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