Titans 24 Chinnor 42

Rotherham Titans managed to secure what could be a crucial bonus point for scoring four tries in their 42-24 defeat to high-flyers Chinnor at a windswept Clifton Lane.

In what turned out to be a barmy game of rugby, Titans new boy Tom Benjamin, in on loan from Nottingham, bagged a brace of tries, with scrum half Connor Dever and winger Ben Robbins also crossing the whitewash; Sam Hollingsworth added four points from the tee.

Winning the coin toss and electing to play with the high winds in the first half was always likely to prove critical, as a half time lead was virtually guaranteed.

So when Chinnor ‘took the wind’ in the first half and Titans suffered three yellow cards in the opening 40 minutes, there was little surprise to see the South Yorkshire go in at the break trailing 35-5.

The only bight moment for Rotherham in that first period came on the half hour mark when full back Tom Benjamin raced in down the right hand side to finish off nicely, after Tom Bullough made a break to send him in from 40 metres. Sam Hollingsworth’s effort from the tee in the difficult conditions missed its target.

The second half however would have given Rotherham some crumbs of comfort and not least because they won the half 19-7 and scored 3 further tries to secure a vital bonus point, but mainly because of the spirit and character they displayed which will give all at Clifton Lane hope that the great escape is still possible with 9 games remaining.

In essence Rotherham pretty much bossed the majority of the second half, but it took then until just before the hour mark until they added to their tally, but when they did, they scored 2 very nice tries in the space of three minutes.

First up was scrum half Connor Dever who collected from the base of a ruck and then looked to dummy, before racing through a gap to dot down from inside the 22. Then Dever was involved again shortly after, as he collected a loose ball and fed it out wide for winger Ben Robbins to race in to score.

The momentum was now truly with the home side and hopes of a miraculous comeback were just beginning to enter the consciousness, as what had been 35-5 was now 35-17.

However, within five minutes those hopes were dashed when replacement back rower Matt Marley barged over for Chinnor to wrap up the game.

Nonetheless Rotherham continued to battle forward and show tremendous resilience and character. This they were rewarded for at the death when Sam Hollingsworth made a half break before off-loading to Tom Benjamin on his shoulder, for the debutant to run in and score under the sticks and secure a well-deserved try bonus point for the home side.

Commenting afterwards Titans’ Martin Jenkinson said, “It’s a difficult one as we have to be careful in what we say; however, things happen in games and the opening sequence in the first 10 minutes was rugby as we don’t recognise it and lots of people have to take responsibility for that.

“The first half was the first half; what we have to take from the game is how our boys reacted at half time. At the break we could have completely capitulated and we could have completely downed tools, but we didn’t.

“We came out and we won the second half and we started to get some decisions and at the end to get a point against a top-end side could be crucial in saving us at the end of the season.

“In the huddle just now we have said to the boys that we need to take ownership of the first 40 minutes and not to look elsewhere to lay the blame; and we do take ownership of it.

“We have to take the positives from the game and we must stay positive in our approach and the second 40 minutes gave us plenty of reasons to do so.”

Referee: Harry Walbaum

Attendance: 464

Yellow Card: Benjamin (Titans), Preston-Routledge (Titans), Wilson (Titans)

Titans: Benjamin (2T), Dever (T), Robbins (T), Hollingsworth (2C)

Chinnor: Penalty Try, Worrall (2T), Selway (T), Goss (T), Marley (T), May (5C)

Titans: 15 Tom Benjamin, 14 Ben Robbins, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Tom Bullough, 11 Dan Leake (Dunne 46), 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Harry Whitfield (Newborn 49), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Will Dennis (Stout 60), 4 Dan Preston-Routledge (Ward 60), 5 Kieran Frost, 6 Lewis Wilson, 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Ben Waddington.

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Rikki Stout, 18 Elliott Ward, 19 Sam Boxhall, 20 Harry Dunne.

Chinnor: 15 Will Harries, 14 Kieran Goss, 13 Sam Yawayawa, 12 Jason Worrall (Capt.), 11 Josh Hodson (Watson 16) (Kirwan 65), 10 Laurence May, 9 Ed Hoadley (Watson71), 1 Josh Pieters (Fidler 40), 2 Nick Selway, 3 Jo Rees (McNulty 37), 4 Jack Ramshaw (Thomas 53), 5 Joe Dancer, 6 James Tyas, 7 Carl Kirwan (Marley 58), 8 Willie Ryan.

Replacements: 16 Tom Fidler, 17 Josh McNulty, 18 Ben Thomas, 19 Matt Marley, 20 Callum Watson.

Darlington Mowden Park 41 Titans 27

Rotherham Titans shared a 10-try thriller against top six outfit Darlington Mowden Park, before eventually going down 41-27 at the Northern Echo Arena.

The result leaves Titans still 8 points adrift of Birmingham Mosely at the foot of the table with 10 games remaining, although 6 of those games are at Clifton Lane, starting with the visit of Chinnor on Saturday.

Rotherham can take some positives from defeat to the divisions leading point’s scorers, as the five tries they scored equalled the hosts tally and delivered them a hard-fought, but fully deserved bonus point.

Indeed, had the usually expert marksman from the tee, Sam Hollingsworth, had a more fortuitous afternoon with the boot, the result may have been a much closer affair, although to be fair to him, his shots off the plastic were just about all from out wide.

What Rotherham can be particularly pleased with however was 100% line-out success and a driving maul which dominated throughout.

Actually, both of Titans first half tries came via the driving maul, with skipper Zak Poole dotting down both times after tremendous work from the Rotherham pack.

Mowden’s first half points came with two tries from bulldozing number 8 Ollie Hodgson and one from flanker Callum Mackenzie; whilst classy fly half Warren Seals added 9 points from the tee.

Following an early Seals penalty at the beginning of the second period Rotherham added their third try through winger Ben Robbins, who showed blistering pace down the right wing to go over in the corner and when Hollingsworth nailed the difficult conversion Titans were within 10 points with over 30 minutes left.

Unfortunately for them however, during a five-minute spell of dominance between the 66th and 71st minutes Park’s Tom Marshall and Conrad Cade crossed the whitewash to secure the game.

Undeterred and showing a terrific amount of resilience and character Rotherham stormed back late on to score another two tries through lock forward Kieran Frost and a second for winger Ben Robbins.

Commenting afterwards, an upbeat Titans’ Director of Rugby, Martin Jenkinson, said, “Darlington are a very good outfit and are pretty much irresistible at home; that’s their sixth straight win on the bounce here and you could see what a good side they are.  

“It was a big ask for our boys today and as everyone knows we’ve been under the cosh a lot of this season. However, I thought the lads reacted well to score five tries and to keep coming back and to get a point.

“That is the sort of fight, the sort of dog and the sort of attitude we need if we are going to get out of trouble at the bottom of the table and I am immensely proud of all of them.

“We know there’s going to be some hard fights ahead, but we are improving week on week and to come here and get a point is a good effort and whilst we are always trying to win every game, we are content with the work the lads have put in today.

“Prior to this game we took seven points from our previous three games and we have said to the boys if we can take seven points every three games, then we should be ok at the end of the season and that’s our target.

“Obviously a lot will hinge on our home fixtures and we know when Chinnor come to Clifton Lane it will be very hard, but we will be going for the win just like we do in every game.”

Referee: Llyr ApGeraint-Roberts

Attendance: 855              

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Poole (2T), Robbins (2T), Frost (T), Hollingsworth (1C)

Darlington Mowden Park: Hodgson (2T), Mackenzie (T), Marshall (T), Cade (T), Seals (5C, 2P)

Titans: 15 Tom Bacon, 14 Ben Robbins, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Tom Bullough, 11 Connor Dever, 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Toby Williams (Whitfield 35), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Newborn 60), 3 Will Dennis, 4 Dan Preston-Routledge (Ward 60), 5 Kieran Frost, 6 Lewis Wilson, 7 Alfie North (Waddington 12), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).  

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Harry Whitfield, 18 Elliott Ward, 19 Ben Waddington, 20 George Castledine.

Darlington Mowden Park: 15 Paul Jarvis, 14 Brandon Asher-Wood, 13 Ben Frankland, 12 Ben Dixon, 11 Ollie Walker (McTurk 50), 10 Warren Seals (Law73), 9 Euan McKirdy, 1 Conrad Cade (Westwood 71), 2 Joe Duffy, 3 Jonas Humbert (Marshall 60), 4 Talite Vaioleti, 5 Joe Craggs, 6 George Stokes (Graham 70), 7 Callum Mackenzie, 8 Ollie Hodgson (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Scott Westwood, 17 Tom Marshall, 18 Guy Graham, 19 Garry Law, 20 Chris McTurk.

Titans 22 Birmingham Moseley 20

Rotherham Titans claimed a deserved 22-20 victory over a tenacious Birmingham Moseley side to narrow the gap at the bottom of National 1 to 8 points.

Each side scored three tries apiece, with the Titans scores coming from lock forward Dan Preston-Routledge and back rowers Zak Poole and Lewis Wilson, whilst fly half and former Moseley player, Sam Hollingsworth added 7 points from the tee.

The win was a crucial one for the South Yorkshire side, as a five point defeat to the West Midlands outfit would have put them 16 points adrift in the relegation zone.

Instead, on the back of their win, Rotherham can take confidence from their much-improved performances over the last 3 weeks, as they seek more victories in order to narrow the gap further as the season draws towards the business end.

However, Titans’ hearts would have sunk early on, when after a promising start they fell 7-0 behind after just 4 minutes.

From turnover ball deep inside the opposition’s half, Moseley winger Matt Dight broke through and hacked on to score from 60 metres out, with Titans’ ‘old boy’ Cliffie Hodgson adding the conversion from close to the touchline.

This ‘new’ Titans side however no longer rolls over when things don’t quite go their way and the players showed their character by storming back with an aggression and intensity that will stand them in good stead for the battle ahead in the final third of the season.

This aggression and intensity led to Titans levelling matters just after the 20 minute mark, when following a series of pick and goes close to the line, lock forward Dan Preston-Routledge showed great strength to barge his way through three Moseley defenders to score, with fly half Sam Hollingsworth adding the extras.

Back came the Midlanders though and following a short period of forward pressure inside the Rotherham 22, they nosed ahead from a Hodgson penalty in front of the sticks.

Just before the break however and Titans deservedly re-took the lead when skipper Zak Poole barged his way over in the corner following a good drive from a line-out inside the 22. Hollingsworth impressed again from the tee to send his side in at the interval with a 14-10 advantage.

Titans though, would have been disappointed with their opening efforts to the second period, as following a clearance kick from Moseley just outside their 22, winger Aquile Smith collected on halfway virtually unopposed and proceeded to gallop in from 50 metres to push his side 15-14 ahead.

Again Rotherham bounced back with good intensity in what was fast becoming a thriller of a game. This time flanker Lewis Wilson showed good awareness to spot a gap at the breakdown before pouncing through to score. Unfortunately for Rotherham, Hollingsworth’s conversion hit the left post as the wind started to increase.

Just after the hour mark, this topsy-turvy encounter took another twist, when, as is often the case, a former Titan scores against his old club. This time fly half, Cliffie Hodgson, joined the tail of a maul to dot down for an unconverted try to sneak his side one point ahead.

As time was running out it appeared as if Rotherham would be on the wrong side of another single-score defeat.

However, from a scrum 45 metres out Titans were rewarded for their dominant set-piece when referee Charlie Gayther - who is surely set for greater things in the game - awarded Titans a penalty.

Up stepped Sam Hollingsworth and with nerves of steel he calmly slotted the winning score to the elation of the home crowd.

Commenting post-match, Titans’ Martin Jenkinson explained, “We talk all the time about the performance and we’ve seen for three weeks now, after things were changed, in our games against Plymouth, Cambridge and Moseley the team making improvements.

“People forget there are so many single-score games and you’ve got to be able to get on the right side of these scores. Last week and the week before we weren’t able to do that; but this week we were and all credit to the lads for doing so.

“That Birmingham side is a good side and they did a very good job against Cinderford last week, but I think any independent observer would say we played all the good rugby today.

“They got that fortunate breakaway try early on, but they are a good outfit and that’s what good teams can do, but I have to say that we are a good outfit also and now we are starting to look like the team we thought we would be.

“We went behind three times in the game and if that had happened to us before Christmas we would probably at that stage collapsed.

“However, we are in a different place now and the boys proved that with the strength of character they had to dig in, trust the process and come back to ultimately win the game.

“We are improving week on week and that gives us the confidence that we can go anywhere in this league and beat any team on our day and whilst that’s the situation there is more than hope for us.

“I don’t think sides will relish coming here or will relish us going to their place. We’ve got Darlington Mowden Park next and we will go up there looking for a win.”

Referee: Charlie Gayther

Attendance: 543

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Preston-Routledge (T), Poole (T), Wilson (T), Hollingsworth (2C, P)

Birmingham Moseley: Dight (T), Smith (T), Hodgson (T, C, P)

Titans: 15 Tom Bacon, 14 Jamie Cooke, 13 Tom Bullough, 12 Harry Dunne (Dever 8), 11 Ben Robbins, 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Toby Williams, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Newborn 67), 3 Will Dennis, 4 Dan Preston-Routledge, 5 Kieran Frost, 6 Lewis Wilson (North 60), 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Anthony Maka (Laxton 76). 

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Harry Whitfield, 18 Alfie North, 19 Keifer Laxton, 20 Connor Dever.

Birmingham Moseley: 15 Louis Roach, 14 Matt Dight, 13 Kieran Joyce, 12 Ravai Fatiaki, 11 Aquile Smith, 10 Cliffie Hodgson (Palmer 8) (Hodgson 21), 9 Johnny Arr (Capt.), 1 Nathaniel Titchard-Jones (Foreman 60), 2 Will Biggs, 3 James Tideswell (Langley 27) (Tideswell 68), 4 Tony Worthington, 5 Aaron Crofts (Stephens 60), 6 Zac Xiourouppa, 7 Morgan Dawes, 8 Buster Lawrence.

Replacements: 16 Joe Foreman, 17 David Langley, 18 Michael Stephens, 19 Jack Jolly, 20 Ben Palmer.

Photo Credit: Blueline Photography

Cambridge 25 Titans 21

Rotherham Titans were gutted not to return home with a pocket full of points as they narrowly lost 25-21 to Cambridge at a windswept Grantchester Road.

Titans for much of the match were the better side; unfortunately for them, a series of unforced errors cost them what would have been a fully deserved victory.

Indeed, had the pack, which mustered over 20 phases on the Cambridge line in the last play of the game, got over the line, the South Yorkshire side would have returned to Clifton Lane with the full five points.

That didn’t look possible after just five minutes of this pulsating encounter, as centre Matthew Hema and winger James Martin both crossed to give the home side a perfect start.

Undeterred at the set-back Rotherham bounced back and enjoyed lots of possession as their pack bullied their way around Grantchester Road. On 14 minutes one such impressive charge resulted in winger Ben Robbins galloping around the defence to score near the corner.

Incredibly fly half Sam Hollingsworth nailed the conversion from out wide against the stiffest of winds.

Rotherham continued to impress as they controlled proceedings for the remainder of the half and with their set-scrum functioning exceptionally well, it appeared it would only be a matter of time before they added to their tally.

Unfortunately for Titans though they lost the ball and gave away possession just before half time. The resulting phases saw Titans former winger Andrew Henderson finish off in the corner to send his side in at the break with a 15-7 lead.

The second half saw Rotherham continue their fine work. However, it was not until just before the hour-mark that they manage to find a score.

From a Cambridge scrum just outside the Titans 22, the home pack desperately flung the ball out from the base as the pressure mounted. In stepped Titans’ scrum half Sam Boxhall to pick-off the pass and then gallop 70 metres downfield to score in the corner. Hollingsworth’s conversion from the touchline was expertly taken to leave the Titans trailing by a point.

Just 5 minutes later Rotherham took the lead for the first time.

From a line-out on the Cambridge 22 hooker Harry Newborn threw to Lewis Wilson at the front; he then popped the ball back for the hooker to race down the touchline to score. Hollingsworth was exceptional from out wide off the tee to give his side a 21-15 lead.

Disappointingly for Rotherham, inside the final 9 minutes of the match they conceded 2 late tries. The first stemmed from a bit of a mix-up with a grubber kick which allowed James Martin in for his second try and then from turnover ball prop Henry Peck popped over in the corner, despite a suspiciously-looking forward pass in the build-up.

Rotherham can however take some consolation from both the bonus point they picked up, but more importantly from a performance, if repeated, that will only lead to them winning lots of games of rugby.

Commenting on Titans’ performance post-match, Matt Smith explained, “It was heart-breaking for the lads not to win this one; at the end we had over 20 phases to get over the line but we just couldn’t manage it and that was the difference between five points and one.

“But again we saw the step-up in quality of our performance in the way we want to play; we’ve just got to get rid of those little mistakes which are costing us a lot. Some of their tries were too easy which yet again came off our errors.

“It was a strange game to lose; they didn’t have that much ball, particularly in the first half and three of their tries came off our errors and I would say overall we were the better team.

“However, points aren’t given out for being the better team if you don’t win the match. We need to be better when we have the ball and we need to show a bit more quality in finishing off the opportunities when they come our way.

“However, after the game you could that the boys were absolutely gutted, which means that they care and any group of lads that care that much and are willing to work hard to keep improving give you massive confidence that the next win is just around the corner.”

Referee: Sam Phillips

Attendance: 523

Yellow Card: Hollingsworth (Titans)

Titans: Robbins (T), Boxhall (T), Newborn (T), Hollingsworth (3C)

Cambridge: Martin (2T), Hema (T), Henderson (T), Peck (T),

Titans: 15 Sam Allan, 14 Jamie Cooke, 13 Tom Bullough, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Ben Robbins (Dever 20) (Robbins 35), 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Toby Williams, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Newborn 50), 3 Will Dennis, 4 Dan Preston-Routledge (North 38), 5 Kieran Frost, 6 Lewis Wilson, 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Anthony Maka. 

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Harry Whitfield, 18 Alfie North, 19 Keifer Laxton, 20 Connor Dever.

Cambridge: 15 Joseph Tarrant, 14 James Martin, 13 Matthew Hema, 12 Ned Brown (Rayner 61), 11 Andrew Henderson, 10 Benjamin Penfold, 9 Kieran Duffin (Creighton 50), 1 Matthew Meek (Ibrahim 64), 2 Michael Mayhew (Priestley 50), 3 Henry Peck, 4 Robert Conquest, 5 Gareth Baxter (Hutchinson 80), 6 Kailus Hutchinson (McCloud 40), 7 Matthew Dawson, 8 Benjamin Adams (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 William Priestley, 17 Ben Ibrahim, 18 Jake McCloud, 19 Finlay Creighton, 20 Lawrence Rayner.

Titans 32 Plymouth Albion 38

Rotherham Titans put in a much-improved performance, but were still unable to grab the win as they went down 38-32 to Plymouth Albion at Clifton Lane.

Titans collected two points for their efforts as they ended the game within seven points of the visitors and scored four tries.

Indeed, Titans first half performance was one of their best for quite some time as they played some tidy rugby and controlled much of the game.

Winger Dan Leake gave the hosts a perfect start when he majestically collected a high clearance kick from Sam Hollingsworth as early as the second minute and then proceeded to race in from 40 metres.

Hollingsworth added the conversion and then extended the Titans advantage further on 10 minutes with a well taken penalty.

The only real disappointment for the home side in the first half came on 25 minutes when after overthrowing at their own line-out, five metres from the Albion line, they found themselves conceding a driving maul try from prop Koree Britton a minute later!

Full back Connor Eastgate converted to add to his 14th minute penalty to level things up at 10 apiece.

Rotherham however responded quickly and with purpose about their work.

On the half hour mark Hollingsworth added his second penalty, before a minute later creating a super try as he dummied 40 metres out and broke the line. He took play inside the 22 before drawing the final defender to send in scrum half Sam Boxhall under the sticks.

Indeed, in first half injury time Rotherham could have extended their advantage further, when Anthony Maka broke inside the Albion 22. However, some last-gasp scramble defence from Albion kept their line intact and the sides went in at the break with Titans holding a healthy 20-10 lead.

Based on the first 40 minutes of a pulsating game, no one in the ground would have imagined what was about to occur in the opening quarter of the second half.

Inside a 19 minute spell between the 48th and 67th minute Plymouth ran in 4 unanswered tries through number 8 Ruis Tuima, second rower John Kelly, winger Shea Cornish and flanker George Mills.

Unfortunately for Rotherham Mills blatant dropping of the ball over the line was missed by all three officials and the try was awarded.

To their credit Titans bounced back with great urgency and scored two late tries through skipper Zak Poole and winger Jamie Cooke.

Oh how Rotherham wished the officials had a better view of the Albion knock-on over the line!

Commenting on the game afterwards, Titans’ Martin Jenkinson, explained, “If you look at how the game broke down; for 60 minutes we were the better team. However, they scored four unanswered tries in a 20 minutes spell after half time which was very disappointing.

“Having said that, we have just said to the boys it’s been a good training week, the first one we’ve had for some time and I believe that we’ve seen the start of the mending process – the process of putting things right.

“Hopefully we can get some more front row players back from injury and hopefully we can start managing these games for a full 80 minutes, because it was that game management immediately after half time that lets us down.

“We stopped exiting. When we start trying to play inside our own half we are inviting pressure on ourselves and you end up getting yourselves into situations where you are never out of the pressure cooker.

“You then cough ball up for whatever reason and it ends up in a try against you; whereas they should be a foot through it down the field to allow us to play in safer areas. We did it in the first half, but not when we came out after half time.

“We have just got to keep working, there’s no magic wand to wave, we have to keep working hard, we need to get some more boys fit and we have to stick our collective shoulders behind the wheel to make sure we get enough points to stay in the division.”

Referee: Llyr ApGeraint-Roberts

Attendance: 481

Yellow Card: Mills (Plymouth)

Titans: Leake (T), Boxhall (T), Poole (T), Cooke (T), Hollingsworth (3C, 2P)

Plymouth Albion: Britton (T), Tuima (T), Kelly (T), Cornish (T), Mills (T), Eastgate (5C, 1P) 

Titans: 15 Tom Bacon, 14 Jamie Cooke, 13 Tom Bullough, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Dan Leake (Dever 33), 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Toby Williams, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Newborn 40), 3 Will Dennis, 4 Kieran Frost, 5 Elliott Ward (Preston-Routledge 53), 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Lewis Wilson, 8 Anthony Maka. 

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 James Armitage, 18 Dan Preston-Routledge, 19 Alfie North, 20 Connor Dever.

Plymouth Albion: 15 Connor Eastgate, 14 Shea Cornish (Ingoldsby74), 13 Dean Squire, 12 Javiah Pohe (Powell 78), 11 Alex Ducker, 10 Sam Morley, 9 Joe Snow, 1 Koree Britton, 2 James Salter, 3 Jack Higgins, 4 John Kelly, 5 Lewis Pearson, 6 Dan Swain (Collier 68), 7 George Mills, 8 Ruis Tuima.

Replacements: 16 Peter Ingoldsby, 17 Alex Smith, 18 Cameron Setter, 19 Dan Collier, 20 Dan Powell.

Sale FC 47 Titans 7

Rotherham Titans endured a bad day at the office, crashing to their heaviest defeat of the season as Sale FC ran in 7 tries to run away 47-7 winners on one of the heaviest pitches Titans are likely to play on this term.

The result leaves Rotherham 9 points adrift of safety and their nearest rivals Birmingham Moseley, who visit Clifton Lane next month, in what promises to be a vitally important game.

In the meantime, as the squad breaks up for the Christmas holidays, this final game of 2019 will be one they’ll want to forget about quickly.

Right from the start when Rotherham conceded in the second minute through former Titan Fergus Mulchrone, the writing was on the wall. Three further first half tries followed to send Titans in at the break 28-0 down.

The second half was better for the South Yorkshire side, but nothing to boast about as they conceded another three tries.

Titans only points of the game came at the end as centre Harry Dunne intercepted before running in to dot down under the sticks.

Commenting post game a visibly disappointed Matt Smith explained, “I thought we let ourselves down massively! Once again we’ve had a great training week and it’s come to the game and we’ve just not put anything on the pitch that we’ve done in the week.

“At times we just had brain explosions, people not sticking to what we want them to do and then just the amount of errors in numerous different positions.

“Whether that be a line out throw or a call, whether it’s being offside in midfield for no reason and under no pressure or whether it be in attack when we’ve actually got a bit of pressure on them and then we try doing it on our own and get turned over. We are just killing ourselves.

“In the first half all their tries came from everything that we did wrong; Sale didn’t have to do anything to get them and that’s where we are as a group at the moment.

“This is a good league and when you’re making as many errors as we are, you don’t deserve to win a game of rugby.”

Referee: Llyr ApGeraint-Roberts

Attendance: 729

Yellow Card: Chris Johnson (Sale FC)

Titans: Dunne (T), Dever (1C)

Sale FC: Brady (2T), Mulchrone (T), Bingham (T), Talaese (T), Longmore (T), Barron (T), Johnson (7C)

Titans: 15 Sam Allan, 14 Connor Field, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Ben Robbins, 10 Morgan Bunting (Boxhall 49), 9 Connor Dever, 1 Toby Williams, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Jones 56), 3 Reece Ward (Dennis 30), 4 Dan Preston-Routledge (Frost h-t), 5 Will Hughes (North h-t), 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Keifer Laxton, 8 Anthony Maka. 

Replacements: 16 Ianto Jones, 17 Will Dennis, 18 Kieran Frost, 19 Alfie North, 20 Sam Boxhall.

Sale FC: 15 Tom Brady, 14 Anthony Bingham, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Johnny Leota (Rawcliffe 51), 11 Patrick Ah Van (Bradley 64), 10 Chris Johnson, 9 Matt Bradley (Calle Rivas 50), 1 Dan Birchall (Pope 41), 2 Ollie Longmore (Birchall 66), 3 Matt Talaese (Matthews 32) (Talaese 66), 4 Rhys Davies (Gray 61), 5 Nick Gray (Priestley-Nangle 41), 6 Jake Barron, 7 Andrew Hughes (Capt.), 8 Jarad Williams.

Replacements: 16 Jake Pope, 17 Dan Matthews, 18 Stone Priestley-Nangle, 19 Jonty Rawcliffe, 20 Emiliano Calle Rivas.

Photo: Gareth Lyons

Titans 20 Canterbury 19

Rotherham Titans dramatically snatched victory in the 8th minute of injury time, as fly half Morgan Bunting kept his nerve to slot over a penalty kick to seal a 20-19 win over Canterbury, on a cold afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans’ points came way of two tries from number 8 Anthony Maka and one from full back Sam Allan; whilst Morgan Bunting added 5 points from the tee.

The victory was a crucial one for the South Yorkshire side as they reduced their arrears in the relegation zone from 12 to 8 points at the half way point of the season.

Titans’ victory will have boosted confidence within the ranks and they will now travel to Sale FC this weekend looking to build on their success as they attempt to move closer to safety in National 1.

The game itself was an evenly balanced affair with both sides enjoying periods of dominance; although it took until the end of the first quarter for the scoreboard to click into life.

When it did however it was in Canterbury’s favour as the visitor’s second rower Alex Thompson used his strength and power to barge his way over the line following a series of pick and goes.

Titans soon responded to level matters though, as their own powerhouse Anthony Maka dotted down from the tail of a maul following a powerful drive from the pack.

Buoyed by this Rotherham found another level and looked sharp and threatening with ball in hand; their reward for their speed of play came just after the half hour mark when the ball was spread right for Sam Allan to join the line and dive over for Titans second try.

Canterbury had lots of possession towards the end of the half, but Titans line speed and determination in defence meant they would go in at the break 12-7 to the good.

Rotherham extended their advantage to 17-7 early in the second half when from a line out close to the line Anthony Maka peeled off the back of the drive to bulldoze his way over for his second try and Titans third.

Shortly after Titans almost had the bonus point try when Connor Field broke from inside his own half and made good ground before finding Connor Dever.

The scrum half chipped over the top of the onrushing defence, but disappointingly for Rotherham the ball just ran out of play before full back Sam Allan could touch it down,

Incredibly however, within 10 minutes of this Canterbury crossed the line twice to score through half back Dan Smart and a second try for Alex Thompson to give the visitors a surprising 19-17 edge.

Much of the final quarter was controlled by Canterbury, with Rotherham having to work their socks off to keep them out – but this they did.

As the game went deep into injury time and with the visitors pressing on the edge of Titans 22, Kieran Frost spotted the ball loose at the back of the ruck.

The tall second rower pounced quickly to collect and make his way downfield. The ensuing phases of play resulted in Rotherham being awarded a penalty in front of the sticks.

With the final kick of the match Morgan Bunting calmly slotted over to give his side a much needed victory.

Commenting post-game a relieved Martin Jenkinson explained, “Games turn on the bounce of the ball and seasons can turn on small margins and small issues, but today was all about the result first and foremost.

“The run we’ve been on hasn’t been great and confidence has been low, but all that really mattered today was to get the win and we didn’t care how we got it.

“When you are losing week on week and you’ve not got enough players to do what you want to do in training it’s hard.

“We’ve got that win now and we’ve crossed the line; now we’ve got to use the win as a springboard to get back up that table.

“They say losing is habitual but winning is habitual as well and hopefully we can now go on a run.

“Today, mercifully, at the end we got the kick to get the win. Up until the mid-point in the second half we were the better team and then it went from us.

“The TMO would say their first try was dropped over the line. Their second try was soft; we were setting up the ruck and they realised the ball was on the line and they scored.

“With those soft tries we could have given the game away; fortunately we clawed back into it and got the win.”

Referee: Tim Allatt

Attendance: 512

Yellow Card: Thompson (Canterbury), Bunting (Titans)

Titans: Maka (2T), Allan (T), Bunting (C, P)

Canterbury: Thompson (2T), Smart (T), Best (2C)

Titans: 15 Sam Allan (Field 78), 14 Dan Leake, 13 Connor Field (Cooke 72), 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Ben Robbins, 10 Morgan Bunting, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Toby Williams, 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Reece Ward (Nearchou 68), 4 Dan Preston-Routledge, 5 Will Hughes (Frost 40), 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Keifer Laxton (North 63), 8 Anthony Maka. 

Replacements: 16 Zac Nearchou, 17 Will Dennis, 18 Kieran Frost, 19 Alfie North, 20 Jamie Cooke.

Canterbury: 15 Will Waddington, 14 Ricky Mackintosh (Capt.) (Corcoran 70), 13 Sam Sterling, 12 Tom Best, 11 Jonathan Murray, 10 Charlie Kingsman, 9 Dan Smart, 1 Jamie Dever, 2 Gene Syminton (King 35), 3 Alex Wake-Smith (Young 70), 4 Royce Cadman, 5 Alex Thompson, 6 Jamie Stephens, 7 Jack Rouse, 8 Tyler Oliver.

Replacements: 16 Dwayne Corcoran, 17 Tristan King, 18 Will Young, 19 Tom Williams, 20 Matt Corker.

Old Elthamians 46 Titans 18

Rotherham Titans put in a Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde performance as they lost their way in a dysfunctional second half which saw them crash to 46-18 defeat to Old Elthamians.

As good as Rotherham were in the first half – and they were very good at times – their second half performance was enigmatically poor.

The first 40 minutes saw Rotherham put in one of their better performances of recent times; their energy and intensity levels were super high and the hosts struggled to cope with the Titans “in the face” approach.

Such was their first half superiority, the South Yorkshire side went in at half time leading 18-8 and deservedly so.

Good tries from hooker Jack Bergmanas and second rower Will Hughes capped off dominant periods of play for Rotherham.

OE’s first half points came via a penalty from ex-Titan Ollie Bryant and a try in the seventh minute of injury time from back rower Harry Ledger.

How different things may have turned out if Titans could have held out at this point and gone in at the break 18-3 up will never be known.

However, what followed in the second period could not have been envisaged at half time.

From the second half restart Rotherham dropped the ball; the resulting phases saw OE’s go over through centre George Eastwell.

You could almost sense the shift in momentum at this juncture. With every drop of confidence that left Titans, Old Elthamians picked it up and added it to their game.

What followed was a disaster for Rotherham as the home side ran in a further five tries through full back Louis Brown, centre George Eastwell, replacement back Alex Brown, winger Alex Goble and replacement scrum half Rhys Morgan.

The capitulation will be a concern to all involved at Clifton Lane and with the visit of Canterbury this weekend to Yorkshire, it is imperative that Rotherham put in an 80 minute performance.

Commenting after the game, Titans DOR, Martin Jenkinson, said, “As we’ve seen in the last two weeks, when we get enough people fit we can compete with the top-end sides. At the moment however, the problem is that we are only competing for periods in the game.

“I think anybody would say that the first 40 minutes from Rotherham was a good 40 minutes of rugby and worthy of being at the top-end of the division.

“However, the second half was really disappointing and as often the case turned on one or two little things.

“We drop a ball from the kick-off at the start of the second half, we fall off a tackle in the centres and before you know it they’ve score and score again and then the whole thing gathers a pace.

“All we can do is work; we have to continue to work hard and work hard on our fitness which is getting better. We’ve got to work on our mental attitude, which is also getting better and we’ve got to get there.

“We have another huge game at home next week against Canterbury, to say anything other would be wrong, people can see the league table.

“I’m not going to say we have to win, but really our situation would be greatly enhanced if we could get a win.”

Referee: Charlie Gayther

Attendance: 205

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Bergmanas (T), Hughes (T), Bunting (1P), Hollingsworth (1P, 1C)

Old Elthamians: Eastwell (2T), L. Brown (1T), Ledger (T), A. Brown (1T), Goble (T), Morgan (T), Bryant (1P, 4C)

Titans: 15 Tom Bacon, 14 Dan Leake, 13 Jamie Cooke (Hollingsworth 7) (Hughes 66), 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Ben Robbins, 10 Morgan Bunting, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Toby Williams (Bergmanas 76), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Defelitto 60), 3 Will Dennis (Reece Ward 49), 4 Dan Preston-Routledge, 5 Will Hughes (Elliott Ward 60), 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Keifer Laxton, 8 Anthony Maka (Waddington 43).

Replacements: 16 Agustin Defelitto, 17 Reece Ward, 18 Elliott Ward, 19 Ben Waddington, 20 Sam Hollingsworth.

Old Elthamians: 15 Louis Brown, 14 Bryan Hotston (Alex Brown 55), 13 Marc Koteczky, 12 George Eastwell (Capt.), 11 Alex Goble, 10 Ollie Bryant, 9 Ollie Claxton (Morgan 56), 1 Cam Holenstein (Concu 40), 2 Nathan Morris, 3 Stefan North (Hay 40), 4 Perry Parker (McGeekie 47), 5 Adam Batt, 6 Harry Ledger (Parker 66), 7 Jared Saunders, 8 Mike Kovacic.

Replacements: 16 Austin Hay, 17 Tom Concu, 18 Dom McGeekie, 19 Rhys Morgan, 20 Alex Brown.

Blackheath 33 Titans 17

Rotherham Titans put in a much improved performance before going down 33-17 to high flyers Blackheath on a dark and dreary winters afternoon at Well Hall.

Despite the loss, which was their fourth in succession, Titans can take plenty of positives from a performance that pushed a good top-end side all the way.

Rotherham will however be frustrated with themselves that the occasional errors that are in their game at the moment resurfaced, and it was again either a poor decision here or a poor execution there which ultimately cost them a crucial victory at Blackheath.

The effort, determination and intensity was there in abundance and when the silly errors are put to bed, the victories will no doubt follow.

Blackheath’s opening score inside the first 10 minutes came about when a Titans 22 drop out went horribly wrong. The ensuing phases resulted in winger Jake Lloyd crossing the whitewash.

Six minutes later, from being deep inside the oppositions 22, Rotherham allowed the home side out, conceded a penalty from which the home side crashed over through a catch and drive from hooker Mike Perks. Suddenly Titans were 14-0 down and looking in deep trouble.

However, rather than taking the easy way out and rolling over away from home, Rotherham “bit down on the gum-shield” and mounted an enormously creditable comeback.

Before the first quarter elapsed Titans got themselves on the board.

From a line-out close to the line they drove up to the line, before spinning the ball out wide to winger Ben Robbins who finished off neatly in the corner. Hollingsworth’s conversion from the touchline was expertly nudged over.

Boosted by their success Rotherham impressed as they took the game to Blackheath, forcing them backwards with good pace and intensity about their work.

On the stroke of half time Titans reduced their arrears further when Hollingsworth added a 3-pointer from the tee, to send his side in at the break trailing 14-10.

The second half began well for the South Yorkshire side as their new-found energy and enthusiasm meant Blackheath had to defend with full vigour and hopes were high in the Rotherham camp of an unexpected victory.

However, the game changed one minute either side of the hour mark, when the home side ran in two converted tries from hooker Perks and scrum half Jack Daly to give the hosts a 26-10 advantage.

Despite the wind being knocked out of their sails Rotherham regrouped and showed great character to fight back and take the game to Blackheath.

They were rewarded for their endeavours eight minutes from time when following a terrific period of forward pressure close to the line the ball was spun out to Morgan Bunting who in turn found a pass to Sam Hollingsworth for him to race around to score.

However, at the death the home side had the final say when winger Jake Lloyd raced through for his second and Blackheath’s fifth try of the match.

Post-game, despite suffering another defeat, Titans Director of Rugby, Martin Jenkinson, was bullish in his assessment, “It’s no secret we’ve been in a dark place in recent weeks and we are still struggling to get players fit, particularly in the front row, but I think we made a big stride forward today.

“The boys stayed in the arm wrestle, we took a good side the full distance and the score line if anything flatters Blackheath.

“I am positive and these boys have got to be positive; I’ve just said to them that I’ve seen the first stride today for a side getting out of the trough.

“If we continue to work hard in training and if we keep the energy levels up, I firmly believe we will climb up this table and I’m certain of that.

“We are doing a lot of things right; some things this year have conspired against us, but you just have to get over that and crack on because all sides will have their ups and downs in sport.

“Next week we will travel to Old Elthamians for the win, and I’m convinced we are capable of achieving that.”

Referee: Alan Chandrachud

Attendance: 327

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Robins (T), Hollingsworth (T, 2C, P)

Blackheath: Lloyd (2T), Perks (2T), Daly (T), Cooke (4C)

Titans: 15 Sam Hollingsworth, 14 Dan Leake (Bacon 52), 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Tom Bullough (Laxton 68), 11 Ben Robbins, 10 Morgan Bunting, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Toby Williams, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Defelitto 60), 3 Will Dennis (Armitage 72), 4 Elliott Ward, 5 Will Hughes (North 60), 6 Lewis Wilson, 7 Keifer Laxton (Waddington 59), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Agustin Defelitto, 17 James Armitage, 18 Alfie North, 19 Ben Waddington, 20 Tom Bacon.

Blackheath: 15 Nick Foster (Ransom 54), 14 Jake Lloyd, 13 Alex Pickersgill (Staff 60), 12 Markus Burcham (Capt), 11 Craig Dowsett, 10 Mark Cooke, 9 Jack Daly (Foster 68), 1 Tom Williams, 2 Mike Perks (Fry 63), 3 Danny Herriott (Seward 41), 4 Jamie Ure, 5 Tom Stradwick, 6 Tom Baldwin, 7 Josh Poole (Owen 60), 8 Tom Burns.

Replacements: 16 Harry Fry, 17 Harry Seward, 18 Freddie Owen, 19 Ben Ransom, 20 Henry Staff.

Titans 7 Cinderford 30

Rotherham Titans suffered a bad day at the office crashing to a fourth successive home defeat as a dominant Cinderford side ran out 30-7 winners at a bleak and wintery Clifton Lane.

The loss leaves Titans 11 points adrift of safety in the relegation zone and a quick upturn in fortunes is now essential if their ambition of staying in National 1 is to be achieved.

The game itself started well for the South Yorkshire side as they looked bright and full of enthusiasm from the off and when captain Zak Poole crashed over on 8 minutes it was no more than the Titans deserved.

However, the momentum of the game soon shifted as the visitors dominance, particularly at scrum time, laid a foundation for three first half tries from number 8 Harry Hone, hooker Nathan Taylor and winger Ed Bogue.

The latter try was a bitter disappointment for Rotherham as it came from a loss line out on the stroke of half time when they were trailing by just 6 points. Instead, the wingers try saw Cinderford go in at the break with a lead of 20-7.

The second half began in similar fashion to how the first had ended, with the South West side in the ascendancy in most aspects of the game.

The match was effectively sealed around the hour mark when replacement flanker Matt Gilbert crossed the whitewash for his side bonus point try.

To their credit Rotherham never gave up and indeed spent the majority of the final quarter inside the Cinderford half in pursuit of some consolation. Unfortunately for them they were unable to cross the line and the visitor’s ran out worthy winners.

A disappointed Matt Smith commenting afterwards said, “It was a tough afternoon for our boys; Cinderford were quality up front and we struggled with that which was disappointing, and as a forwards coach it hurts even more.

“We had a scrum five metres out and we got turned over on our own ball; if we score there we’re back in the game.

“Then there was a set piece close to our line; we mess up a line out due to someone missing a lift and they end up scoring and that’s 14 points right there.

“When things are not going your way all these things seem to escalate and as a result the confidence goes and it’s always difficult when that happens. Everyone is hurting and everyone is trying their best to put things right, but it’s not going to get fixed overnight.

“I thought in the first ten minutes when we scored we looked really good; I also thought we looked good in the final 15 minutes, the lads found a lot of energy in the final quarter which I couldn’t understand, which maybe suggest it’s a mental thing.

“But once again you need to have that platform that comes off the scrum to allow you to get field position and attack teams and obviously we didn’t have that today.”

Referee: Ben Rayner

Attendance: 471

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Poole (T), Hollingsworth (1C)

Cinderford: Hone (T), Taylor (T), Bogue (T), Gilbert (T), Butler (2P, 2C)

Titans: 15 Sam Hollingsworth, 14 Dan Leake, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Tom Bullough, 11 Ben Robbins, 10 Morgan Bunting (Allan 64), 9 Connor Dever, 1 Toby Williams, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Defelitto 69), 3 Will Dennis (Nearchou 60), 4 Dan Preston-Routledge (Wilson 77), 5 Will Hughes (Ward 48), 6 Lewis Wilson (North 64), 7 Keifer Laxton, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Agustin Defelitto, 17 Zac Nearchou, 18 Elliott Ward, 19 Alfie North, 20 Sam Allan.

Cinderford: 15 Ed Sheldon (Pointon 29), 14 Sam Smith, 13 Terence Babarinsa (Mansfield 55), 12 Jack Hayes (Capt) (Babarinsa 69), 11 Ed Bogue, 10 James Butler, 9 Jimmy Williams, 1 Ollie Dawe (Brockett 60), 2 Nathan Taylor (Shields 67) (Lane 69), 3 Tim Brockett (Elliot 40), 4 Jack Shields (Bennett 55), 5 Dale Lemon, 6 Matt Lane (Gilbert 64), 7 Joe Mullis, 8 Harry Hone.

Replacements: 16 James Elliot, 17 Matt Gilbert, 18 Matt Bennett, 19 Dan Pointon, 20 Will Mansfield.

Bishop’s Stortford 30 Titans 14

Rotherham Titans faded badly late on, as they crashed to a disappointing 30-14 defeat to Bishop’s Stortford on a gloomy afternoon at Silver Leys.

For much of the contest Rotherham held their own against a lively Stortford side that looked to attack at every opportunity through their speedy backline.

Titans had grafted hard to position themselves 14-13 ahead with just 5 minutes plus injury time remaining.

However, at that point, the hosts lock forward James Thacker crashed over for a converted try.

What was probably more disappointing for the South Yorkshire side was how easily Stortford controlled the final few minutes to knock over a penalty and another converted try from Thacker to deny Rotherham anything from the game.

Titans had deservedly gone in at the break 7-3 to the good after Elliott Ward scored a driving maul try just before half time, which wiped out Stortford’s lead from a Brad Burr penalty on 20 minutes.

Rotherham’s scrum had been pretty dominant throughout the half and indeed the match, but surprisingly wasn’t rewarded often enough with what they thought were penalty outcomes.

Titans increased their advantage early in the second half through their dominant number 8 Anthony Maka, as he crashed over following more powerful work from the Titans pack. Morgan Bunting successfully added the conversion to extend his sides lead to 14-3.

At this stage Rotherham looked good value for their lead.

However, shortly after the hosts full back Nick Hankin crossed the whitewash and scrum half Tom Banks firstly converted and then added a 3-pointer from the tee to make it a 1-point game.

Rotherham regrouped and steadied the ship and indeed had moments themselves where opportunities were created to add to their tally. However, a stern defence and a lack of accuracy ultimately meant they wouldn’t.

Titans will want to quickly forget the final minutes of a game where they conceded 17 points and regroup for another tough one on Saturday against Cinderford at Clifton Lane.

Commenting post-match a disappointed Anthony Posa said, “The first half, whilst not perfect, went pretty well and the lead we took in at the break was fully deserved.

At half time we addressed a few key areas where we believed we could improve further and to be fair to the boys they did well in the first 15 minutes of the second half, they were very good, we were in control of the game and we deserved our 14-3 lead.

“However, Bishop’s like to play quickly from transition-ball and we needed to be sharper in preventing them doing that; but we weren’t and the result really hurts because I don’t think that was a game we should have lost.

“We weren’t good enough in the last quarter of the game; whether that was a fitness issue or not being mentally tough enough I’m not sure, but we gave them too many piggy-backs at the end and that hurt us badly.

“Moving forwards we have to keep working hard, the injuries we have aren’t helping, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse because I believe we should have won the game.”

Referee: Jonathan Cook

Attendance: 425

Yellow Card: Leake & Frost (Titans)

Titans: Ward (T). Maka (T), Bunting (2C)

Bishop’s Stortford: Thacker (2T), Hankin (T), Burr (P), Banks (3C, 2P)

Titans: 15 Tom Bacon, 14 Dan Leake, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne (Hollingsworth 50), 11 Ben Robbins, 10 Morgan Bunting (Dunne 60), 9 Connor Dever, 1 Harry Whitfield (Williams 10), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 27), 3 Will Dennis, 4 Dan Preston-Routledge, 5 Elliott Ward (Frost 50), 6 Lewis Wilson (Laxton 64), 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Anthony Maka.

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Toby Williams, 18 Kieran Frost, 19 Keifer Laxton, 20 Sam Hollingsworth.

Bishop’s Stortford: 15 Nick Hankin, 14 Rob Duff, 13 Sam Winter (Capt.), 12 James Ayrton, 11 Mike Ayrton, 10 Brad Burr (Stannard 50), 9 Tom Banks, 1 Will Roberts, 2 Harrison King (Caulfield 60), 3 Ben Harrison-Price (McCrone 60), 4 James Thacker, 5 Tom Lewis, 6 James Apperley, 7 Baxter Wilson (Ball), 8 Charlie Kingham.

Replacements: 16 Declan Caulfield, 17 Tom McCrone, 18 Luis Ball, 19 Josh Stannard, 20 Jake Spivey.

Titans 16 Rams 28

Rotherham Titans raised their level from recent performances, but unfortunately came up against a very good side in Rams Rugby, as they crashed to a 28-16 defeat at Clifton Lane.

Titans were outscored by four tries to one, with the hosts sole touch down coming in the final play of the game from number 8 Anthony Maka, via a catch and drive close to the Rams line.

Sam Hollingsworth added three penalty kicks and Morgan Bunting impressed with a conversion from the touchline at the death.

On a very heavy Clifton Lane surface, due to the torrential rain suffered in South Yorkshire during the previous 48 hours, it was the hosts who started the brighter.

Indeed Titans’ fly half Sam Hollingsworth nudged his side ahead on 2 minutes with the first of his three first half penalties.

However, the visitors, who came into the game sitting fourth in the table, looked to be a class act from early on.

Full back, Will Partington, dual-registered from Premiership side London Irish and former London Scottish centre Connor Hayhow in particular looked dangerous every time they had ball in hand.

Indeed, the latter got Rams on the board on 13 minutes with the first of his three tries, whilst the former expertly converted the first of what would be four conversions.

On 20 minutes a rampant Rams side extended their advantage when winger Conor Corrigan ran through to score.

Titans were made to work extremely hard in defence and to their credit this they did to great effect. Time and again Rams battered the gain line and time and again the Rotherham defence not only held firm, but drove the opposition backwards.

Coming out for the second half trailing 14-9 and attacking the clubhouse end of the ground, Rotherham had high hopes they could cause an upset against a top-end side.

However, either side of the hour mark, man-of-the-match centre Connor Hayhow ruthlessly finished off moves to add two further tries to wrap up the game.

Rotherham to their credit never stopped grafting and in the final play of the match picked up a consolation try, when number 8 Anthony Maka dotted down from a catch and drive close to the line.

Whilst naturally disappointed with the loss, Titans Director of Rugby, Martin Jenkinson, saw some green shoots of encouragement, “I hate losing, but it was a bit easier to take today as I was really impressed with Rams. They demonstrated in clinical fashion that our sport is a team game.

“They did the simple things right, they made very few mistakes and all their scores came after they calmly waited for us to make mistakes, which gave them field position, which in turn led to them scoring four tries.

“With regards to our performance; I think we made a step up on where we have been of late and our efforts today would have beaten some sides which we have lost to this season.

“Our performance was undoubtedly better than it has been in recent weeks; unfortunately we came up against a very good Rams side. I thought our scrum and line out performed better, but I thought we just looked a bit blunt at times in the final third.

“But we are hopeful that we have turned a corner and from here on in we aim to continue with our improvements.

“However, no side is going to roll over for you and we as a group have to keep working hard and keep battling so we gain enough wins to stay in this division.”

Referee: Joe James

Attendance: 483

Yellow Card: Frost (Titans)

Titans: Maka (T), Hollingsworth (3P), Bunting (1C)

Rams: Hayhow (3T), Corrigan (T), Partington (4C)

Titans: 15 Tom Bacon, 14 Dan Leake (Ward 52), 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Tom Bullough, 11 Ben Robbins, 10 Sam Hollingsworth (Leake 73), 9 Connor Dever, 1 Toby Williams (Whitfield h-t), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 65), 3 Will Dennis, 4 Dan Preston-Routledge, 5 Kieran Frost (Bunting 65), 6 Lewis Wilson (Laxton 65), 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Anthony Maka.

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Harry Whitfield, 18 Elliott Ward, 19 Keifer Laxton, 20 Morgan Bunting.

Rams: 15 Will Partington, 14 Henry Bird (Rossiter 34), 13 Keiran Leicester, 12 Connor Hayhow, 11 Conor Corrigan, 10 Andrew Humberstone, 9 Ollie Cole (Moates 65), 1 Niall Kidd, 2 Ben Henderson (Moffitt 69), 3 James Baker (Zeiss 65), 4 Oliver Taylor, 5 Jamie Guttridge, 6 Louis Wolf (Collis 54), 7 Tom Vooght, 8 Robbie Stapley (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Ollie Moffitt, 17 Cameron Zeiss, 18 Josh Collis, 19 Jack Rossiter, 20 Jack Moates.

Hull Ionians 20 Titans 20

Rotherham Titans put in a disappointing performance in wet, dismal conditions to draw an uninspired game 20-20 against Yorkshire rivals Hull Ionians at Brantingham Park.

The result could have been even worse for the South Yorkshire side had Ionians fly half Max Titchener not missed two penalties in the final three minutes of the match.

The conditions were same for both teams; however, the sodden ground made running rugby difficult to execute and certainly favoured the host’s forward-orientated style better.

This was aptly demonstrated as early as the 9th minute, when Ionians laid down a marker with a powerful scrum close to the Titans line. Rotherham were forced to halt the scrum illegally allowing referee James O'Brien to award a penalty try to Hull.

Stung into action Titans played the majority of the rest of the half deep inside Ionians territory. However, a combination of stout defending from Hull and poor execution and a lack of control from Rotherham, saw the visitors only add a 3-pointer from the boot of Morgan Bunting for their efforts.

Indeed to add to Rotherham’s disappointment, on the stroke of half time the hosts added their own 3-pointer from Max Titchener to send his side in at the break 10-3 to the good.

Titans stormed out of the blocks for the second period and looked full of energy and intensity. Their renewed enthusiasm was reward three minutes in when following a number of phases which included backs and forwards, the ball arrived with Zak Poole who powered over from close range.

However, despite Rotherham’s better start to the half, there was a stubbornness and determination from the hosts which meant they were not about to rollover.

On 53 minutes Titchener knocked over a penalty to increase Ionians advantage to 5 points.

Then just after the hour mark a piece of individual brilliance from Titans winger Dan Leake lit up what had been a damp squib of a match.

Following a series of neat passes along the backline the ball arrived with Leake on the right wing, he in turn cleverly chipped over the top and won the foot race to collect in his stride to dot down near the sticks. Sam Hollingsworth’s conversion gave Rotherham the lead for the first time in the game at 15-13.

Titans lead however would last just five minutes! From a line out close to the Rotherham line Ionians pack of forwards drove with real menace, and from a Titans perspective, all too easily over the try-line for their second try of the game. Titchener added the extras to nose his side 20-15 ahead.

Seven minutes from time and a quick tap penalty from Zak Poole caught the host’s cold. The ball was then spread infield before an interchange of passes from Tom Bacon and Jude Williams resulted in the former diving over in the corner for a terrific score which levelled the game at 20 apiece.

Unfortunately in the tricky conditions, the touchline conversion agonisingly came up short for Sam Hollingsworth and the Titans.

Commenting post-match a disappointed Anthony Posa reflected, “I think we left 3 points out there today and we are very frustrated with that; the amount of piggy backs we gave them hurt us a lot. We had a certain game plan and what is really frustrating is the few times that we stuck to our game plan we scored some great tries.

“Credit to Ionians though as their scrum and driving maul was strong, but we are hurting at the moment with numerous guys out injured and in particular at tight head prop. We had to ask a teenager (Zac Nearchou) from Wasps to come in and do us a job and he made a good fist of it and we are very grateful to him and Wasps for that.

“However, the nature of National 1 rugby is that if you have a weakness it will be exploited and both Ionians tries came from the scrum or the maul.

“It’s hard to win any game when your scrum is going backwards and even harder when it’s wet and pouring down with rain. You need a platform to launch from and when your scrum isn’t functioning you just don’t get that.

“But we will fix it and we’ll keep working hard on the training paddock. Hopefully next week we will have some guys coming back into contention that have a lot of experience at this level. “

Referee: James O'Brien

Attendance: 411

Yellow Card: Makin & Laverick (Hull Ionians)

Titans: Poole (T), Leak (T), Bacon (T), Bunting (1P), Hollingsworth (1C)

Hull Ionians: Penalty Try, Stephenson (T), Titchener (2P, 1C)

Titans: 15 Tom Bacon, 14 Dan Leake, 13 Connor Field (Hollingsworth 35), 12 Tom Bullough, 11 Jude Williams, 10 Morgan Bunting, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Toby Williams (Whitfield 66), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Harry Whitfield (Nearchou 32), 4 Elliott Ward (Preston-Routledge 50), 5 Kieran Frost, 6 Lewis Wilson (North 72), 7 Keifer Laxton, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Agustin Defelitto, 17 Zac Nearchou, 18 Dan Preston-Routledge, 19 Alfie North, 20 Sam Hollingsworth.

Hull Ionians: 15 Luke Thundercliffe (Kerr 46), 14 Harrison Astley, 13 Billy Hardy, 12 James Tincknell, 11 Jack Colbourne, 10 Max Titchener, 9 Joe Green (Fummo 76), 1 David Laverick (Edward Brown 66), 2 Ben Stephenson (Adam Brown 68), 3 Benjamin Bell (Peace 60), 4 Joe Makin, 5 Tom Peters, 6 George Mewburn, 7 James Sanderson, 8 Edward Brown (Carlile 60).

Replacements: 16 Ben Carlile, 17 Josh Peace, 18 Adam Brown, 19 Zach Kerr, 20 Marco Fummo.

Titans 6 Richmond 23

Rotherham Titans suffered a disappointing 23-6 home defeat to Richmond at a wet and windy Clifton Lane.

Richmond, who were relegated from the Championship last term, managed the tricky conditions much the better and executed their simple game plan to great effect.

The London based outfit outscored the Titans by two tries to none, to maintain their position at the top of the league.

Rotherham now need to regroup ahead of their big local derby next weekend against Hull Ionians.

The wet conditions and heavy pitch probably suited the Richmond style more than it did Rotherham’s. However, as the game wore on the greater physicality shown by the league leaders ultimately saw them home to a comfortable victory.

Richmond’s experienced pack of forwards had the edge throughout, particularly so after opening the scoring on 12 minutes through loose head prop Alex Banfield, following a series of pick and drives inside the Titans 22. Full back Rob Kirby converted the dot down and added two further penalties during the first half.

Rotherham did have some bright moments in the first period, but all too often at crucial times poor decision making or poor execution, frustratingly let them down.

With the final play of the half however Rotherham put a spell of pressure together through their pack which had the visitors scrambling around in defence at sixes and sevens and although unable to cross the whitewash Rotherham did get on the board through a Sam Hollingsworth penalty.

Coming out for the second half Titans hopes were high that a comeback was on the cards, particularly with the gusty breeze now in their favour.

Those hopes received a further boost just five minutes in when another 3-pointer from Hollingsworth reduced Rotherham’s arrears to 13-6.

Unfortunately for the South Yorkshire side, that was about as good as it would get!

Last season’s Championship side showed their experience by slowly exerting control at the set piece and the breakdown, which in turn set the platform for what was to follow.

Richmond extended their lead on 50 minutes when a powerful catch and drive was finished off by hooker Ross Grimstone and converted by Kirby. The latter added a penalty two minutes later to stretch his side’s advantage to 23-6.

Although Titans would not score again, they do deserve some credit as they ensured neither would their opponents.

Commenting post-match a disappointed joint head coach, Matt Smith, explained, “It was a tough game against the league leaders and one of the key aspects for me was the amount of mistakes that we made compared to them. I think we both had similar game plans, but Richmond executed theirs better than we did.

“To be fair Richmond didn’t make too many errors; I didn’t think they did much, but they didn’t need to because our errors gave them enough opportunities.

“I thought at times we got ourselves into the right areas; in the first half we had a driving maul that got held up, but we came away with 3 points which was positive.

“In the second half on the couple of occasions that we got into their 22 we couldn’t turn that pressure into points and that’s probably the most disappointing aspect that we couldn’t turn our positive moments into points.

“The difference was when Richmond got into our 22 they did come away with points.

“We are very frustrated with how we performed, hopefully the boys can learn from today’s experience, how to see games out and how to suffocate teams, because that’s what Richmond did really well today.”

Referee: Charlie Gayther  

Attendance: 517

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Hollingsworth (2P)

Richmond: Banfield (T), Grimstone (T), Kirby (3P, 2C)

Titans: 15 George Castledine (Bunting 50), 14 Tom Bacon, 13 Connor Field, 12 Tom Bullough, 11 Ben Robbins, 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Toby Williams, 2 Agustin Defelitto (Bergmanas 25), 3 Will Dennis (Whitfield 15), 4 Dan Preston-Routledge (Waddington 66), 5 Kieran Frost, 6 Alfie North (Ward 50), 7 Lewis Wilson, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Harry Whitfield, 18 Elliott Ward, 19 Ben Waddington, 20 Morgan Bunting.

Richmond: 15 Rob Kirby (Dennett 73), 14 Dan Kelly, 13 Cameron Mitchell (Capt.), 12 Giles Bromley-Martin, 11 Hamish Graham, 10 Tom Hodgson, 9 Jamie Gibbs (Dabell 64), 1 Alex Banfield (Green 72), 2 Ross Grimstone (Gibbings 69), 3 Ken Dowding, 4 Byron Hodge, 5 Max Crawford, 6 Jake Parker (Nixon 73), 7 Toby Saysell, 8 Jesse Liston.

Replacements: 16 Luke Green, 17 Charlie Gibbings, 18 Ryan Nixon, 19 Toby Dabell, 20 Lewis Dennett.

Chinnor 24 Titans 26

Rotherham Titans put in an outstanding second half defensive shift to earn a hard-fought, but deserved 26-24 victory over a very good Chinnor outfit at Kingsey Road.

Rotherham have suffered three heartbreaking defeats this term by a single score, so it was sweet for them this time to get on the right end of a narrow result.

However, following a bright start from the hosts, which saw them cross the whitewash twice inside the first 16 minutes, the portents looked gloomy for the South Yorkshire outfit, although a 3-pointer from Sam Hollingsworth kept his side within touching distance at 10-3 and then 10-6 before the half hour mark with another successful effort from the tee.

Chinnor to be fair though did look the better side at this point and the Thame based outfit looked dangerous in attack, with former Titan Caolan Ryan particularly threatening with ball in hand.

There was a sense of inevitability the hosts would score next and this they did shortly after when centre Jason Worrall ran in for his side’s third try. Laurence May converted to extend Chinnor’s advantage to 17-6 and there was a concern the game could be over before half time.

Sensationally however, Titans responded just before the break with two brilliant tries in the space of a couple of minutes.

Firstly from a line out move off the top, the ball was fed out wide to winger Tom Bacon who showed a good turn of foot to race in for a fine score in the corner.

The Bacon got himself involved again almost immediately as he made good ground as he broke through, before drawing a tackle to send in Connor Field to score under the posts. Hollingsworth’s conversion from in front of the sticks incredibly gave Rotherham a 18-17 lead.

Disappointingly for them however in the final play of the half and following some intense pressure from the hosts, Jason Worrall ran in for his second and Chinnor’s fourth try of the game.

Titans came out for the second period with good intensity about them and they look far more menacing than they had previously.

Their lively opening efforts saw them pin Chinnor deep inside their own 22, before Rotherham fly half Sam Hollingsworth expertly put in a cross-field kick which resulted in Tom Bacon snaffling the ball to dot down for his second try of the game.

On 47 minutes Titans took the lead for the second time when Hollingsworth again proved successful from the tee, as he nosed his side 26-24 ahead.

Remarkably with over 30 minutes remaining there would be no further score!

The defensive effort which followed from Rotherham was of outstanding quality and physicality and it was during this period that the Titans boys earned the right to win this highly competitive encounter.

Speaking on the pitch afterwards, Titans Director of Rugby, Martin Jenkinson, explained, “This result is massively satisfying because these lads have put in a heck of a lot of work; at times the bounce of the ball has not gone with us, and you need that, and we’ve finished just on the wrong side.

“I’ve just been talking to the boys and the word I’ve used more than any other is character!

“That second half was all about character; our defensive sets were absolutely top drawer, we got off the line and we went and smashed them.

“They are a top-end team and a good side and we’ve come here and done the job in a very professional manner and we are all delighted with an absolutely outstanding win.

“I think today has shown that Rotherham are capable of getting results against the very best teams in this division. The standard in National 1 goes up year on year and we regard our squad and systems as good as anyone’s in the division and I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t get more than our fair share of victories.

“It was a massive all round team effort, but I have to mention Toby Williams. Toby is a man of very few words, so when he does speak people start listening and he had some words to say at half time which completely transformed the game for us.

“On top of that we have to remember he did 80 minutes, Harry Newborn very nearly did 80 minutes and Harry Whitfield went on at tight head, even though he’s a loose head.

“We also have to mention Tom Bacon for a bit of brilliance towards the end of the first half when he completely opened up the opposition to put Connor Field in for a terrific try.

“But this is a 20 man game and it was a 20 man performance.”

Referee: Harry Walbaum

Attendance: 512

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Bacon (2T), Field (T), Hollingsworth (3P, C)

Chinnor: Worrall (2T), Treviranus (T), Yawayawa (T), May (2C)

Titans: 15 George Castledine, 14 Ben Robbins, 13 Connor Field, 12 Tom Bullough, 11 Tom Bacon, 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Toby Williams, 2 Harry Newborn (Defelitto 76), 3 Will Dennis (Whitfield 54), 4 Dan Preston-Routledge, 5 Kieran Frost, 6 Lewis Wilson, 7 Keifer Laxton (Waddington 54), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Harry Whitfield, 17 Agustin Defelitto, 18 Alfie North, 19 Ben Waddington, 20 Morgan Bunting.

Chinnor: 15 Caolan Ryan (Laverick 40), 14 Samu Yawayawa, 13 Jason Worrall, 12 Danny Barnes, 11 Josh Hodson, 10 Laurence May, 9 Jake Ashby, 1 Tom Fidler (Southworth 48), 2 Nick Selway, 3 Josh McNulty, 4 Ben Thomas (Gray 70), 5 Cameron Gray (Ehizode 55), 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Matt Marley (Manning 60), 8 Willie Ryan.

Replacements: 16 Charles Robinson, 17 Dan Southworth, 18 Ehize Ehizode, 19 Ben Manning, 20 Pete Laverick.

Titans 13 Darlington MP 18

Rotherham Titans were once again on the wrong side of a single score defeat as Darlington centre Ben Dixon went over in the final play of the game to inflict a 18-13 loss on the Titans.

The visitors outscored Rotherham by two tries to one in a very close and highly physical encounter. The defeat leaves Titans with just 2 wins out of the first 6 games.

However, the South Yorkshire side can take some comfort from the fact they have been extremely competitive in all the games to date this season; they now need to make sure they are the ones getting on the right side of these close games.

Rotherham enjoyed the better first 40 minutes, although the game was a tight affair throughout with both sides putting in a tremendous effort in defence.

Following a Warren Seals penalty towards the end of the first quarter Titans rallied well and deservedly took the lead on the half hour mark when referee James Clarke awarded the hosts a penalty try after a high tackle close to the line by Euan McKirdy prevented a try; McKirdy received a yellow card for his misdemeanour.

Titans extended their advantage to 10-3 four minutes later when fly half Sam Hollingsworth expertly converted a mid-range penalty from in front of the sticks.

Back came Darlington however and a massive forward effort put Rotherham under huge pressure inside their own 22 for what seemed like an age. Massive credit at this point must go the hosts as time and again they smashed the visitors backwards, before eventually clearing their lines.

However, in the final play of the half, in the eight minute of stoppage time Park’s number 8 Oliver Hodgson came on to the ball to run in to score near the posts. Seals’ conversion sent the sides in at the break at 10 apiece.

The second period followed the pattern of the first, in that both sides showed huge determination in their work, and all too often the defences cancelled out the others efforts.

Eventually 12 minutes from time Titans nosed ahead when Hollingsworth calmly struck a 3-pointer following Park’s lack of discipline at the breakdown.

On the 80 minute mark however Titans indiscretion at the breakdown resulted in Seals levelling the game at 13 all after he knocked over a well-taken penalty from around 40 metres.

A draw would probably have been a fair result, but at this moment in time Rotherham are just not getting what they deserve.

In the final play of the game former Titan Callum Irvine collected the ball just outside the 22 and proceeded to dance his way pass 3 defenders before offloading to centre Ben Dixon who dived over to break Titans hearts and seal the game.

A disappointed Titans Director of Rugby, Martin Jenkinson, reflected post-match, “I feel we are dying in games and again we are involved in a single score game where we have come out on the wrong side. At the minute we just haven’t got enough in the tank to get us to the right side of the single score games.

“I think Darlington probably deserved to edge the game; equally it could have gone either way and it was disappointing that it was a glaring error and then a lack of fitness at the end that allowed Darlington to get the final score.

“We have now got to regroup and to do some hard work; we identified our problems a couple of weeks ago and we haven’t sorted them in a fortnight and so we’ve got to keep working until we get it right.

“There was some very good defence from the boys, but defending is massively tiring and we’re doing too much of it.

“When we’re putting our kicks in and when we are in possession of the ball we’ve got to be doing more with it, so that we’re not back on our 22 doing another defensive set again.

“At certain times we didn’t get off the line quick enough, which in turn gave them the room to play and that is disappointing; we can do no more than regroup, work hard and get back.”

Referee: James Clarke

Attendance: 617

Yellow Card: McKirdy (Darlington)

Titans: Penalty Try, Hollingsworth (2P)

Darlington Mowden Park: Hodgson (T), Dixon (T), Seals (2P, C)

Titans: 15 Tom Bacon, 14 Ben Robbins, 13 Jamie Cooke (Bunting 3), 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Connor Field, 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Toby Williams (Whitfield 39), 2 Harry Newborn, 3 Reece Ward (Dennis 5), 4 Elliott Ward (Preston-Routledge 32), 5 Lewis Wilson (Ward 64), 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Keifer Laxton (North 54), 8 Anthony Maka (Wilson 76).

Replacements: 16 Harry Whitfield, 17 Will Dennis, 18 Dan Preston-Routledge, 19 Alfie North, 20 Morgan Bunting.

Darlington Mowden Park: 15 Callum Irvine, 14 Brandon Asher-Wood, 13 Oliver Walker (Moloney 64), 12 Ben Dixon, 11 Callum Mackenzie, 10 Warren Seals, 9 Euan McKirdy, 1 Conrad Cade (Barron 56), 2 Ralph Appleby (Duffy 48), 3 Ignas Darkintis, 4 Max Davies, 5 Dave Fisher, 6 Dan Grange (Marshall 54), 7 George Stokes, 8 Oliver Hodgson (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Alfie Barron, 17 Joe Duffy, 18 Talite Vaioleti, 19 Tom Marshall, 20 Aedan Moloney.

Birmingham Moseley 15 Titans 11

Rotherham Titans away day blues continued with a narrow 15-11 loss at Birmingham Moseley, leaving the South Yorkshire side still without an away victory in three attempts this season.

The contest was a tale of two halves, as it tends to be at Moseley, with the famous slope at Billesley Common often dictating who wins the half and it did again on this occasion.

Titans went in at the break 11-3 to the good after Lewis Wilson had crashed over after just two minutes and former Moseley fly half Sam Hollingsworth hit two successful penalties. His counterpart, Ben Penfold registered a 3-pointer for the hosts.

At halftime, maybe inside the Titans camp there was a belief that it was ‘easy’ and just running out for the second forty was all that was required.

If so, a rude awakening lurked around the corner, as the hosts used the slope expertly to work themselves firstly back into the game and then ahead.

By the hour mark second rower Aaron Croft and centre Oliver Morris both crossed the whitewash to give Moseley the lead.

Late on in the game Rotherham had their moments close to the line, but unfortunately they were unable to capitalise on them and as a result had to settle for a losing bonus point.

Commenting post-match, Titans Director of Rugby, Martin Jenkinson, said, “It was a difficult contest, Moseley have started the season well and it’s always difficult to take them on here on their own patch.

“It’s a strange set of emotions really; because on the one hand I feel like how did we not win that game; equally I could say how did we manage to get a point.

“Some of the play in the second half seemed to be a comedy of errors from both teams and games often turn on a series of incidents.

“The biggest incident in the game was the scrummage in the corner where we were pressing their line and then in one passage of play it’s a last-ditch tackle to save a try on our line and then their tails are up again.

“On a different day it could have been a different result, but we must start winning these close games.

“There are so many close games in this division and so many are decided by a single score and the art is to be on the right side of that single score.”

Referee: Llyr ApGeraint-Roberts

Attendance: 775

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Wilson (T), Hollingsworth (2P)

Birmingham Moseley: Crofts (T), Morris (T), Palmer (P, C)

Titans: 15 Sam Allan (Bunting 25), 14 Ben Robbins, 13 Tom Williams, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Dan Leake, 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Sam Boxhall (Wilson 80), 1 Harry Whitfield (Toby Williams 29) (Whitfield 41) (Toby Williams 58), 2 Harry Newborn, 3 Reece Ward (Dennis 29) (Ward 41) (Dennis 58), 4 Elliott Ward (Preston-Routledge 60), 5 Kieran Frost, 6 Lewis Wilson (Laxton 61), 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Anthony Maka.

Replacements: 16 Toby Williams, 17 Will Dennis, 18 Dan Preston-Routledge, 19 Keifer Laxton, 20 Morgan Bunting.

Birmingham Moseley: 15 Cliffie Hodgson, 14 Aquile Smith, 13 Oliver Morris, 12 Kieran Joyce, 11 Mason Tonks, 10 Ben Palmer, 9 Jack Jolly (Arr 41), 1 Joe Foreman (Priest 66), 2 Peter Austin (Tanner 58), 3 Osman Dimen (Hunt 58), 4 Aaron Crofts (Dawes 50), 5 Danny Wright, 6 Michael Stephens, 7 Morgan Dawes (Monks 41) (Austin 80), 8 Buster Lawrence.

Replacements: 16 Ethan Priest, 17 Rhodri Tanner, 18 Alex Hunt, 19 Morgan Monks, 20 Johnny Arr.

Titans 22 Cambridge 17

Rotherham Titans returned to winning ways as they were made to battle hard for their 22-17 win over Cambridge at a blustery Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored the opposition by three tries to two, with Anthony Maka, Dan Leake and Zak Poole all crossing the whitewash in the first period.

Disappointingly, Rotherham were unable to add to their try tally as they lost the second half 3-0, but ultimately they secured an important win against a good team.

Titans came racing out of the blocks and took the lead as early as the third minute, when a catch and drive close to the visitors line was finished off by number 8 Anthony Maka, to give the home side a perfect start.

Paradoxically however, despite Rotherham enjoying lots of good spells in a highly competitive game, it was Cambridge went ahead, after executing their limited opportunities in clinical fashion to score two tries in the space of 8 minutes, through livewire scrum half Finlay Creighton.

On 18 minutes following a period of forward pressure, Creighton dummied and then sniped over from close range. Then on 26 minutes, after flanker Alex Rayment made a beak following some sloppy defending at the breakdown, Creighton was on hand again to run in under the sticks.

Rotherham needed to respond quickly and this they did a minute later when Anthony Maka collected a clearance kick just inside his own half. Maka then galloped downfield and traded passes with full back Sam Allan before sending in Dan Leake in the left hand corner for a fine try.

Morgan Bunting, on for Sam Hollingsworth who’d took a slight knock earlier in the game, nosed Titans 15-14 ahead on the half hour mark with a straightforward penalty from in front of the posts.

Rotherham then extended their advantage 3 minutes later when Captain Zak Poole collected on the 10 metre line and following a show and go charged home with good pace and strength for an excellent score. Bunting’s conversion made it 22-14.

The second half didn’t go according to what Titans would have had in mind at the break. Indeed the only score of the second period came in injury time when Cambridge centre, Ben Penfold knocked over a penalty to give the visitors a well-deserved losing bonus point.

Nevertheless, Titans will reflect on this one as a good win against a very capable side.

Commenting post-match, Titans Director of Rugby, Martin Jenkinson, said, “It was a hard-fought win; there were two distinct halves of rugby which were very different from each other. I thought we played some outstanding rugby in the first half and Harry Whitfield was devastating early on.

“We went in at 22-14 and it never crossed any of our minds that we would be nilled in the second half. However, the important thing is we have won two at home, but we need to be getting maximum points at home.

“It’s generally pleasing, but it’s tinged with we probably let ourselves down a bit with not getting that fourth try and the bonus point.

“We got ourselves on a couple of occasions into good positions, but then the line-out broke down.

“We had a couple of overthrows in the wrong areas and that’s your opportunities gone and against good sides like Cambridge you don’t get that many opportunities. So you have to take them and that was the story of the second half.

“However, the boys’ defensive effort was absolutely herculean, it was massive, but there was too much of it. We were defending because when we got ourselves into position we gave the ball away too cheaply and then they were back on to us again.

“So whilst our defence was superb, we don’t want to be doing so much of it; we want to be at the other end of the park.”

Referee: Ben Rayner

Attendance: 572

Yellow Card: Hutchinson (Cambridge)

Titans: Maka (T), Leake (T), Poole (T), Bunting (2C, P)

Cambridge: Creighton (2T), Penfold (2C, P)

Titans: 15 Sam Allan, 14 Ben Robbins, 13 Tom Williams (Hollingsworth 55), 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Dan Leake, 10 Sam Hollingsworth (Bunting 25), 9 Connor Dever, 1 Harry Whitfield (Toby Williams 31), 2 Harry Newborn, 3 Reece Ward (Dennis 47), 4 Elliott Ward (Laxton 67), 5 Kieran Frost (Preston-Routledge 61), 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Keifer Laxton (Wilson 55), 8 Anthony Maka.

Replacements: 16 Toby Williams, 17 Will Dennis, 18 Dan Preston-Routledge, 19 Lewis Wilson, 20 Morgan Bunting.

Cambridge: 15 Andrew Henderson (Capt.), 14 James Martin (Rawlings 31), 13 Ned Brown, 12 Benjamin Penfold, 11 Matthew Hema, 10 Joe Tarrant (Rayner 65), 9 Finlay Creighton (Adamson 61), 1 David Langley (Rukhadze 31), 2 Michael Mayhew, 3 Henry Peck (Langley 45) (Peck 59), 4 Kailus Hutchinson (Conquest 45), 5 Gareth Baxter, 6 Ciaran Moore (Rayment 61), 7 Alex Rayment (Martin 38), 8 Ben Adams.

Replacements: 16 Ramaz Rukhadze, 17 Robert Conquest, 18 Louis Rawlings, 19 Rhodri Adamson, 20 Lawrence Rayner.

Plymouth Albion 33 Titans 27

Rotherham Titans were agonisingly denied a famous win at Brickfields in the 84th minute when Plymouth Albion flanker George Mills barged over in the corner.

Titans had worked miracles to claw their way back into a contest that appeared to be a lost cause as early as the 25th minute as the hosts raced into a 19-0 lead, following a brace of tries from winger Josh Skelcey and one from blind side flanker Sam Daly.

Titans would have been disappointed with their lacklustre start and the portents for them were as dark as the clouds which loitered around Brickfields for much of the afternoon, before they eventually burst on full time.

However, a chink of light appeared on the half hour mark as Titans never-say-die attitude was rewarded when skipper Zak Poole showed terrific determination to stretch his way over following a period of forward pressure close to the Albion line.

The half time oranges would have tasted a little less sour on the back of Poole’s try as Titans went in at the break trailing 19-7.

Following a re-grouping at the interval Rotherham came out for the second period looking significantly sharper than they did at the outset.

On 46 minutes they nibbled into Albion lead when fly half Sam Hollingsworth slotted a straightforward penalty over from in front of the sticks.

Then a minute later Hollingsworth was in the thick of the action again; this time a superb deft chip over the top saw him collect his own kick, before slipping a neat pass to scrum half Connor Dever who showed terrific pace to race in from 40 metres. Hollingsworth conversion drew Titans to within two points at 19-17.

Disappointingly Rotherham ‘knocked off’ shortly afterwards which allowed the hosts to press deep inside their 22 and following a series of pick and goes, Albion fly half Dan Mugford collected to cross the whitewash.

Titans continued to look lively however and there was a threat about their work going forwards. Hollingsworth added another 3-pointer on the hour mark to reduce Rotherham’s arrears to 26-20.

Inside the final five minutes Rotherham thought they had their third try of the game to reduce their deficit to 1 point with the conversion to come, when Zak Poole charged over after collecting a loose ball. However, the officials deemed he knocked on over the line!

Two minutes from time a rampant Titans pack stole Albion ball at scrum time through number 8 Anthony Maka; the big back-rower showed huge determination and great strength to power over from the base to make it a one point game with the conversion to come. Replacement fly half Morgan Bunting stepped up to the plate to calmly slot over the extras and give Rotherham the lead.

However, with the penultimate play of the match and following a series of Albion pick and goes in the 84th minute, George Mills crossed to seal a barnstormer of a game for Plymouth.

A disappointed Anthony Posa reflected post-match, “Sport can be very cruel, but as I’ve just said to the boys now, we were not good enough in the first half, especially on defence where we got out played physically.

“However, at half time we addressed that and we took a bit of ownership and I’m really proud of the boys’ efforts in the second half. To come back from 19-0 down, then 19-7 down at half time and to put us in a position to win the game was outstanding.

“There were a couple of 50-50 calls that didn’t go our way. The yellow card hurt us and I’m sure if we’d had a TMO there would have been a different outcome because he’s attempted to catch it, but sometimes decisions go for you and sometimes they don’t.

“But we put ourselves in a position to suffer from those calls. We just have to be a bit more switched on and not give piggy-backs, because every score they got today was from a mistake by us. So there’s a way we can correct it without pointing the finger at anyone else.

“But I was extremely proud of the second half performance from the boys and it was a case of what might have been. It’s just gut-wrenching to lose after we put ourselves in a position to win it after being so far behind in the game.

“In the cold light of day we’ll take some consolation in taking a point from this one, as we know how difficult it is to come down here and get the win. But we can’t have patches like we had today in the opening 20 minutes where we were poor, because once you give any team in this division a 19 point start it’s a long way back.”

Referee: Ben Russell

Attendance: 964

Yellow Card: Hollingsworth (Titans)

Titans: Poole (T), Dever (T), Maka (T), Hollingsworth (2C, 2P), Bunting (1C)

Plymouth Albion: Skelcey (2T), Daly (T), Mills (T), Mugford (T, 4C)

Titans: 15 Tom Bacon, 14 Ben Robbins, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne (Bunting 60), 11 Dan Leake, 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Toby Williams (Whitfield 52), 2 Harry Newborn, 3 Will Dennis (R Ward 60), 4 Elliott Ward (Preston-Routledge 79), 5 Dan Preston-Routledge (Wilson 65), 6 Lewis Wilson (North 36), 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Anthony Maka.

Replacements: 16 Agustin Defelitto, 17 Harry Whitfield, 18 Reece Ward, 19 Alfie North, 20 Morgan Bunting.

Plymouth Albion: 15 Connor Eastgate (Squire 75), 14 Josh Skelcey, 13 Dan Powell, 12 Javiah Pohe, 11 Alex Ducker, 10 Dan Mugford, 9 Pierre Thomspon (Setter 47), 1 Luke Chapman (Higgins 52), 2 Max Norey (Salter 59), 3 Dan Pullinger (Chapman 68) (Ingoldsby 79), 4 Dan Collier, 5 John Kelly, 6 Sam Daly, 7 George Mills, 8 Herbie Stupple (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Jamie Salter, 17 Pete Ingoldsby, 18 Cam Setter, 19 Jack Higgins, 20 Dean Squire.

Titans 31 Sale FC 20

Rotherham Titans got their home National 1 campaign off to a winning start, as they impressed with a 31-20 victory over Sale FC at Clifton Lane on a glorious late-summers afternoon.

Titans outscored their Cheshire-based opponents by four tries to two, with a brace of touch downs in each half. Winger Ben Robins and fly half Sam Hollingsworth dotted down in the opening 40, with Harry Newborn and Anthony Maka crossing the whitewash in the second period.

Rotherham however didn’t have things all their own way and to be fair to Sale it was them who came out firing from the off, as they looked dangerous with their big ball-carriers making some hefty yards.

During this opening 10 minutes salvo Titans were made to graft hard and it was their steely determination to keep the visitors out which impressed.

Their resilience in defence paid off in the twelfth minute when a loose pass from Sale was hacked downfield by Titans winger Ben Robbins, he interchanged with Harry Dunne before diving over for an exciting score.

The excitement levels rose again for the hosts on 22 minutes when half back Sam Hollingsworth collected a clearing kick on the halfway line and proceeded to race past six defenders to score a scintillating try under the sticks.

Sale’s only points in the first period came via the boot of fly half Chris Johnson with two accurate kicks from the tee.

Rotherham continued to impress after the break and effectively wrapped-up the match by the hour mark following two further tries, this time from the pack.

On 49 minutes Hooker Harry Newborn crashed over from the tail of a catch and drive from five metres out before impressive back rower Anthony Maka barged over after a sustained period of forward pressure on the visitor’s line.

Disappointingly for the hosts a lapse in concentration at the death saw the visitors run in two consolation tries from full back Jonty Rawcliffe and fly half Chris Johnson.

Nevertheless Rotherham can be very pleased with their efforts and will now travel to Plymouth next week with confidence levels in a good place.

Commenting afterwards, Titans’ Martin Jenkinson said, “We are delighted with the result, we still have work-ons and there will always be those, but the adage today is that it’s not the side which does all the good work that wins the game; it’s the side which makes the fewest mistakes and the error count for us today was low and in our favour.

“It was pleasing to get the pushover try from the maul, because without that in the modern game you’re never really going to accomplish much and we saw some individual brilliance with a couple of the other tries.

“I think we have to acknowledge Harry Newborn and Anthony Maka’s performances. The carries from Anthony Maka were crucial, he made a lot of the hard yards and Harry Newborn was work-rate was exceptional and the accolades go out to those two.

“Hopefully every week from now on we are going to see a step-up as the side comes together. We are a young side and we want to continue to work on our fitness, physicality and enthusiasm.”

Referee: Andrew Jackson

Attendance: 687

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Robbins (T), Newborn (T), Maka (T), Hollingsworth (T, 4C, P)

Sale FC: Rawcliffe (T), Johnson (T, 2C, 2P)

Titans: 15 Sam Allan, 14 Ben Robbins, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Connor Field (Bunting 64), 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Toby Williams (Whitfield 60), 2 Harry Newborn (Defelitto 67), 3 Will Dennis (Ward 64), 4 Elliott Ward, 5 Kieran Frost, 6 Lewis Wilson, 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Anthony Maka (Laxton 67).

Replacements: 16 Agustin Defelitto, 17 Harry Whitfield, 18 Reece Ward, 19 Keifer Laxton, 20 Morgan Bunting.

Sale FC: 15 Jonty Rawcliffe, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Johnny Leota (Toa 50), 11 Patrick Ah Van (Moorhouse 59), 10 Chris Johnson, 9 Matthew Bradley, 1 Jake Pope (Matthews 59), 2 Juan Rivas (Longmore 20), 3 Mathew Talaese (Pope 64), 4 William Davies, 5 Matt Postlethwaite, 6 Jake Barron (Priestley-Nangle 64), 7 Andrew Hughes, 8 Jarad Williams.

Replacements: 16 Ollie Longmore, 17 Dan Matthews, 18 Stone Priestley-Nangle, 19 Jeremy Toa, 20 Jack Moorhouse.