Fylde 21 Titans 17

Rotherham Titans suffered their first defeat of the season, as they went down 21-17 to Fylde on a windy afternoon at Woodlands.

In a highly competitive game which could have gone either way, Titans will rue not finishing off their opportunities, but can take some solace in picking up the losing bonus point to keep themselves in the hunt at the sharp end of the table.

Despite winning the second half and outscoring their hosts by 3 tries to 2, Rotherham left the North West hugely disappointed at losing their unbeaten record for the season.

After scoring their third try late on Rotherham hoped to snatch a late win; unfortunately for them referee Ben Rayner had announced that time was up 30 seconds into injury time; no doubt to the relief of the dignitaries and supporters on the balcony overlooking the clubhouse end of the ground.

In a first half that saw Rotherham enjoy large periods of territory and possession in good areas of the field, it was in fact Fylde who scored the only points with two penalties from fly half Greg Smith; his first came as early as the 3rd minute and his second came with the last kick of the half in the fourth minute of injury time.

Roth thought they had scored twice in the opening period, as in the 6th minute hooker Harry Newborn broke off a maul to charge over the line, but unfortunately for him when referee Rayner got there he deemed Fylde had held the ball up, as he did in the 38th minute when Zak Poole crashed over after a dominant Roth scrum turned over possession.

Fylde extended their advantage early in the second half with Smith’s third penalty.

However, Roth finally got on the board in the 47th minute when centre Harry Dunne finished off a nice try following good work in the build up from Callum Bustin and Jamie Cooke. Matt Minogue’s conversion effort narrowly missed the left upright.

Then in a 10 minute spell which ultimately decided the game, Fylde crossed the whitewash twice through scrum half Matt Sturgess and winger Henry Hadfield to give them a healthy 21-5 lead.

Titans battled back on 70 minutes when number 8 Callum Bustin powered over from a catch and drive close to the line and he did so again in the final play of the match to earn his side a losing bonus point.

Roth will no doubt feel, that whilst they lost to a very good side, they let this one slip away and there’s little doubt too that the South Yorkshire side will now dust themselves down and be ready to go again next week against third placed side Stourbridge.

Speaking afterwards Titans’ Adam Byron said:

“Fylde is a really tough place to come, they have a big wide pitch and that’s not something we are used to compared to Clifton Lane; but the frustration is I felt we came across and put in a performance.

“We gave ourselves opportunities and we put ourselves in good positions, but we weren’t clinical enough when we needed to be. So it almost feels like the game was won, but in those final 5 metres we didn’t come away with the points and the frustration is the game was there to be won and we didn’t grasp that opportunity.

“I’m also frustrated because I feel with this squad of players we can win every game we are involved with, whether that is at home or away and that has to be our mentality from here on in.

“For the majority of the game we did everything right; we played in the right areas, we’ve won the penalties and put it into the corner, we just weren’t clinical enough in that area today.

“Maybe we’ve relied on that area too much and we need to look at other areas of our game as well, but I felt we did enough to win the game, we just didn’t finish it off today.”

Referee: Ben Rayner

Attendance: 800

Yellow Card: Garrod (Fylde)

Titans: Bustin (2T), Dunne (T), Minogue (1C)

Fylde: Sturgess (T), Hadfield (T), Smith (3P, C)

Titans: 15 Matt Minogue, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Harry Newborn, 27 Rikki Stout, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope (Williams 54), 7 Zak Poole (Capt), 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 19 Tomos Richardson, 18 Alastair Donkor, 28 Matti Williams, 20 Jonny West.

Fylde: 15 Tom Carleton, 14 Henry Hadfield, 13 Joe Bedlow, 12 Scott Rawlings (Forster 72), 11 Tom Grimes (Lanigan 31), 10 Greg Smith, 9 Matt Sturgess, 1 Sam Kyle-Clay (Barrow 41), 16 Ben Gregory (Capt.), 3 Corey Bowker (Ashcroft 41), 4 Olli Parkinson, 5 Matt Garrod, 6 Harlan Corrie, 7 Ben O’Ryan (Partington 62), 8 David Fairbrother.

Replacements: 17 Zack Barrow, 18 Matt Ashcroft, 23 Charlie Partington, 20 Tom Forster, 19 Adam Lanigan.

Titans 59 Blaydon 7

Rotherham Titans returned to winning ways with an impressive nine try to one victory over a willing Blaydon side on a cool afternoon at Clifton Lane, as they ran out 59-7 winners.

The victory sees Titans remain unbeaten in the league to maintain their title aspirations, as they now look towards next week’s tough away challenge at Fylde.

The match itself saw Titans dominate in most aspects as they scored five first half tries and another four in the second period.

Hooker Harry Newborn dotted down for Titans first after good work in the build up from Joe Carlisle and Matt Smith.

Roth’s second came after they pushed Blaydon off their own scrum inside the 22; scrum half Sam Boxhall was on hand to collect and he fed Zak Poole who in turn sent in winger Connor Field to score in the corner.

To be fair, Blaydon never stopped working and they always looked to play rugby whenever they had possession.

On 27 minutes they scored their only points of the game with a really nice try when fly half Jonny Dowell fed a pass back inside to Alex Charlton, the big second rower proceeded to gallop in from over 60 metres, as the Roth defence opened up.

Normal service was quickly resumed however, as just 4 minutes later Keifer Laxton crashed over for a try from a line out close to the line.

Titans fourth and fifth tries followed shortly afterwards as centre Lloyd Hayes exploited a gap in the Blaydon defence to cruise through and then Connor Field nipped in for his second in the corner as Lloyd Hayes and Matt Minogue combined to send him in.

The second half continued in the same manner and Titans next two tries followed quickly. This time Roth’s number 8 Callum Bustin scored a brace inside the opening 7 minutes.

His first was from close range after Zak Poole sent him in following turnover ball and the second saw him race in from 30 metres having collected a nice little pass from Theo Nwosu-Hope, before skilfully sidestepping the full back to dot down underneath the posts.

Titans’ penultimate try of the game came from Matti Williams; he raced in from 20 metres having received a pass from Matt Minogue. Williams still had work to do, but slick footwork and good strength enabled him to power over.

It was fitting that the final try of the game went to skipper Zak Poole; he rounded off an excellent personal and team performance, as he was on hand to finish off a cross-field move late on in the game.

Matt Minogue made a good contribution both in terms of playing at full back for the first time for a while and with the boot as he impressed with seven successful kicks at goal.

Titans will now prepare hard for what is sure to be a stiff challenge next time out away at third place Fylde.

Speaking on the pitch after the game Titans’ Adam Byron said:

“We are obviously very pleased and it’s nice to get nine tries on the board. It’s a difficult one because when you look at the table people may expect that kind of result, but that doesn’t just happen, the boys put a real shift in to make it happen.

“At times we had to put in some huge defensive sets, they literally ran it from everywhere and hats off to them for that approach, because they made us have to deal with something unexpected. We are used to teams tapping and going and playing quickly, but they literally ran it from everywhere.

“The boys stayed patient, we had to be organised and keep our width in defence whether that was on their five metre line or ours and the lads did that very well.

“Our work-ons this week were quite simple, we needed to make sure that we played our own game, played in the right areas and when we got into those areas to be clinical and that’s how it turned out.

“So we are where we want to be, we are still undefeated to this point and we go on the road next week knowing exactly what job needs to be done when we get to Fylde.”

Referee: Peter Connor

Attendance: 417

Yellow Card: Minogue (Titans)

Titans: Field (2T), Bustin (2T), Newborn (T), Laxton (T), Hayes (T), Williams (T), Poole (T), Minogue (7C)

Blaydon: Charlton (T), Dowell (1C)

Titans: 15 Matt Minogue, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes (Taylor 55), 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Sam Boxhall (West 47), 1 Charlie Capps (Quigley 59), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 47), 3 Colin Quigley (Donkor 40), 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 5 Matt Smith (Newborn 56), 6 Zak Poole (Capt), 7 Keifer Laxton (Williams 40), 8 Callum Bustin (Laxton 55).

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Matti Williams, 19 Lewis Taylor, 20 Jonny West.

Blaydon: 15 Jack Appleton (Horsfall 40), 14 James Cooney, 13 Dan Marshall (Capt.) (Mongan 57), 12 Alex Clark, 11 Jonny Ashman, 10 Jonny Dowell, 9 John Clarkson, 1 Alex Dodds (Winter 47), 2 Danny Gray (Chaplin 63), 3 Drew Thompson, 4 Liam Wright, 5 Alex Charlton, 6 Will Varley, 7 Ethan Hall-Lyon, 8 Ethan Clarke (Harrison 40).

Replacements: 16 Owen Chaplin, 17 Matthew Winter, 18 Sweed Harrison, 19 Nathan Horsfall, 20 Hugh Mongan.

Photo Credit: Steve Mettam

Bournville 17 Titans 17

Rotherham Titans were denied victory with a 95 metre interception try by centre Reikiti Maasi with 4 minutes remaining, which ensured this pulsating Nat 2 North contest finished tied at 17-17.

Titans had plenty of opportunities to keep their winning run going, but unfortunately for them weren’t able to take them on the day.

However, the South Yorkshire side can take some solace in maintaining their unbeaten status and keeping themselves involved in a tightly fought contest for promotion.

The game itself saw Roth get off to the worst possible start as Bournville winger Tom Burrows dotted down for a converted try after just 26 seconds, following a miss tackle and then a chip over the top which caught the visitors cold.

Shell-shocked Titans took a little bit of time to grow into the game, but this they did as they started to go through the gears.

On 11 minutes the scores were level when Keifer Laxton scored from the tail of a maul following a line out close to the line and Matt Minogue impressed with the extras.

Roth continued to have the lion’s share of both possession and territory; however, a combination of handling errors from them and tenacious defending from the host ensured the scores remained level until first half injury time, when Minogue tagged over a 3-pointer to send his side in for the oranges 10-7 to the good.

Nine minutes into the second period Titans extended their advantage when Theo Nwosu-Hope barged his way over the line following a catch and drive from a line out. Crucially, Minogue nailed the conversion from out wide.

At this point most in the ground would have expected Rotherham to go on and secure a bonus point win and to be fair there were plenty of opportunities created by them for that to have happened. However, Bournville defended for their lives and somehow managed to keep their line intact.

Four minutes from time as Roth pressed looking for their third try, a pass close to the line was picked off by centre Reikiti Maasi who proceeded to gallop 95 metres downfield to score under the posts. Mitch McGahan had the formality of converting from in front to level the scores.

There was still time enough left for Roth to manoeuvre themselves downfield to find a winning score, but typical of what had gone before they were unable to find their touch on what turned out to be a disappointing day for them.

Speaking on the field just after the full time whistle, Adam Byron said:

“We are frustrated; it’s not a nice place to be when you can see the boys putting absolutely everything in and really putting their bodies on the line and then to not quite get over the line at the end.

“We just need to be a little bit more composed, a bit more clinical and just have the understanding that if we are a bit more patient when we have the ball teams won’t be able to cope with us; but as I’ve said the effort from the lads was outstanding.

“It never ideal going behind after 26 seconds as that put you on the back foot immediately, but once we got to 17-7 we really should have built on that.

“It wasn’t great that on one occasion when we kicked for the corner it was kept in with a player off the field and then we had couple of drives close to the line where we would normally score and we just didn’t quite convert that pressure today.

“Then by not building on our score we allowed them back into the game, firstly with a 3-pointer and then at the end when we were on their line and they get an interception and go the full length of the field.

“These things can happen, but we need to make sure we have the cushion so if that happens it doesn’t affect the final result.”

Referee: James O’Brien

Attendance: 350

Yellow Card: Capps (Titans)

Titans: Laxton (T), Nwosu-Hope (T), Minogue (2C, P)

Bournville: Burrows (T), Maasi (T), McGahan (2C, P)

Titans: 15 Joe Carlisle, 14 George Tucker, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Matt Minogue, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 75), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 70), 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Harry Williams (Matti Williams 45) (Donkor 67), 7 Keifer Laxton, 8 Zak Poole (Capt).

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Matti Williams, 20 Oliver Fisher.

Bournville: 15 Owen Williams, 14 Tom Burrows, 13 Reikiti Maasi, 12 Max Craven, 11 Ethan Walker (Ho 51), 10 Mitch McGahan, 9 Rhys Harrhy, 1 James Burgoyne (McArthur 36) (Burgoyne 70), 2 James Weaver (Rudge 67), 3 Ryan Smeilus, 4 Fynlay Brown, 5 Tom Holliday (Roach 40), 6 Ashley Scriven, 7 Sam Montieri, 8 Callum Thompson.

Replacements: 16 Scott Rudge, 17 Archie McArthur, 18 William Roach, 19 Mark Coulson, 20 Michael Ho.

Photo Credit: Andrew McCumiskey

Titans 13 Sedgley Park 12

Rotherham Titans secured the narrowest of victories against second place side Sedgley Park as they ran out 13-12 winners in a very tense and edgy affair, on a cold and wet afternoon at Clifton lane.

In a tale of two halves Titans dominated the first 40 and went in at the break 13-0 up, but the visitors from the North West had the better of things in the second half.

Indeed, had Sedgley Park fly half Steve Collins managed to nail his conversion with the final kick of the game, he would have inflicted the first defeat of the season on the South Yorkshire side.

However, that was not meant to be and Rotherham remain unbeaten after 13 games and move up into second spot in the league, five points behind Hull, but with 2 games in hand.

The game itself, as expected, was an intensely-fought contest, with neither side giving quarter easily. Indeed the home side had to defend ferociously in the opening exchanges as the visitors laid siege deep inside their 22.

However, having successfully repelled Sedgley’s early onslaught Roth took hold of the game and enjoyed much of what was to follow in the half.

Roth’s first score didn’t arrive until the end of the first quarter, but it was one worth waiting for.

From halfway fly half Matt Minogue put in a lovely chip over the top for skipper Zak Poole to collect and make good ground into the 22, before he found Matt Challinor in support, who in turn shipped on to hooker Harry Newborn who jinked back inside the last defender to dot down under the sticks for a brilliant try. Minogue added the extras.

The second quarter saw Titans pretty much dominate all aspects of the match and although Matt Minogue added two penalties to give Roth a 13-0 advantage, the home side would have felt they should returned a higher points tally for their superiority.

Indeed the second half was a different affair altogether as Sedgley Park found some momentum and enjoyed some long periods of possession.

On 42 minutes Sedgley hooker Matt Gallagher finished off nicely next to the sticks following a good line break and fly half Steve Collins tagged over the extras to reduce Park’s arrears.

Titans did have their moments in the second half and opportunities arose to extend their advantage. Unfortunately for them a lost line-out on the Sedgley line and a kick to the corner which didn’t find touch were just two occasions Roth let slip, all of which left them with a nervy finish to try and navigate.

In the tenth minute of injury time and with the final play of the game Sedgley set up a driving maul and despite some heroic defending by the home side, hooker Matt Gallagher managed to squeeze over for a try to make it 13-12.

Up stepped Steve Collins to take the conversion from about 15 metres infield. Unfortunately for him and Sedgley, the ball just missed the right upright to leave him and his side devastated and give Roth the victory.

Both sides will feel they deserved the win and both sides can take pride in how they went about their business.

Speaking immediately after the game Titans’ Adam Byron said:

“I was pleased that we got over the line. I couldn’t have been happier with how the first half went, I thought we controlled the game really well and our game management was spot on in the first 40.

“That dropped off a little bit in the second half and I think we have to put our hands up and say we didn’t control the game as well in the second period.

“We let what is a very good side back into the match and we used our get out of jail free card right at the end with the missed conversion; but we’ll take the win all day long.

“The boys deserve a huge amount of credit for the shift they put in; our defensive effort was outstanding. We spoke beforehand about being willing to put bodies on the line and showing a big heart; and to a man that’s what they did.

“Another pleasing thing is Sedgley are one of the most organised attacking sides in the division and they only had two line breaks in the whole of the game. The lads kept their spacing’s really well and that paid dividends in the end.

“With all due respect to some other teams we have played, we have gone into those games looking to get 5 points. Today was a big game for us against one of the best sides in the division and one of our closest rivals and the aim was simply to try and get the win!

“So we are delighted we got that and also delighted that we have notched up another win against one of the top sides.

“That’s 13 games undefeated now and that requires a lot of effort from the boys, it means they have to be switched on every week; it’s a very good standard in this league and so to be still unbeaten at this stage means we have to give the boys a massive pat on the back.”

Referee: Tim Allatt

Attendance: 411

Yellow Card: Birtwell (Sedgley Park), Challinor (Titans)

Titans: Newborn (T). Minogue (2P, 1C)

Sedgley Park: Gallagher (2T), Collins (1C)

Titans: 15 George Tucker, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Tom Lewis, 10 Matt Minogue, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 74), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 59), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 63), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Harry Williams (M. Williams 51), 7 Keifer Laxton, 8 Zak Poole (Capt).

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Matti Williams, 20 Jonny West.

Sedgley Park: 15 Andy Riley, 14 Rhys Henderson, 13 Oliver Glasse, 12 Matt Riley (Capt.), 11 Jamie Harrison, 10 Steve Collins, 9 Danny Openshaw, 1 John Blanchard, 2 Matt Gallagher, 3 Ben Black, 4 Bob Birtwell, 5 Connor James (E. Crowe 63), 6 Mark Goodman, 7 Will Lees, 8 Tom Ailes (O. Crowe 34). 

Replacements: 16 Beltus Nonleh, 17 Cash Chilvers, 18 Oscar Crowe, 19 Cam Crampton, 20 Elliot Crowe.

Photo Credit: Rotherham Advertiser

Harrogate 10 Titans 26

Rotherham Titans we’re made to graft hard for their 26-10 win over a tenacious and resilient Harrogate outfit on a dark and wet afternoon at Rudding Lane.

Tries from Matt Minogue, Harry Newborn, Tom Lewis and in the eighth minute of injury time, Callum Bustin, ensured Roth returned home with a full allocation of points.

Following a prolific week of wet weather in North Yorkshire, the pitch was very much on the heavy side and both teams found it difficult to play much flowing rugby.

Nevertheless Rotherham settled into their task and looked threatening from the off. Unfortunately for them however a steady stream of errors prevented them from finishing off at critical moments.

Indeed it was the home side that kick-started the scoreboard on 9 minutes when scrum half Kit Keith knocked over a 3-pointer following an increasing number of penalties conceded by the Titans.

As the half hour mark approached and still trailing you could feel the frustration levels rising in the Titans camp.

However, the tension was somewhat lifted on 27 minutes when Matt Minogue was on hand to capitalise on a Harrogate error on the edge of their own 22. Minogue hacked on from a missed pass and charged through to dot down under the sticks; he then dusted himself down to knock over the extras.

Just before the break Roth doubled their tally when hooker Harry Newborn dotted down near the corner following a powerful drive from a line out. Minogue impressed with his conversion from out wide to send his side in at the break with a 14-3 lead.

Celebrating his birthday by scoring Titans third try was winger Tom Lewis.

Following some impressive work by the Roth pack play was taken deep inside the home 22, before scrum half Sam Boxhall collected and threw a long miss-pass to Lloyd Hayes who in turn drew the last defender before popping Lewis in for his try. Minogue narrowly missed the extras.

To their credit Harrogate never stopped in their efforts and on more than one occasion they caused Rotherham problems. Their work in particular at scrum time was impressive and they challenged Roth in that area like no other team this season.

Indeed the home side were rewarded for their endeavours on 53 minutes when hooker Steve Maycock scored following good work from his pack. Keith added the extras to reduce his side’s arrears to 19-10.

As the game went deep into injury time and with Harrogate closing in on the Titans line, not only did it look like Roth wouldn’t be getting a bonus point try, but if the hosts went over there was probably just enough time remaining to restart the game – and then who knows what!

However, brilliant work by Roth enabled them to turn over the ball and force a penalty. They then proceeded to take play deep into the Harrogate half, culminating with a line out 10 metres from the line.

From there and with the final play Rotherham worked the ball infield before finding number 8 Callum Bustin; he then showed terrific strength and determination to force his way over to secure the bonus point. Minogue tagged on the extras to finish things off.

Speaking immediately after the game Titans Adam Byron said:

“I think our first emotion having just come off the pitch is relief. Obviously we were dominant in terms of the score line and we were never in trouble of losing the game, but we really had to push right at the end to pick up the bonus point.

“I was frustrated some of the things we were trying to do didn’t come off as we’d liked and I was a bit frustrated with myself in terms of we’d prepared for perfect rugby in perfect conditions, when instead we need to be realistic of where we’re playing rugby at times and what the conditions are at this time of the year.

“Overall however I am just really proud of the boys; to actually get that turnover in extra time and then to make their way all the way down the field to get that bonus point try at the death.

“The lads had bucket loads of team spirit and endeavour today, the conditions were awful; it wasn’t a pleasant day to play rugby, the pitch was boggy due to all the rain they’ve had up here this week and for the lads to find that try at the end was very impressive, so a massive well done to them.

“You also have to acknowledge the Harrogate team, they worked really hard too, every time we tried to go around the corner often they were waiting for us. They defended really well and their set-piece was very solid. I was impressed by them and I think they will go on to beat some good sides here.”

Referee: George Jones

Attendance: 250

Yellow Card: Challinor (Titans)

Titans: Newborn (T), Lewis (T), Bustin (T), Minogue (T, 3C)

Harrogate: Maycock (T), Keith (C, P)

Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 Tom Lewis, 13 Mat Clark (West 75), 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Matt Minogue, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Alastair Donkor (Capps 58), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 50), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 58), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Keifer Laxton (Nwosu-Hope 50), 8 Callum Bustin.  

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Charlie Capps, 19 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 20 Jonny West.

Harrogate: 15 Dom Tydeman (Cooke 75), 14 Harry Barnard, 13 Jordan Cummins, 12 Jack Kennell, 11 Will Yates, 10 Phil Wickham, 9 Kit Keith, 1 Jacob Percival, 2 Steve Maycock (Baxter 53), 3 Tom Baxter (Dennis 33), 4 Fraser Kitching (G. Coser 65), 5 Sam Brady (Capt.), 6 Will Seymour (Thompson 41), 7 Martin Dodds, 8 Jonny Coser.

Replacements: 16 Will Dennis, 17 Tom Shrimpton, 18 Guy Coser, 19 Dec Thompson, 20 Danny Cooke.

Titans 26 Huddersfield 12

Rotherham Titans were made to graft hard for the full 80 minutes on an awful wet and windy afternoon at Clifton Lane, before ultimately sealing a deserved 26-12 win over their Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield RUFC.

Titans secured the much-needed bonus point to maintain their push for a top-end finish, with tries coming from Sam Boxhall, Matt Smith, Zak Poole and Callum Bustin, with Matt Minogue adding 6 points from the tee.

On a truly terrible afternoon weather-wise, the wind and rain dictated little rugby would be played and each team found it difficult to escape their own half when playing against the elements.

Rotherham had the benefit in the first period and made the most when after just 6 minutes scrum half Sam Boxhall sniped over near the posts, after good work from the pack took Roth up to the try line. Matt Minogue added the extras.

Despite being camped in their opponents half for much of the time, Roth had to wait until the 24th minute before adding to their tally, when second rower Matt Smith spotted a gap at the breakdown and proceeded to gallop in from around 20 metres to dot down under the posts for Minogue to nail the extras.

Eight minutes before the break and Roth had their third try when skipper Zak Poole touched down following a powerful drive from a line out. Minogue impressed with his conversion in the difficult conditions to give his side a 21-0 lead which they took into half time.

Roth expected a tough second half and Huddersfield ensured they wouldn’t be disappointed. Indeed the third quarter of the game saw Titans penned inside their own 22 for much of that period.

By the hour mark and whilst Roth had two men in the sin bin for various misdemeanours, the visitors crossed the whitewash twice through back rower Lewis Bradley and full back Tom Hodson, with Will Milner converting the latter to reduce his side’s arrears to 21-12.

It was time for steady nerves and for the experience Titans have in the squad to keep things calm and for clear thinking to take hold.

This was evident to see as Roth’s calm and patient approach manoeuvred them into great field position, which in effect allowed them to settle the game with 13 minutes remaining, when from a line out Callum Bustin dotted down in the far corner following another powerful drive from the pack.

Minogue missed the difficult conversion from out wide, but it mattered not as Roth secured the 26-12 bonus point win and maintained their unbeaten status after 11 games.

Post-match and speaking from the sanctuary of indoors, a soaked Adam Byron said:

“The weather was always going to have a heavy impact on the game; the wind was a little bit on and off in the first half when it was behind us, but it really turned against us in the second half when we had it in our faces.

“Coming away with a 21-0 lead and three tries at half time was important; but they certainly put us to task in the second half and they kept us down in our own 22 and put us under pressure for long periods and we had to put in some really good defensive sets and work hard to get out of there.

“We were really pleased that we came through and we managed to get the bonus point win with that fourth try in the second half and that’s what is all comes down to, getting the win and the bonus point is what really counts.

“I think what we have to accept is we’re going to get games like we did last week at Loughborough on an artificial surface where the game is free-running, but we are going to get games like this one, when the weather is against rugby, not just us and we have to adapt and play according to the conditions.

“Our defensive sets were outstanding; it was a little frustrating at times that we would put the hard yards in but the penalty count was starting to build up against us, but the fact that we kept putting those defensive sets in and the 2-man hits was really important to the outcome.

“Huddersfield to be fair kept on us, but at times I think they ran out of ideas of how to break us down; they had the possession but we stayed strong in defence and kept them out for the majority of the time.

“That’s our ninth win in a row now and that’s something that we’d obviously like to keep building on. We are still undefeated, but as I’ve said before, on this run up to Christmas our main goal is to pick up the 5-point wins. So when the conditions are like that, it is a bit of a leveller; a lot of teams would have been happy with a 4-point win, but we really wanted that 5-pointer and we are delighted to have got that.”

Referee: Daniel Woods

Attendance: 487

Yellow Card: Stout & Smith (Titans)

Titans: Boxhall (T), Smith (T), Poole (T), Bustin (T), Minogue (3C)

Huddersfield: Bradley (T), Hodson (T), Milner (1C)

Titans: 15 Tom Lewis, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Matt Minogue, 9 Sam Boxhall (West 76), 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 74), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 67), 3 Rikki Stout (Laxton 65), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Marcus Payne (Quigley 68), 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin.  

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Keifer Laxton, 20 Jonny West.

Huddersfield: 15 Tom Hodson, 14 Kian Stewart, 13 Lewis Workman, 12 Will Milner, 11 Elliot Knight (Catleugh 67), 10 Joe Potter (Thornton 56), 9 Jonny Mason, 1 Callum Thompson, 2 Liam Stapley (Parkin 69), 3 Andy Rollins (Morgan-McDermott 69), 4 Luke Pearson, 5 Nick Sharpe, 6 Ethan Myers, 7 Lewis Bradley (Capt.) (Davis 61), 8 Eddie Brown.

Replacements: 16 Callum Morgan-McDermott, 17 Ross Thornton, 18 Leighton Davis, 19 Cameron Catleugh, 20 Tom Parkin.

Photo Credit: Gareth Siddons

Loughborough Students 5 Titans 71

Rotherham Titans put in an excellent performance to run out 71-5 winners over Loughborough Students on a bitterly cold afternoon at the University Ground.

Titans outscored their opponents by 11 tries to 1 and now move into third spot in the table, 4 points behind league leaders Stourbridge.

Titans 11 tries came way of a hat-trick for hooker Harry Newborn, a brace for scrum half Sam Boxhall and one each for Callum Bustin, Harry Dunne, Jamie Cooke, Marcus Payne, Fran Entressengle and Matty Drennan, with fly half Matt Minogue impressing with 16 points from the tee on debut.

To be fair to Loughborough they never stopped battling and tried to play some rugby whenever they managed to get some possession. Unfortunately for them that was not very often as they came up against a Rotherham side that was intent on putting in an 80-minute shift.

As early as the third minute the writing was on the wall as Matt Minogue pierced the Students defence to slip in Sam Boxhall for the easiest of dot downs.

Then in the space of 10 minutes the Titans pack showed their prowess as hooker Harry Newborn and number 8 Callum Bustin powered over for two more tries, the latter showed tremendous desire and strength to get over the line.

Next it was the Titans backline that joined the party as Minogue was again the creator of two more tries. The first saw the Aussie throw a long miss-pass to Harry Dunne who ran in to score and the second 3 minutes later saw him nudge a short miss-pass to winger Jamie Cooke who glided in to score.

There was just time before the break for Rotherham to register their sixth try of a pulsating first half when Callum Bustin again showed great determination to break the line before off-loading to Newborn for his second try of the half.

Indeed he didn’t have to wait too long into the second half to register his hat-trick when on 48 minutes he was on hand to dot down from the tail of a catch and driver close to the line.

Ten minutes later and Roth had their eight try when scrum half Sam Boxhall made himself “popular” with the pack when he broke from the back of a drive to snipe over to score.

Titans ninth and tenth tries came via the catch and drive after more impressive work by the pack, with Marcus Payne dotting down the first and Fran Entressengle nonchalantly touching down for the second. In between those tries Loughborough registered their sole points in the game from a Will Sanders try five minutes before the end.

Rounding things off with the final try of the match in the last play of the game was replacement scrum half Matty Drennan, who took a quick tap from 25 metres out and proceeded to dance his way through the defence to score a fine try.

Speaking on the pitch at full time, a delighted Titans head coach, Adam Byron, said:

“I am really pleased with how things went today; we were happy with our first half last week and we asked the boys for an 80-minutes performance this week and that’s what they delivered.

“To score 11 tries in a game is outstanding; the boys showed great patience and had the ability to trust the structure, stick to it and to be patient with the transitioning into that structure when we were in the right areas to play rugby and that obviously paid dividends today.

“We conceded a lot of penalties last week and we knew we needed to tidy things up in that area, because we knew if we didn’t then a team like Loughborough would throw the ball around and use those opportunities to hurt us. So our discipline at the breakdown was critical.

“We were also physical with our carries and we understand the kind of rugby we can play when our pack creates that kind of platform, particularly so against teams which are a little less experience.

“We are starting to play off the foundation our pack is presenting; they are so hard-working and often get us on the front foot and they are capable of scoring the set-piece tries, as well as creating opportunities for our backline.

“The table is very tight at the top and so not only is winning games important, but picking up those bonus points is going to be critical to the final outcome.

“Every week we have got to be looking to come away with that 5-point win and as I’ve said that will only come if we are putting in 80-minute performances.”

Referee: Peter Connor

Attendance: 218

Yellow Card: Challinor (Titans), O’Neil & Wainwright (Loughborough)

Titans: Newborn (3T), Boxhall (2T), Bustin (T), Dunne (T), Cooke (T), Payne (T), Entressengle (T), Drennan (T), Minogue (8C)

Loughborough: Sanders (T)

Titans: 15 Tom Lewis, 14 Connor Field, 13 Mat Clark, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Matt Minogue, 9 Sam Boxhall (Drennan 69), 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 49), 2 Harry Newborn (Entressengle 54), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 54), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope (Newborn 66), 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin (Payne 59).  

Replacements: 16 Fran Entressengle, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Marcus Payne, 20 Matty Drennan.

Loughborough: 15 Alex Wainwright, 14 Will Sanders, 13 James Langston (Trinder 66), 12 William Trinder (Sixton 39), 11 Darragh Walsh (Scharink 64) (Walsh 69), 10 Luca Caplin, 9 Matteo Petrozzi (Nayor 56), 1 Leroy O’Neil, 2 Isaac Bell, 3 Mink Scharink (Parker 48), 4 Harry Longworth (Adlington 49), 5 Chukwuemeka Atuanya (Shine 49), 6 Nicholas Jennings (Capt.), 7 Daniel Eckersley, 8 Nicholas Jakobsen (Atuanya 69). 

Replacements: 16 Thomas Parker, 17 Tobias Adlington, 18 Jack Shine, 19 James Nayor, 20 Troy Sixton.

Titans 38 Tynedale 14

Rotherham Titans ran out 38-14 winners over Tynedale to maintain their unbeaten start to the season on a cool and breezy afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Rotherham outscored their opponents by 6 tries to 2 with a brace from Tom Lewis and one each for Rikki Stout, Mat Clark, Alastair Donkor and a penalty try, with fly half Lloyd Hayes adding 6 points from the tee.

The win sees Rotherham stay in fifth place in the league, nine points behind leaders Stourbridge, but with one game in hand on their West Midlands rivals.

The game itself saw Rotherham dominate throughout; although to be fair to the visitors they never stopped battling and indeed enjoyed some good moments in the second half.

However, right from the off Titans appeared to be in control with their set piece quickly established a platform from which to build.

On 12 minutes that platform resulted in tighthead prop Rikki Stout dotting down for Titans first try, after a powerful drive from a line out marched relentlessly forwards.

By the end of the first quarter Roth extended their lead when the ball was moved quickly from the base of a ruck by Sam Boxhall to Lloyd Hayes at first receiver; the fly half threw a lovely miss-pass to Mat Clark who showed good strength to power over.

Just after the half hour mark and Titans scored a belter of a team try through full back Tom Lewis.

From a Roth scrum just outside their own 22 Boxhall picked up and found Mat Clark who made good ground before involving Jamie Cooke and Callum Bustin who took play up to Tynedale’s 22.

Boxhall, Hayes, Stout, Newborn and Dunne were all then involved as the ball went through the hands before arriving with full back Tom Lewis who raced in to score a superb try in the corner.

Two minutes into the second half Tom Lewis had his second and Titans fourth try when from a Lloyd Hayes clearance kick Tynedale fumbled which enabled Lewis to gather up the loose ball to charge in from 40 metres and score in the corner to give his side a 24-0 lead.

Maybe at this point the home side thought it was job done and maybe their intensity dropped a fraction; but whatever it was credit must be given to Tynedale as they enjoyed a 15 minute period where their hard-work and adventure rewarded them with two converted tries through second rower Chris Wearmouth and centre Guy Pike.

However, in the final 10 minutes Rotherham re-gathered themselves to seal a fine victory when first they were awarded a penalty try on 74 minutes and then eight seconds after coming on as a replacement, loosehead prop Alastair Donkor found a gap in the defence to charge through for Titans sixth try of the match.

Commenting on the result, Titans new head coach, Adam Byron said:

“I am really pleased with how my first game has gone, it’s great to experience the atmosphere and to see what the Titans are all about at home and it’s great that we started with a home fixture.

“It’s good to get the five point win because that what we asked the boys to do. There’s obviously stuff to work on, but that’s normal otherwise we wouldn’t do any training in the week because there wouldn’t be anything to work on and I’m looking forward to getting some more work done with the lads.

“We are always trying to solve issues, we spoke in the week of how we start games etc... and unfortunately this week it was the other way round and we weren’t at our best in the opening period of the second half and we didn’t quite perform as we would have liked.

“I’ve just said to the lads that rugby is about problem solving and that’s not just on a Tuesday and Thursday, but also during the 80 minutes of a game. We did a good job in the first half, but in the second we just needed to problem solve a little bit more.

“It was good to see three of our tries came through the backs, but that’s also credit to our forwards because they suck teams in and get them narrow and that gives our boys in the backline the opportunities to do their thing and they were able to exploit that today.”

Referee: Ben Davis

Attendance: 523

Yellow Card: Theo Nwosu-Hope (Titans)

Titans: Lewis (2T), Stout (T), Clark (T), Donkor (T), Penalty Try, Hayes (3C)

Tynedale: Wearmouth (T), Pike (T), Ball (2C)

Titans: 15 Tom Lewis, 14 Connor Field, 13 Mat Clark, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 Sam Boxhall (Pocklington 74), 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 74), 2 Harry Newborn (Entressengle 71), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 54) (Stout 71), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Marcus Payne (Nwosu-Hope 54), 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin.  

Replacements: 16 Fran Entressengle, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 20 Sam Pocklington.   

Tynedale: 15 Jay West, 14 Seamus Hutton, 13 Guy Pike, 12 James Clark, 11 Adam Todhunter (Outson 66), 10 Matty Outson (Capt.), 9 Alex Ball, 1 Angus White (Carmichael 48), 2 Ralph Johnston, 3 Ben Haigh (Loughhead 69), 4 Chris Wearmouth (Blackburn 56), 5 Graeme Dunn, 6 Jonny Cousin, 7 Joe Mills (Stanwix 62), 8 Henry Wainwright.

Replacements: 16 Liam Carmichael, 17 Owen Loughhead, 18 Rob Stanwix, 19 Jack Outson, 20 Ben Blackburn.

Photo Credit: Gareth Siddons

Titans 20 Hull 15

Rotherham Titans put in a tenacious performance to out-muscle a very good Hull side to run out narrow 20-15 winners on a bright, but windy afternoon at Clifton Lane.                                                                                          

Trailing 12-3 on the hour mark Titans looked to be in danger of losing their first game of the season, but a strong finish ensured they kept their unbeaten status intact.

Rotherham’s points came courtesy of a try each for Callum Bustin and Harry Newborn, with Lloyd Hayes adding 10 points with the boot with some outstanding kicking from the tee.

Indeed it was the home side that started brighter; their energy levels looked good and there was plenty of intensity about their work.

This early pressure resulted in Roth taking a seventh minute lead when fly half Lloyd Hayes knocked over penalty from in front of the posts at the clubhouse end.

Hull had come into the game as joint league leaders and with a reputation of being a tough, physical side and one which could boast of having the meanest defence in the division.

The game confirmed that reputation was deserved and rightfully earned. They matched the Titans physically and their work rate around the park was relentless.

Just after the 20-minute mark and with Hull’s first foray into Titans 22 they came away with a try through loosehead prop Loma Kivalu, who was helped over the line by a powerful pack following a series of pick and goes. Simon Humberstone missed the extras as the swirling wind picked up in severity.

Following a low-scoring first half, the second period saw more points scored, but without the drop in ferocity which had been so evident during the opening 40 minutes.

The visitors had impressed as expected and it was they who scored next on 48 minutes when a series of pick and goes close to the Titans line resulted in replacement prop Charlie Beech dotting down near the corner. This time Humberstone impressed with the extras to take his side 12-3 up.

Rotherham maintained their desire to get back into the game, but frustratingly for them a combination of unfortunate execution and valiant defending from Hull meant they were unable to narrow the gap.

Eventually however on the hour mark Roth finally received some reward for their graft. From a five metre line-out Titans pack drove towards the line for number 8 Callum Bustin to dot down and with Lloyd Hayes’ brilliant conversion from the touchline the game was now in the balance at 12-10 to Hull.

Hull hit back almost immediately to go further ahead at 15-10 with a penalty from Humberstone; this ensured the Shed’s nerves remained frayed and backsides stayed firmly perched on the edges of seats.

Ten minutes from time though Roth finally nosed ahead when a drive from the tail of a line out saw hooker Harry Newborn get the vital dot down next to the corner flag. Hayes once again impressed hugely to convert from touch to put his side 17-15 up.

Three minutes from time Humberstone missed an opportunity to allow Hull to regain the lead when he missed a long-range penalty kick, but with the last action of the match Lloyd Hayes sealed the win for Rotherham with a mid-range penalty to give his side a hard-fought, but well-deserved win.

Speaking on the pitch after the game Titans’ Steve Salvin said:

“To be honest I would have been satisfied even if we hadn’t got over the line, because there have been games this year where we have won, but we haven’t been “at it” and emotionally in the right frame of mind, and that’s all you can ever ask of anyone, you just want the lads to empty the tank.

“But don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing to win the game, but I honestly think if we hadn’t have won I would have gone home nearly as proud as I will tonight, because of the sheer effort and heart that I saw. I just said in the huddle that I never thought we were out of it because I knew we were in the right place emotionally.

“We had to adapt a little bit; I don’t think until just before we scored our first try that we had mauled all game; partly because we’d not had the opportunity and partly because we’d executed poorly, but ultimately that element of our game is what turned it – and for the boys to have been able to adapt and put that in place and put them under that level of pressure was just immense.

“Hull defended a lot and they defended well; they are by far the best defensive team in the league and that showed today.

“The tough thing when you have to defend phase after phase it batters your body and I’m not taking anything away from Hull because I have a huge amount of respect for them, but in the last 10 minutes or so I just felt they were done physically because of all the defending they’d done throughout. They never stopped trying but their tank was running close empty I felt.”

Referee: Llyr ApGeraint-Roberts

Attendance: 544

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Bustin (T), Newborn (T), Hayes (2P, 2C)

Hull: Kivalu (T), Beech (T), Humberstone (P, C)

Titans: 15 Tom Lewis, 14 Connor Field, 13 Mat Clark, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 George Tucker, 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 Jonny West (Pocklington 47), 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Harry Newborn, 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 63), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope (Payne 57), 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin (Nwosu-Hope 70).  

Replacements: 16 Fran Entressengle, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Colin Quigley, 19 Marcus Payne, 20 Sam Pocklington. 

Hull: 15 Stephen McColl, 14 Mike Adlard, 13 Alastair Heard (Capt.), 12 Stephen Johnson, 11 Keane Naylor, 10 Simon Humberstone, 9 Sam Crane, 1 Loma Kivalu, 2 Alistair Thomson, 3 Mike Jobling, 4 Cameron Curry, 5 Liam Regardsoe, 6 Latu Makaa'fi, 7 Laurence Cowen, 8 Will Hall.

Replacements: 16 Reece Dean, 17 Harvey Harding, 18 Ben Boothman, 19 Mike Dias, 20 Charlie Beech.

Photo courtesy of Gareth Lyons

Titans 37 Luctonians 22

Rotherham Titans continued their unbeaten start to the season with a hard-fought 37-22 win over a dogged and resilient Luctonians outfit on a bright afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored their opponents by 5 tries to 3, with Callum Bustin going over for a brace and Fran Entressengle, Mat Clark and Matti Williams chipping in with a dot down each; Lloyd Hayes added 12 points from the tee.

Although not at their best, Rotherham still managed to come out on top against a side that played with plenty of spirit and lots of endeavour.

Indeed it was Roth who started the scoreboard ticking when as early as the third minute Callum Bustin crashed over from the tail of a powerful drive following a line-out close to the line. Lloyd Hayes impressively nailed the extras from out wide.

Luctonians are nearer the bottom of the table than they are top, but as always, league position is no barometer for how well a team can perform.

The North Herefordshire side demonstrated this to good effect just 7 minutes later when their man-mountain lock forward, Owien Harriott-Davis, showed great strength as he bulldozed his way over.

Back came Rotherham though and scored an almost carbon-copy try to their first, as hooker Fran Entressengle dotted down from the tail of the maul and from almost the identical spot on the field, Hayes again was successful with the conversion.

Luctonians scrum half Owen Randell squeezed in a penalty, before Roth added their third try just before half time.

This time it was outside centre, Mat Clark, who touched down following some good ball retention inside the oppositions 22, after Harry Dunne made a good half break to take play up close to the line. Clark then showed good strength under pressure to get the ball down.

Within the first 5 minutes of the second half Roth secured the bonus point try when Callum Bustin peeled off another maul to power over near the corner.

Again however Luctonians responded and they scored a nice try on 49 minutes when full back Tom Jones deftly chipped through for outside centre James Wheeler to nip in to score near the sticks. Randell knocked over the extras to reduce his side’s arrears to 24-15.

It was almost as though Titans needed Luctonians to score to give them the necessary spark to up their own game and this happened once again just 5 minutes later.

This time it was replacement back rower Matti Williams who dotted down following another powerful drive from a line-out. Hayes impressed with his conversion from out wide to extend Roth’s lead to 31-15.

Luctonians refused to roll over as they kept Titans honest in their endeavours and they perhaps deserved their bit of fortune for their third try after a kick-through deflected and bounced kindly for them; all of which enabled replacement front-rower Connor Deignan to collect and show good pace to race through and score. Randell added the extras.

Rotherham did however have the final say as they added two further penalties through Lloyd Hayes to sensibly close out the game.

Speaking on the pitch post-match Titans’ Steve Salvin said:

“A win is a win and today we got exactly that and picked up 5 points and maybe we need to put a bit of context on the result.  

“In the last 2 weeks we have beaten Fylde and Hull Ionians and today we played a team, with all due respect, is possibly going to finish in the bottom half of the table.

“We then have Stourbridge and Hull to follow and they are teams that are expected to be possibly in the top four and so we gave the boys a massive amount of credit for winning over the last 2 weeks.

“However, in the first half particularly we were poor and we’ll need to raise those levels significantly going forwards and we’ll certainly need to raise them going into the Stourbridge game.

“From everything we have seen of Stourbridge, it seems they are a very good side; they’re unbeaten up to this point and we know it’s going to be very tough down there.

“Too many of us today didn’t get ourselves into the right frame of mind and although we have taken five points and that should always be celebrated, it feels disappointing because of our overall performance.

“But as I’ve said, let’s not lose context because the lads have done really well over the last couple of weeks. To go back-to-back against Fylde and Hull Ionians who are both top-four sides and to win and bag 9 points shows we are not a bad side, we’ve just had a bit of an off-day today.

“We now have to make sure we have a good week’s preparation so we’re in good shape to take on Stourbridge next week.”

Referee: Daniel Woods

Attendance: 594

Yellow Card: Kelly (Luctonians)

Titans: Bustin (2T), Entressengle (T), Clark (T), Williams (T), Hayes (3C, 2P)

Luctonians: Harriott-Davis (T), Wheeler (T), Deignan (T), Randell (2C, P)

Titans: 15 George Tucker, 14 Connor Field, 13 Mat Clark (Bustin 74), 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke (Drennan 66), 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 Jonny West, 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 45), 2 Fran Entressengle (Newborn 66), 3 Colin Quigley (Stout 40), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Keifer Laxton, 8 Callum Bustin (Williams 50).  

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Rikki Stout, 27 Matti Williams, 20 Matty Drennan.  

Luctonians: 15 Tom Jones (Nott 52), 14 Frank Kelly, 13 James Wheeler, 12 Rob Aikman, 11 Charlie Grimes, 10 Lewis Parkes, 9 Owen Randell, 1 Ben Murphy (Deignan 57), 2 Ben Link, 3 Joe White (Kone 69), 4 Harry Whiteman, 5 Owien Harriott-Davis (S. Jones 77), 6 Jack Forsythe (Watkins 25), 7 Mat Hackley (Capt.), 8 Sam Jones (Cheshire 52).

Replacements: 20 Connor Deignan, 17 Zac Watkins, 16 Cheick Kone, 19 Aiden Cheshire, 21 Josh Nott.

Photo courtesy of Gareth Siddons

Hull Ionians 24 Titans 27

Rotherham Titans maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a hard-fought, but well-deserved 27-24 win over Hull Ionians on a glorious sun-soaked afternoon at Brantingham Park.

Tries from Matty Drennan, Lloyd Hayes, Callum Bustin and Theo Nwosu-Hope ensured Rotherham picked up the bonus point win to keep them joint top of Nat 2 North with Sedgley Park.

However, once again the South Yorkshire side had to demonstrate their resilience and mental toughness as for the fifth consecutive game they found themselves behind at half time.

As expected, Ionians flew out of the blocks with great emotion and intensity and as a result found themselves 10-0 ahead just after the 20-minute mark, following an early penalty from fly half Ben Smith and then a pick and go try from tighthead prop Ben Bell, which Smith converted.

On the half hour and almost with Titans first foray into the I’s 22, they came away with a try after good work from the backs and forwards took play up close to the line, before scrum half Matty Drennan picked up from the base to dive over.  Jonny West narrowly missed the extras.

Back came Ionians though as Roth continued to struggle to get a foothold in the game and five minutes before the break I’s extended their advantage when on-loan centre Jack Townend exploited a gap in Roth’s defence to race through for a nice try. Smith converted to send Ionians in at the break leading 17-5.

Roth needed a stronger start to the second period and this they managed as their own work-rate and intensity lifted.

Just 4 minutes in and Titans had their second try of the game when Lloyd Hayes collected on the edge of the I’s 22 and proceeded to run around, then through the defence to touch down in the corner for an unconverted try.

From this point forward the game was pretty much dominated by Rotherham and within ten minutes the scores were level after number 8 Callum Bustin peeled off a driving maul close to the line to score near the corner. Lloyd Hayes converted from out wide to make it 17-17.

Despite Roth now being in the ascendancy, Ionians tenaciousness in defence meant the South Yorkshire side had to wait until 10 minutes from time before they took the lead.

The bonus point try for Roth came when Theo Nwosu-Hope charged down a clearance kick inside the I’s 22 and proceeded to collect and run in to dive over in the corner. Again Hayes nailed the conversion from out wide to make it 24-17.

Two minutes from Time Rotherham sealed the game when Hayes added a penalty following more impressive work from the Titans pack.

In added time Rotherham thought they had a fifth try, but unfortunately Theo Nwosu-Hope’s effort was deemed to have been knocked on.

As a consolation and perhaps deservedly so, with the final play of the game Ionians back rower George Mewburn scored his sides third try of the match for Smith to convert.

Speaking straight after the game Titans’ Steve Salvin said:

“We were way off it in the first 40 minutes; we came up against a side that was loaded with emotion, well organised, well coached and physical and for 40 minutes we weren’t even close. We were second best by some distance and to be honest we were probably lucky to get in at half time only 12 points down.

“We started the second half like we should have started the first half; we know we have quality, but quality is meaningless unless you are prepared to work hard. In the first 40 we didn’t work hard enough and in the second 40 we were so much better.

“We’ve done this 3 times away from home now, so you can’t question the boys’ resilience or mental toughness, but what you can probably question is how effective we are in the first 20 or 30 minutes of games away from home.

“We played well in the second half because we worked harder and that’s all we talked about at half time, working harder. We got outworked in the first half and I would argue we outworked them in the second half and as a result we won the game.”

Referee: Peter Caunt

Attendance: 425

Yellow Card: Challinor (Titans)

Titans: Drennan (T), Bustin (T), Nwosu-Hope (T), Hayes (T, P, 2C)

Hull Ionians: Bell (T), Townend (T), Mewburn (T), Smith (P, 3C)

Titans: 15 Tom Lewis, 14 George Tucker, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Jonny West, 9 Matty Drennan (Clark 40), 1 Charlie Capps (Pleasants 60), 2 Harry Newborn (Entressengle 60), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 67), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Harry Williams (Nwosu-Hope 53), 8 Callum Bustin.  

Replacements: 23 Francis Entressengle, 17 Alex Pleasants, 18 Colin Quigley, 19 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 20 Mat Clark.

Hull Ionians: 15 William Edwards, 14 Sam Wilson, 13 Josh Britton, 12 Jack Townend, 11 Nathan Hill, 10 Ben Smith, 9 Josh Bird (Metcalfe 53) Bird (61), 1 David Laverick (Bell 74), 2 Ben Stephenson, 3 Ben Bell (Morton 40), 4 Joe Makin, 5 Alex Campbell (Peters 40), 6 George Mewburn, 7 James Sanderson (Capt.) (C. Sanderson 74), 8 Callam Sanderson (Hudson 60).

Replacements: 16 Christopher Morton, 17 Thomas Peters, 18 Allan Hudson, 19 Kobby Opoku-Fofie, 20 William Metcalfe.

Photo courtesy of Gareth Lyons

Titans 28 Fylde 13

Rotherham Titans ran out 28-13 winners against top-of-the-table Fylde in atrocious wet and windy conditions at Clifton Lane.

The win leaves Rotherham still unbeaten after 5 games, after two tries from back rower Callum Bustin and one from tighthead prop Rikki Stout proved to be the crucial scores against a very dangerous outfit from the North West.

The first half saw Rotherham enjoy the majority of territory and possession. However, following a 2nd minute successful penalty from Jonny West, the South Yorkshire side were unable to convert that pressure into further points.

Indeed, credit has to be given to Fylde for their resilience in defence, after they manfully repelled the Titans on several occasions close to their own line. Their willingness to lay their bodies on the line was commendable and on 20 minutes, although against the run of play, they scored an outstanding try.

Full back Tom Carleton collected a clearance kick inside his own 22 and displayed smart footwork and a turn of foot to evade the several defenders as he took the ball deep inside Titans half. Two quick passes later and winger Henry Hadfield glided in to dot down under the sticks. Greg Smith had the formality of tagging on the extras to give his side a 7-3 lead.

Although disappointed to concede such a long-range try, Rotherham continued to force the game with their powerful play, both in the tight and in the loose. This in turn led to another penalty shortly before the break which West nailed to send Roth in at the break trailing by a solitary point.

Despite the second period being predominantly controlled by Roth, it was Fylde who scored next on 47 minutes when Smith extended his side’s advantage to 10-6 with a penalty kick.

Just four minutes later however Titans regained a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, when from a catch and drive close to the line, number 8 Callum Bustin dotted down after a terrific drive from the pack. West impressed from out wide with his conversion to make it 16-10.

With just over 10 minutes to go Smith put over a long-range penalty against the wind to reduce his side’s arrears to 16-13 and to potentially set up a nervy finish to the game.

However, five minutes later the game was effectively sealed when tighthead prop Rikki Stout touched down following another powerful drive from the home pack.

With the final play of the game in injury time, Callum Bustin scored an outstanding individual try when he collected from over 25 metres out to crash his way through the Fylde defence to put the icing on the top of a fine performance in difficult conditions. Jonny West conversion meant Rotherham replaced Fylde at the top-of-the-table after 5 games.

Speaking on the pitch afterwards Steve Salvin said:

“It was an immensely satisfying victory; to win 28-13 on a pretty grim day weather wise was a good outcome.  The big thing for us to take away is to see 20 lads put that amount of effort into the game; that was just outstanding. I am so proud of them and I’ve just told them to go and enjoy it because they fully deserve it.

“The positive thing is, and I don’t think anyone in the ground today would disagree, we can still get better.  But the thing I will give the lads credit for is effort and I would give them 10 out of 10 for that.

“This game away from home on a dry day against Fylde is a different game. Their game is expansive and high tempo, so today’s conditions wouldn’t have really suited them; but we still had to go out there and do a job against a side that came here full of confidence having put 80 points on a side last week.

“We felt in the first half we ground them down a little bit and then the dam sort of broke in the final 20 minutes and we were able to get a couple of tries and as a group we are delighted to get the win.”

Referee: Owen Taylor

Attendance: 517

Yellow Card: Tucker (Titans)

Titans: Bustin (2T), Stout (T), West (2C, 3P)

Fylde: Hadfield (T), Smith (1C, 2P)

Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 George Tucker (Lewis 63), 13 Mat Clark, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Jonny West, 9 Sam Pocklington, 1 Charlie Capps (Pleasants 60), 2 Harry Newborn (Entressengle 78), 3 Colin Quigley (Stout 33), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Harry Williams (Nwosu-Hope 47), 8 Callum Bustin.  

Replacements: 23 Francis Entressengle, 17 Alex Pleasants, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 20 Tom Lewis.   

Fylde: 15 Tom Carleton, 14 Henry Hadfield (Jordan 75), 13 Tom Forster, 12 Scott Rawlings, 11 Tom Grimes, 10 Greg Smith, 9 Adam Lanigan, 1 Zack Barrow, 16 Ben Gregory (Capt.), 3 Matt Ashcroft (Bowker 36) (Ashcroft 75), 4 Olli Parkinson, 5 Matt Garrod (Bentley 62), 6 Marcus Blake, 7 Phill Mills, 8 Harlan Corrie.

Replacements: 17 Sam Kyle-Clay, 18 Corey Bowker, 19 Tane Bentley, 2 Ben O’Ryan, 20 Scott Jordan.

Photo courtesy of Steve Mettam

Blaydon 17 Titans 49

Rotherham Titans overcame a sluggish start to the game as they stormed back to beat an enthusiastic Blaydon side by 7 tries to 2 to notch-up a worthy 49-17 victory, on a warm afternoon at Crow Trees

The victory sees Rotherham maintain their unbeaten start to the season after 4 games and lifts them into third place in the table, just 2 points behind league Leaders and Titans next opposition in 7 days’ time, Fylde.

Once again however, the South Yorkshire side found themselves behind at the end of the first quarter, as the home side raced out of the blocks to score two tries through loosehead prop Drew Thompson and fly half Jonny Ashman, both of which were converted by Ewan Greenlaw, who also added a penalty on 17 minutes to give his side a perfect start.

At this stage Blaydon were rampant and the momentum was undoubtedly with them and with a 17-0 lead, had they managed to make full use of their dominance at this juncture, the final outcome could have looked very different.

Rotherham however managed to keep their composure as they slowly began to exert some control in the game.

On 23 minutes Titans pack-power yielded its first points of the game when openside flanker Harry Williams dotted down from an authoritative driving maul, following a line out close to the line.

Buoyed with this success Rotherham now looked a better side as their confidence grew and they began moved the ball around and construct good phase work as they retained the ball convincingly.

Just after the half hour mark Roth reduced their arrears further when Mat Clark picked up from the base of a ruck and sniped through to take the ball up to the line before being brought down. Sam Pocklington was on hand however to flick a pass out to blindside flanker Lewis Allan in support, who in turn showed good footwork to step back inside to score.

Joe Carlisle nailed the extras to send Roth in at the break trailing by 17-12.

Rotherham continued to impress in the second period and within 10 minutes they poked their noses in front for the first time, when 22 seconds after coming on as a replacement, Callum Bustin dotted down having broken-off the maul close to the line to score. Jonny West tagged over the extras to give Roth a slender 19-17 lead.

To be fair to Blaydon they still looked threatening, especially in broken play and when there were gaps to be exploited Roth needed to be on their toes to keep them out, but this they did when it mattered.

Just after the hour mark Titans added to their advantage following a nice break down the right wing from debutant George Tucker. As he was grounded deep inside the 22 the ball was picked up by Sam Pocklington and fed back inside to the onrushing Harry Dunne who jinked through to score a nice try.

The next 10 minutes saw two penalties follow and up stepped Jonny West to convert as Roth increased the lead to 30-17.

Two minutes from time any lingering hopes the home side had of a late comeback were quashed when Theo Nwosu-Hope charged the ball down around half way and then Mat Clark hacked on for Jamie Cooke to collect and score under the sticks. West’s conversion made the score 37-17.

From the restart Roth almost switched into party mode as victory had been secured.

A clearance kick from inside his own 22 from Jonny West was brilliantly gathered by Harry Williams who then galloped off before sending the ball out wide to Jamie Cooke, who in turn took play inside the Blaydon 22. A couple of phases later and loosehead prop Alex Pleasants got in on the act when he collected from 15 metres out to charge through to score. West added the extras.

And then in the final play of the game some great handling and offloading resulted in a brilliant team try for the Titans. The cross field move included Mat Clark, Sam Pocklington, Jonny West, Alex Pleasants, Callum Bustin, Zak Poole and Theo Nwosu-Hope who stepped inside before finding Francis Entressengle who raced in to finish off a superb try and seal a marvellous victory.

Speaking on the pitch after the game Titans’ Steve Salvin said:

“Being 17-0 down after 17 minutes wasn’t the start we had planned, but to be honest I still thought we would win the game because we just hadn’t started.

“We reviewed Blaydon in the week and they did almost a picture-perfect execution of a game plan we knew was coming our way. We talked about it, we prepared for it and we trained for it, but for whatever reason in that opening period we just let them do what they wanted and on this pitch with the cohesion they have, they fully deserved their 17-point lead.

“However, I never thought we were out of it and I knew if we got a foothold and some control of the game we would come through. Also, to get back to 17-12 before half time was a massive bonus.

“I think the boys deserve a lot of credit in that they always find a way to get back into games; they were 17-3 down against Sedgley and got themselves into a winning position and today again they came back from being 17 points down and that shows how resilient they are as a group.

“We are still fallible though and if we are going to kick-on and be successful, because we’re not where we need to be yet, we’ll have to keep working until we get there.”

Referee: Michael Harris

Attendance: 348

Yellow Card: None

Titans: H. Williams (T), Allan (T), Bustin (T), Dunne (T), Cooke (T), Pleasants (T), Entressengle (T), Carlisle (1C), West (3C, 2P)

Blaydon: Thompson (T), Ashman (T), Greenlaw (2C, P)

Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 George Tucker, 13 Mat Clark, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Joe Carlisle (West 35), 9 Sam Pocklington, 1 Charlie Capps (Pleasants 57), 2 Harry Newborn (Entressengle 60), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 57), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Lewis Allan (Bustin 46), 7 Harry Williams, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).  

Replacements: 16 Callum Bustin, 17 Colin Quigley, 18, Alex Pleasants, 19 Francis Entressengle, 20 Jonny West.   

Blaydon: 15 Nathan Bailey, 14 James Cooney, 13 Ewan Greenlaw, 12 Alex Clark (Capt.) (Mongan 68), 11 Jack Appleton, 10 Jonny Ashman (Clark 76), 9 John Clarkson, 1 Drew Thompson (Beattie 71), 2 Mike Newstead, 3 Elliott Beattie (Dodds 40), 4 Liam Wright, 5 Keith Laughlin (Kirkbride 20), 6 Alex Charlton, 7 Anthony Harrison (Cooper 16), 8 Ethan Clarke (Gray 59).

Replacements: 16 Danny Gray, 17 Alex Dodds, 18 Ryan Kirkbride, 19 Paddy Cooper, 20 Hugh Mongan.

Titans 48 Bournville 46

Rotherham Titans breathed a huge sigh of relief when with the final kick of the game Lloyd Hayes sealed a 48-46 victory for the home side over a very energetic Bournville outfit.

The victory keeps Titans unbeaten in Nat 2 after 3 games, but they will need to tighten up defensively for their away trip to Blaydon next week.

On a glorious sun-soaked afternoon at Clifton Lane the supporters will remember this one for some time, as Rotherham came out on top in this 13 try bonanza; although at no stage could either side have been confident they would be victorious, as the lead changed hands five times.

Rotherham made the brighter start and inside the opening 15 minutes crossed the whitewash twice through packmen Zak Poole and Matt Challinor, with the opposition 10, Mitch McGahan, slotting over a 3-pointer in between, to leave Roth 10-3 to the good.

However, the visitors bounced back with gusto as they blitzed Rotherham with pace and power to run in 3 converted tries and a penalty in a devastating 15-minutes spell, to Roth’s sole score of a Harry Dunne converted try, to leave the scores at 27-17 to the ‘Chocos’.

Although not at their best on this balmy afternoon, Titans have a spirited bunch of boys who never want to be outdone. So as expected, back they came to reduce the arrears 4 minutes before the break when Matt Challinor crashed over for his second score of the match. Joe Carlisle tagged on the extras to send in the home side trailing 27-24 at half time.

The second period was every bit as frenetic as the first and when Bournville winger Ollie Dawkins ran in to score a converted try after just 2 minutes, to extend the visitors lead to 32-24, the frown lines on Titans faces deepened.

Yet again however the Lane men powered back!

This time Matti Williams and Zak Poole scored almost identical tries on 45 and 50 minutes respectively, through driving mauls from line outs inside the Bournville 22, with Lloyd Hayes also chipping in with two successful penalties to take Roth into a 40-32 lead.

But again, back the Birmingham based side came to narrow the gap to a single point on 70 minutes when replacement back Mikey Ho dashed through to score, for the impressive McGahan to convert.

Six minutes from time Rotherham probably thought they’d done enough to take the spoils when hooker Harry Newborn dotted down from the tail of a maul to give his side its seventh try of the game to go 45-39 ahead.

Now it was just a case of closing out the game!

But this game didn’t want to be closed out and 3 minutes into injury time it appeared as if the visitors had snatched the win when tighthead prop Ryan Smeilus crashed over for the nerveless McGahan to convert and put his side 46-45 up.

However, in the final play of this most remarkable of games Rotherham were awarded a penalty at a scrum and up stepped Lloyd Hayes in the 86th minute to tee up his shot. The nervy and stony silence which surrounded the ground was boisterously broken by the roar of the shed, as Hayes’ effort sailed through the posts to give Roth the most dramatic of victories.

Bournville would have been bitterly disappointed to have missed out on the win and they deserve a huge amount of credit for their part in making this game one of the most memorable in recent times at Clifton Lane.

Speaking after the game a shell-shocked Steve Salvin reflected:

“I think we have to celebrate the result because we have just gained 5 points, but we can’t be too pleased with our overall performance because we’ve just conceded 46 points and we were a long way off where we need to be.

“If that’s a benchmark of where we are in terms of our performance we need to be concerned, because we’ll not get away with that week in and week out and we will end up on the wrong end of the score on a regular basis.

“But we’ll review what we did well and what we didn’t and we’ll work hard as a group to improve and put things right for our next game again Blaydon.”

Referee: Peter Caunt

Attendance:  587

Yellow Card: Poole & Cooke (Titans), Burgoyne & Burrows (Bournville)

Titans: Poole (2T), Challinor (2T), Dunne (T), M. Williams (T), Newborn (T), Carlisle (2C), Hayes (3P)

Bournville: Dawson (T), Burrows (T), Burgoyne (T), Dawkins (T), Ho (T), Smeilus (T), McGahan (5C, 2P)

Titans: 15 Cameron McDonald, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Joe Carlisle (Boxhall 64), 9 Sam Pocklington, 1 Charlie Capps (Pleasants 58), 2 Harry Newborn, 3 Colin Quigley (Stout 50), 4 Matt Challinor (Entressengle 80), 5 Matt Smith, 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope 7 Matti Williams (H. Williams 54), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).  

Replacements: 16 Francis Entressengle, 17 Alex Pleasants, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Harry Williams, 20 Sam Boxhall.   

Bournville: 15 Owen Williams, 14 Tom Burrows, 13 Mark Coulson, 12 Sam Wilson, 11 Ollie Dawkins, 10 Mitch McGahan, 9 Ben Tibbetts, 1 James Burgoyne, 2 Zane Raimondi, 3 Ryan Smeilus, 4 Callum Thompson, 5 Harry Dawson, 6 Sam Monteiri, 7 Ashley Scriven, 8 Umraan Jadwat.

Replacements: 16 Archie McArthur, 17 Jonjo Fanning, 18 Fynlay Brown, 19 Tom Vickers, 20 Mikey Ho.

Photo courtesy of Steve Mettam

Sedgley Park 22 Titans 22

Rotherham Titans maintained their unbeaten start to the season after sharing the spoils at Park Lane with a hard-fought 22-22 draw against Sedgley Park.

The game could have gone either way and both sides could argue they deserved the win.

However, had Joe Carlisle’s long-range drop goal effort 3 minutes from time not narrowly missed the left upright, it would have been the South Yorkshire side that would have carried the day.

Despite Roth taking a fourth minute lead through a Jonny West penalty, it was Sedgley Park who looked the more threatening.

That threat was converted inside the first 25 minutes into a 17-3 lead, following two tries through Rob Birtwell and Matt Gallagher, with Steve Collins converting both and slipping a penalty over in between the tries.

Just after the half hour mark however Roth narrowed the deficit when from a line out close to the line, openside flanker Matti Williams peeled off the maul to crash over. West’s conversion attempt narrowly missed the right upright.

Titans were now fully in the game and looked more accomplished in their work. This turnabout saw them narrow the gap further when from another line out inside the 22, the Roth pack marched forward with authority to allow hooker Harry Newborn to crash over from the tail.

Jonny West expertly converted from out wide to send Titans in at the break trailing by 17-15.

The second half saw both sides batter away at each other as they looked to gain an edge and on 64 minutes it was Rotherham who managed to nose themselves in front with a fine score.

This time however it was a nicely worked move through their backline, when following a period of sustained pressure, Joe Carlisle zipped a pass out to Harry Dunne, who in turn broke through and exchanged passes with Connor Field before running through to dot down. Carlisle tagged on the extras to give Roth a 22-17 lead.

To be fair to the home side they looked dangerous throughout, but Titans nonetheless will be disappointed with what turned out to be the final score of the game to level the match.

From the breakdown on the Roth 10 metre line the Yorkshire side switched off for a moment and Sedgley picked up and broke through the middle allowing scrum half Dan Openshaw to race in from 40 metres for an unconverted try.

Both teams will look back on this one and feel it could have been their day and based on early season form, it’s quite like that both teams will be competing at the business end of the division come April.

Post-match Titans head coach, Steve Salvin, reflected:

“To come here in our second game of the season on what is probably the widest pitch in the division against one of the top sides and to get a draw, we have to be pleased; especially when you consider at one point we were 17-3 down.

“I think we are still quite some way off our potential, I think when we do hit our straps we will be a good side. I’ve just said to the boys that 5 weeks ago we lost to Sale and the week after Sedgley beat Sale, so we know that Sedgley are an outstanding side, but also it shows how much growth we’ve already had and we know there’s much more to come.

It’s always disappointing when you don’t win, but a draw here is better than a loss and we will take that one today.”

Referee: Michael Harris

Attendance: 300

Yellow Card: None

Titans: M. Williams (T), Newborn (T), Dunne (T), West (P, C), Carlisle (1C)

Sedgley Park:  Birtwell (T), Gallagher (T), Openshaw (T), Collins (P, 2C)

Titans: 15 Cameron McDonald, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Jonny West (Carlisle 55), 9 Sam Boxhall (Pocklington 62), 1 Charlie Capps (Stout h/t), 2 Harry Newborn (Entressengle 66), 3 Colin Quigley (Capps55), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith (M. Williams 66), 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 7 Matti Williams (H. Williams 62), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Fran Entressengle, 17 Rikki Stout, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Sam Pocklington, 20 Joe Carlisle.

Sedgley Park: 15 Andrew Riley, 14 Sam Lowthion, 13 Oliver Glasse, 12 Matt Riley, 11 Jamie Harrison, 10 Steve Collins, 9 Dan Openshaw (Tansey 71), 1 John Blanchard, 2 Matt Gallagher, 3 Andrew Curtis (Nonleh 23) (Curtis 44) (Nonleh 69), 4 Robert Birtwell, 5 Oscar Crowe (Chilvers 56), 6 Connor James, 7 Mark Goodman (Crowe 62), 8 Tom Ailes.

Replacements: 16 Beltus Nonleh, 17 Cashel Chilvers, 18 Elliot Crowe, 19 Jacob Tansey, 20 Alex Powell.

Photo courtesy of Steve Mettam

Titans 35 Wharfedale 5

Rotherham Titans got their National 2 North campaign underway with a hard-fought, but well-deserved win over Wharfedale, as they ran out 35-5 winners at a busy Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored their Yorkshire rivals by 5 tries to 1 with Matt Challinor dotting down twice and Jamie Cooke, Zak Poole and Lloyd Hayes also touching down for five pointers. Two Jonny West penalties and a conversion and a Lloyd Hayes conversion completed the scoring for the home side.

In a much-anticipated game and 546 days since the last one at Clifton Lane, all at Titans were keen to get the new season underway with a win.

However, despite enjoying the lion’s share of territory and possession during the opening quarter, it was the visitors who scored first through lock forward Ben Leacock on 19 minutes, after livewire scrum half Sam Gaudie had jinked through to catch Roth flat-footed.

Nevertheless Titans hit back within 10 minutes after a Jonny West show-and-go enabled him to break the line allowing Matt Challinor to crash over following a couple of phases close to the line. West tagged on the extras to give Roth the lead.

Just 5 minutes later and the outstanding Jamie Cooke scored Titans second when he showed great strength to pick up from the base to bulldoze his way over in the corner.

West narrowly missed the extras but just before the break made amends as he slotted over a penalty to give his side a 15-5 lead at the interval.

It was important the home side came out strong for the second half and this they did as they crossed the whitewash twice more inside the opening 13 minutes.

Firstly Matt Challinor crashed over following a series of pick and goes and then captain Zak Poole dotted down after more powerful work from the pack.

To be fair to Wharfedale it would have been easy for them to roll-over at this stage, but full credit to them for continuing to put their bodies on the line as they chased and harassed Rotherham relentlessly and indeed kept them scoreless for the next 25 minutes.

However, late on centre Lloyd Hayes skipped through for Titans fifth try of the match after Sam Pocklington slipped him in from the base of a scrum.

With the last kick of the match Jonny West added a penalty to round off a perfect start to the campaign.

Speaking on the pitch straight after the match and not wanting to get too carried away after one game, Steve Salvin noted:

“We’ve had a steady start and that’s all it is, if you’d offered us this before the game we would have snatched your hand off because we knew the quality of the team we were up against and the quality of the coaching staff they have.

“On top of that we knew they wouldn’t just go away and the only way we’ve got 35 points on the board is we showed some unrelenting qualities and that for me is the biggest positive.

“But there are definitely elements of our game we know we have to make significant improvements on, so as I’ve said it’s a steady start.”

Referee: Carl Adams

Attendance: 531

Yellow Card: Gaudie, Bullough & Beesley (Wharfedale)

Titans: Challinor (2T), Cooke (T), Poole (T), Hayes (T, C), West (2P, C)

Wharfedale: Leacock (T)

Titans: 15 Cameron McDonald, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Mat Clark, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Jonny West, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Harry Newborn, 3 Colin Quigley, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 7 Marcus Payne, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Fran Entressengle, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Matti Williams, 20 Sam Pocklington.

Wharfedale: 15 Rian Hamilton, 14 Ralph Wellock, 13 Harry Bullough, 12 Thomas Davidson, 11 Oli Cicognini, 10 Jack Blakeney-Edwards, 9 Sam Gaudie, 1 Joe Altham, 2 Matt Speres, 3 Matt Beesley, 4 Ben Leacock, 5 Rhys Green, 6 Chris Jackson, 7 Jack Pinder, 8 George Hedgley.

Replacements: 16 George Altham, 17 Chris Steele, 18 Jack Thompson, 19 Ben Markey, 20 Luke Punton.

Photo courtesy of Steve Mettam

Titans 24 Bishop’s Stortford 31

Rotherham Titans would have been distraught to have lost 31-24 at home to Bishop’s Stortford, after dominating for large periods of the game.

Titans however, can only blame themselves for the defeat after all too often poor decision making, a lack of execution and ill-discipline all conspired to cost them what would have been an important victory.

From the off with a kick that went out on the full, until the end where the visitors scored the winning points in the final play of the game, Rotherham will look back and reflect on the number of points they “gave” Stortford in their quest for victory.

A poor first half effort from Titans saw them trail at the break 17-12 after going behind as early as the second minute after Bishop’s centre James Ayrton strolled through with ease.

Titans finally got on the board through number 8 Anthony Maka on 18 minutes as he dotted down under the posts. Unfortunately for Sam Hollingsworth, his conversion was charged down to leave the hosts trailing by two points.

Stortford’s lead was extended to five point just moments later when fly half George Cullen slotted over a penalty.

Once again though Rotherham bounced back when second rower Kieran Frost showed good awareness and strength to barge his way over and when Hollingsworth tagged over the extra Titans held the lead for the first time at 12-10.

That lead however lasted less than 3 minutes as James Ayrton sailed in again, and again it was all too easy as far as Rotherham were concerned, and when George Cullen converted the visitors went 17-12 to the good.

The opening quarter of the second half brought out the best of Rotherham as they dominated in every facet of the game and during this spell they scored two tries.

The first one came on 45 minutes as Anthony Maka powered over from close range and the second came following a dominant spell of forward pressure which resulted in replacement prop Harry Whitfield going over in the corner to give Titans a 24-17 edge.

Again though, Rotherham couldn’t hold onto their lead and within four minutes Stortford’s full back Nick Hankin finished off a nice backs move to level things up at 24 each following Cullen’s conversion.

And although it was Rotherham who enjoyed the majority of possession in the time which remained; in the final play of the match Bishop’s winger Josh Stannard finished off a counter attack in the corner to clinch the game and break the hearts of the home side.

A disappointed Steve Salvin speaking on the pitch at full time said, “We are bitterly disappointed not to have won the game, but what I would say is I don’t feel like we deserved to win it.  

“We put ourselves in a position to win the game, we were 7 points up with less than 10 minutes left and the key thing there is you have to have the ability to see out the game and we weren’t able to do that.

“We were poor in the first half, we came out for the second half and we were much improved, but I think ultimately what’s cost us is our ill-discipline in the first half and our inability to convert pressure into points in the second half.

“So I don’t feel hard done by, I feel like we’ve got what we deserved today, but the positive is we’ve taken two points and that has closed the gap at the bottom to four points.”

Referee: Charlie Gayther

Attendance: 462

Yellow Card: Thacker (Bishop’s Stortford)

Titans: Maka (2T), Frost (T), Whitfield (T), Hollingsworth (2C)

Bishop’s Stortford: Ayrton (2T), Hankin (T), Stannard (T), Cullen (4C, P)

Titans: 15 Tom Benjamin, 14 Ben Robbins, 13 Tom Bullough, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Toby Williams (Whitfield 60), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Newborn 60), 3 Will Dennis, 4 Dan Preston-Routledge, 5 Kieran Frost (North56), 6 Lewis Wilson 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Anthony Maka. 

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Harry Whitfield, 18 Alfie North, 19 Kiefer Laxton, 20 Sam Boxhall.   

Bishop’s Stortford: 15 Nick Hankin, 14 Josh Stannard, 13 Sam Winter (Capt.), 12 James Ayrton, 11 Chris Smith (Linney 56), 10 George Cullen, 9 Tom Banks (Gliksten 60), 1 Louis Castiglione, 2 Harrison King (Huppatz 70), 3 Kieran Sassone (McCrone 70), 4 James Thacker, 5 Tom Lewis, 6 Luis Ball (Banks 64), 7 Dan Elsom, 8 Charlie Kingham.  

Replacements: 16 Miles Huppatz, 17 Tom McCrone, 18 Rory Banks, 19 Joss Linney, 20 Al Gliksten.

Photo Credit: Gareth Siddons

Rams 25 Titans 20

Rotherham Titans were bitterly disappointed to not get the win against top-end side Rams, as they were narrowly beaten 25-20 at Old Bath Road on a wet and blustery afternoon.

The fact Rotherham were so disappointed not to pick up a bonus point win, over one of the very best teams in the division, really does show how far this group has progressed since the turn of the year.

They now however, need to make sure they start to get over the line in these close encounters if they are to maintain their status in National 1 for next season.

The game itself swung one way then another throughout the 80 minutes.

Indeed the hosts took the lead as early as the third minute when flanker Tom Vooght barged his way over, with fly half Alex Seers converting and it would be fair to say the hosts deserved their lead.

In fact Rams enjoyed the bulk of play for most of the first quarter and only some aggressive defensive work by the Titans kept the Reading based outfit at bay.

However, just after the half hour Rotherham hit a purple patch and incredibly scored three tries before the half time oranges.

First up on 31 minutes was blindside flanker Lewis Wilson, who after some fine work from the Titans pack, which first saw Anthony Maka make some good ground, he was on hand to collect from Sam Boxhall to dot down under the posts. Connor Dever tagged over the extras to level things up at 7 apiece.

Just three minutes later and Titans went ahead when Tom Benjamin scored a scintillating try.

An initial break from Connor Dever inside the Rotherham half got them moving, before the ball was spread across the backline to Benjamin who collected whilst still in his own half. The flying fullback then evaded two Rams defenders before showing exceptional footwork to round Will Partington to score a brilliant try. Dever missed the difficult conversion from out wide.

Back came the hosts however and they levelled matters two minutes before the break when skipper Robbie Stapley dotted down from the base of a powerful scrum.

Undeterred Titans fought back with great determination as the game went into injury time.

From a line out on the hosts 22 the Rotherham’s pack powered forward before Anthony Maka broke away and took play up to the Rams line.

The ball came out to Connor Dever who neatly found winger Ben Robbins and he showed immense strength to bulldoze his way over for a terrific try to end the half and send his side in with a 17-12 advantage.

Playing with the slope in the second half Rams levelled the game at 17 each on 47 minutes when winger Jack Rossiter stepped inside from out wide to touch down; following what had been s sustained period of Rams forward pressure inside the Titans 22.

On the hour mark the hosts nosed 20-17 ahead from an Alex Seers penalty after Titans were unluckily adjudged to have made a high tackle, before Rotherham again levelled the score when Sam Hollingsworth added a penalty on 69 minutes, after referee Fergus Kirby disallowed a Rotherham try for a forward pass.

Four minutes from time Referee Kirby then sent Lewis Wilson to the bin for a technical offence and a minute later Rams ruthlessly exploited their man advantage to crash over through replacement forward Ross Crame.

In the final play of the game Rotherham looked dangerous 15 metres from the Rams line and with good momentum, as they powered forward looking for a bonus point victory. Unfortunately for them they knocked on at a crucial time and that was that.

Speaking on the pitch after the game, a disappointed Steve Salvin said, “I think this result against one of the best sides in the division shows how far this group has come in a short space of time, since the turn of the year. However, that doesn’t stop us from being immensely frustrated that whichever way you look at it, that should have been a five-point win for us today!

“We’ve made that evident to the players, they are hurting every bit as much as the coaches and the backroom staff, but how far we have come doesn’t make a great deal of difference at the moment because we should have come away with five points.

“Our discipline let us down, we gave away too many opportunities when we had field position; we either coughed-up the ball or we gave away a penalty, which in turn led to us giving them possession and territory. There were probably nine or ten instances of that when we could have built pressure, but we gave them an easy out through poor skill execution or poor discipline.

“So yes we have come a long way, but at some point we have to make these opportunities count and that’s why I’m so frustrated because it should have happened today. I’m sure when the emotion has drained out we’ll take a huge amount of positives from what the boys did against a very good side.”

Referee: Fergus Kirby

Attendance: 523

Yellow Card: Guttridge (Rams), Wilson (Titans)

Titans: Wilson (T), Benjamin (T), Robbins (T), Dever (1C), Hollingsworth (1P)

Rams: Vooght (T), Stapley (T), Rossiter (T), Crame (T), Seers (1C, 1P)

Titans: 15 Tom Benjamin, 14 Ben Robbins, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Tom Bacon, 10 Sam Hollingsworth (Boxhall 15) (Hollingsworth 55), 9 Connor Dever, 1 Harry Whitfield (Williams 41), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Newborn 63), 3 Will Dennis, 4 Dan Preston-Routledge, 5 Kieran Frost, 6 Lewis Wilson 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Anthony Maka (Waddington 61) (North 66). 

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Toby Williams, 18 Ben Waddington, 19 Alfie North, 20 Sam Boxhall. 

Rams: 15 William Partington, 14 Jack Rossiter, 13 Kieran Leicester, 12 Andrew Humberstone, 11 Andrew Denham, 10 Alex Seers (Hayhow 63), 9 Ollie Cole, 1 Niall Kidd, 2 Ben Henderson (Moffitt 41), 3 James Baker (Zeiss 67), 4 Oliver Taylor, 5 Colin Thomson, 6 Jamie Guttridge (Crame 63), 7 Tom Vooght, 8 Robbie Stapley (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Ollie Moffitt, 17 Cameron Zeiss, 18 Ross Crame, 19 Connor Hayhow, 20 Jack Moates.   

Photo Credit: Rams RFC

Titans 26 Hull Ionians 10

Rotherham Titans put in an attritional performance to wear down Hull Ionians in tough conditions, as they ran out worthy 26-10 winners at a wet and very blustery Clifton Lane.

The victory saw the South Yorkshire side secure what could be at the end of the season a vital bonus point for scoring four tries, although the fourth dot down didn’t arrive until the 80th minute.

The game was never going to be a high-scoring affair as the rain lashed down and gusts of winds in excess of 60 km/h whipped across Clifton Lane.

Indeed, playing into the conditions in the first half Rotherham put in an awesome display to go in at the break actually leading 7-3.

Titans’ points came via winger Ben Robbins who hacked on from a wayward pass from Ionians fly half Tom Stephenson 60 metres out, he then won the foot race to touch down under the sticks. Hollingsworth tagged over the extras from in front.

Ionians sole success in the opening period came from the tee when full back Max Titchener slotted over a penalty to reduce his side’s gap to 4 points.

Titans came out for the second half full of confidence with the elements now in their favour. However, it took them up until just before the hour mark before their next score.

This came following a period of forward dominance, when finally the ball was flung out to the backs, before ultimately arriving with Tom Bacon who drew the last defender to send in Ben Robbins for his and Titans second try.

Unexpectedly however, Ionians bounced back shortly after when scrum half Sam Crane picked up a loose ball around halfway and made ground right up to the Titans line, before second rower Joe Makin collected to crash over from close range. Titchener’s conversion reduced the visitor’s deficit to 12-10 with fifteen minutes remaining.

Titans however held their nerve to score two late tries through skipper Zak Poole on 71 minutes from a pick and go and then on 80 minutes from replacement loose head prop Toby Williams, when he used his significant power to bulldoze his way over for the crucial bonus point try.

With Birmingham Moseley’s game against Sale FC lost to the weather, Rotherham are now just 6 points adrift of the Midlanders in the relegation race and they will look forward to a weekend off now before they go again in two weeks-time.

Speaking after the game Titans Martin Jenkinson said, “We said today with the weather conditions and it being a Yorkshire derby, everything was about doing the job and getting the result. Pre-match we talked about how it didn’t matter how we got there, as long as we got there and that’s what happened today.

“Some people may look at it as a foregone conclusion that Rotherham should have won the game; nothing could have been further from the truth. Ionians are a good team and there are no easy games in this league and the boys went out there and did a good job.

“We would have preferred better conditions and we would have backed our boys to have played the better rugby had there not been the wind and the wet conditions, but it’s the same for both teams and you have to play whatever it is and by and large I thought the boys played the right sort of game in those conditions.

“The game was probably won in the first half; to go in at the break in front in those conditions was a very good effort. Yes we had a breakaway try, but I thought we deserved that reward for causing that mistake from the pressure that we applied.

“Overall we are delighted to get the bonus point and that’s been a recurring theme during our recent renaissance in that we are taking points out of every game and we are taking all the points that we can get at times in certain games. Today could have been a four point day, but the lads made sure it was a five point day.”

Referee: James O'Brien

Attendance: 491

Yellow Card: Dunne (Titans)

Titans: Robbins (2T), Poole (T), Williams (T), Hollingsworth (3C)

Hull Ionians: Makin (T), Titchener (1C, 1P)

Titans: 15 Tom Bacon, 14 Ben Robbins, 13 Tom Bullough, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Tom Benjamin, 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Harry Whitfield (Williams 49), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Newborn 62), 3 Will Dennis (Stout 49), 4 Dan Preston-Routledge (Maka 49), 5 Kieran Frost, 6 Lewis Wilson 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Kieran Curran (Preston-Routledge 69).  

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Toby Williams, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Anthony Maka, 20 Sam Boxhall.

Hull Ionians: 15 Max Titchener, 14 Alfie Beadle, 13 Lewis Minikin (Kirk 24), 12 Duell Trueman, 11 Callum Smith, 10 Tom Stephenson (Whyte 69), 9 Sam Crane, 1 Dave Laverick (Capt.), 2 Ben Stephenson, 3 Ben Bell (Peace 57), 4 Joe Makin, 5 Tyler Heelas, 6 George Mewburn, 7 James Sanderson (Choudhury 17) (Sanderson 20) (Choudhury 36), 8 Ed Brown (Sanderson 46).

Replacements: 16 Josh Peace, 17 Harry Butler, 18 Ben Whyte, 19 Rahat Choudhury, 20 Charlie Kirk. 

Richmond 52 Titans 20

Rotherham Titans overcame a poor first half display to storm back in the second half to pick-up a well-deserved bonus point, in their 52-20 defeat to league leaders Richmond at the Athletic Ground.

Titans collected the point for scoring four tries, although at the break it was difficult to envisage that such a feat could be achieved after a lacklustre first half on their part and a rampant effort from the hosts.

Indeed, Richmond ran in six tries during the opening 40 minutes, which in effect wrapped-up the game.

The only highlight in that opening period for the South Yorkshire side came on 23 minutes when winger Ben Robbins finished off nicely in the corner, after Tom Bacon made an excellent break down the right hand side.

However, as well as Richmond played, a high number of errors from the Titans certainly made the home side’s task easier than it should have been. Their line-out in particular caused them distress and a number of one-up missed tackles also hurt them badly.

So for the transformation which took place in the second half, the Rotherham players should be given a massive amount of credit as they outscored the league leaders by three tries to one.

Following Titans’ ‘old boy’ Charlie Mulchrone adding to the hosts tally on 47 minutes, Rotherham pretty much dominated events from there on in.

On 68 minutes Ben Robbins scored his and Titans second try when he just managed to squeeze through in the corner following a huge amount of pressure from the pack.

Then, as the game went into injury time Titans added their third try after two significant breaks in the build-up. Firstly Connor Dever made 30 metres in midfield with an arching run, then number 8 Anthony Maka showed good footwork and hand skills to pop a pass to Jamie Cooke for him to dot down in the far corner.

The crucial fourth try was secured in the final play of the match. From the base of a ruck inside the Richmond 22, the ball was flung across the backline from Dever to Bacon, who in turn fed replacement full back Sam Allan for a well-worked score.

From what had appeared a desolate position at the break, the fight Rotherham displayed in the second half not only secured a crucial bonus point, but offered realistic hope that they could yet clamber out of the relegation spot come the end of April.

Speaking after the game, an upbeat Titans Director of Rugby, Martin Jenkinson, explained, “The boys showed massive heart and massive courage in those final few minutes; we asked the boys for a reaction at half time and we got that.

“To come down here - and it is a long way to travel - against the league leaders in the first half was a washout. But at half time we sat in the dressing room and we said as a group “let’s take a look at ourselves,” and we asked “what do we want to achieve?”

“I just said to the boys in the post-match huddle, the second half could have gone one of two ways; it could have been an absolute disaster or it was what we got, which was a response with all heart and character and to score the final try at the end feels like we’ve won the game.

“The boys were absolutely fantastic and the reaction they gave in the second half was fantastic and I’m massively proud of them.

“It’s important now that we win our home games and keep picking up at least the bonus points away from home.

“Since the turn of the year we seen a massive improvement and we have to keep building on that to get us out of the relegation tussle. It’s a dogfight at the bottom and we will continue to fight right up until the end.”

Referee: Veryan Boscawen

Attendance: 545

Yellow Card: Dever & Ward (Titans), Parker (Richmond)

Titans: Robbins (2T), Cooke (T), Allan (T)

Richmond: Lynagh (2T), Mitchell (T), Mclean (T), Graham (T), Grimstone (T), Mulchrone (T), Hodgson (6C, P), Dennett (1C)

Titans: 15 George Castledine (Allan 75), 14 Ben Robbins, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Tom Bacon, 10 Morgan Bunting (Boxhall 75), 9 Connor Dever, 1 Harry Whitfield, 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 55), 3 Rikki Stout (Dennis 40), 4 Dan Preston-Routledge, 5 Elliott Ward (Waddington 53), 6 Ben Waddington (Frost 40), 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Anthony Maka.

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Will Dennis, 18 Kieran Frost, 19 Sam Boxhall, 20 Sam Allan.

Richmond: 15 Louis Lynagh, 14 Dan Kelly, 13 Cameron Mitchell (Capt), 12 Ronnie Mclean, 11 Hamish Graham, 10 Tom Hodgson (Mulchrone 40), 9 Jamie Gibbs (Dennett 40), 1 Timmy Walford (Litchfield 69), 2 Ross Grimstone (Torpey 52), 3 Jimmy Litchfield (Banfield 52), 4 Byron Hodge, 5 Chris Allman (Bibic 40), 6 Tom Pashley, 7 Andrew Boyce, 8 Jake Parker.

Replacement: 16 Alex Bibic, 17 David Banfield, 18 Callum Torpey, 19 Lewis Dennett, 20 Charlie Mulchrone.