Rotherham started to settle as they exerted control over proceedings, which in turn led them to adding two further tries.

The first of which saw James Norman go over in the corner for his second of the game following nice work in the build-up from John Okafor; whilst the next came from scrum half Sinjin Broad who had to work hard in the contact area to score next to the posts, with Hayes’ conversion making it 17-10.

If anyone at this point thought the floodgates might open for Rotherham, they would have been sorely mistaken, as a converted try from winger Joey Patrick and a penalty kick from Bouchier saw the hosts go in at the break with a 20-17 lead.

The opening 15 minutes of the second half saw Titans set up camp in the Lions half, but fair play to the hosts, their determination in defence was outstanding and the visitors were unable to add to their tally at this stage.

Eventually however the pressure had to tell - and it did!

Just before the hour mark Lions had a scrum five metres from their own line, but a massive effort from the Titans pack pushed them off the ball and with scrum half Sinjin Broad on hand, he was able to pick up the pieces before diving over for the bonus point try. Hayes tagged on the extras to nose his side 24-20 ahead.

Frustratingly for Rotherham, after all the time it had taken them to score their try, within 2 minutes Leicester went back in front when replacement front row forward Bronson Mellowes crashed over for an unconverted try.

Twelve minutes from time in this pulsating, seesaw encounter Rotherham went back ahead when skipper Harry Newborn went over following excellent work down the left-hand side from Mitchell Lacey-Babalola.

Titans virtually sealed the game shortly after when hooker Morgan Veness finished off for a converted try, after more powerful work from the Titans pack.

Late on Lions looked to have secured a try bonus point when winger Joey Patrick crossed the line, however, before he could score Travis Gordon knocked the ball out of his hand.

And to add to the home sides misery, at the death winger Jackson Barling charged down the right-hand side to score Titans seventh try of the match.

So, whilst Rotherham fully deserved their win, the hosts can rightfully feel disappointed that their efforts yielded no points from a highly competitive game.

Speaking afterwards Titans Harvey Biljon reflected:

“We came up against a Leicester Lions team that was clearly very emotionally charged and you have to give them credit around their maul defence which was very good today and they stuck in every single battle.

“They’ve clearly taken a fair bit of confidence from going away to Plymouth and coming away with a point and scoring four tries and today, as we saw, they made us defend until the 86th minute as they kept on looking for that point.

“I was pleased with the way we adapted and turned it around in the second half. We knew they were not going to go away, but we controlled territory until we could take our opportunities.

“We have to give credit in tough conditions to our set piece and that eventually created those of opportunities both up front and in the backs.

“We had to make a few changes going into the game and it played out well. Tom Bairstow got his first start and he got 79 minutes; how good is that for the young man and James Norman got two tries before he had to go off injured in the first half.

“When we were on it we looked good, but for us today we were either on it or off it, whereas a week ago we were on every moment.

“However, let’s not take anything away from ourselves, it was windy, the ball was greasy, and the opposition were charged, but we can make improvements on that today.”

Titans: Norman (2T), Broad (2T), Newborn (T), Veness (T), Barling (T), Hayes (3C)

Leicester Lions: De Beer (T), Patrick (T), Mellowes (T), Bouchier (2C, 2P)

Yellow Card: Cowan (Titans)

Attendance: 227

Referee: Sam Yates

Assistant Referees: Jason Garrick & Leo Burton

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 James Norman (Lacey-Babalola 29), 10 Rob Povey (Veness 77), 9 Sinjin Broad (Cowan 64), 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 70), 2 Morgan Veness (Cole 76), 3 Tom Bairstow (Mitchell 74), 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Broad 71), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Curran Maguire, 8 Harry Newborn (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Calvin Mitchell, 19 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 20 Noah Cowan.

Leicester Lions: 15 Theo Mannion, 14 Jake Sterland (Stubbs65), 13 Lui Natui, 12 Fred St John, 11 Joey Patrick, 10 Luke Bouchier, 9 James Stubbs (Ogden 55), 1 Will Roberts (Mellowes 54), 2 Ben Park, 3 Aaron Dawson (Crane 54), 4 Joey Britton (Bryan 40), 5 Ethan Godefroy (Capt.), 6 Monty Loggenberg (Smith 55), 7 Cam De Beer (Loggenberg 61), 8 George Marsh.

Replacements: 16 Bronson Mellowes, 17 Oliver Crane, 18 Ed Bryan, 19 Will Smith, 20 Fin Ogden.

Titans 71 Bishop's Stortford 12

Rotherham Titans rampaged their way to an eleven try 71-12 victory over an enthusiastic Bishop’s Stortford side on a cool afternoon at Clifton Lane.

The victory, Titans fourth bonus point win on the trot, maintains their perfect stat to the season and keeps them at the business end of the table.

Rotherham’s scores came via braces from JB Bruzulier, Jackson Barling, Mitchell Lacey-Babalola and Callum Bustin, with one each for Travis Gordon, Morgan Veness and Lloyd Hayes, the latter also added 16 points from the tee.

An exciting performance from the home side was built on strong foundations laid down by their pack, but it was flourishing moves from their backs that kept the scoreboard relentlessly ticking over.

Titans galloped out of the blocks to shock Stortford, racing into a 28-0 lead inside the opening half hour to secure the bonus point.

JB Bruzulier started things of as he sniped over from close range before Jackson Barling raced in for a bullish score. Travis Gordon showed good intensity and desire to drive over for the next before Mitchell Lacey-Babalola streaked home for the try-bonus.

Stortford’s hopes may have been lifted when scrum half Chris Bolton darted over just before the break, but Titans bounced back through JB Bruzulier in injury time to quickly subdue them again.

If the first half had been pretty much all Rotherham, the second period was even more one sided as the hosts added a further 6 tries, four of which came inside the opening 15 minutes.

Lloyd Hayes danced his way through the defence for the first, Callum Bustin bulldozed over as usual for the next, before hooker Morgan Veness finished off a catch and drive and Jackson Barling showed good pace for his second.

A shellshocked Bishop’s to their credit continued to put in a shift, but all to no avail as a further two tries followed with Mitchell Lacey-Babalola grabbing his second and Callum Bustin equalling Rotherham’s all time second on the list try scorer, John Dudley, as he powered over for his 50th Titans score.

Bishop’s went in search of a consolation and this came late on when winger Jake Morris sneaked over in the corner.

Nevertheless, that didn’t take the shine off what was an excellent performance from the South Yorkshire side.

Reflecting after the match Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I was impressed with our players with the way they set out the whole week. Our performance on a Saturday comes from our preparation during the week with how our squad comes together to prepare the team.

“We knew coming into the game Bishop’s was a team that had beaten Birmingham Moseley, run Blackheath close and pushed Plymouth Albion and we knew they had ability and I think our players were up for that challenge.

“One of the things that stood out was we stuck at it for 80 minutes; we didn’t go through those patches of maybe losing our concentration and that came through right at the end where we were defending on our line although the game was over.

“I was impressed with the attitude of the players, and they worked hard. I think we are finding that balance where we share that responsibility in attack, but we were lucky today because we had a day where we could go out and play.

“We set the tone up front, but we have to make sure we put the ball in front of the pack and the backs are playing their part in that.

“It’s not perfect yet, we have a game plan depending on who we are playing, but I think we got the balance right today.”

Titans: Bruzulier (2T), Barling (2T), Lacey-Babalola (2T), Bustin (2T), Gordon (T), Veness (T), Hayes (T, 8C)

Bishop’s Stortford: Morris (T), Bolton (T, C)

Yellow Card: None

Attendance: 250

Referee: Ben Rayner

Assistant Referees: Simon Williams & Jason Garrick

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier (Broad 44), 1 Alastair Donkor (Mitchell 48), 2 Morgan Veness (Cole 51), 3 Andrew Foster (Valentine 48), 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Newborn 58), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.) (Thomas 51), 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Calvin Mitchell, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Ellis Thomas, 20 Sinjin Broad.

Bishop’s Stortford: 15 David Hayes, 14 Tom Mills, 13 Aman Johal (Cole 22), 12 Austin Pope, 11 Jake Morris, 10 Finn Keylock, 9 Chris Bolton (Stuart-Harris 49), 1 Tristan Smith (Peck 67), 2 Harry Clarke (Bell 49), 3 Henry Peck (Meechan 31), 4 Fraizer Kiff, 5 Ollie Jones, 6 James Rhydderch-Roberts, 7 Alex Rayment, 8 Will Rogers (Capt.) (Ducci 56).

Replacements: 16 Isaac Bell, 17 Cameron Meechan, 18 Damien Ducci, 19 Dan Cole, 20 Asa Stuart-Harris.