Rotherham Titans retained their position at the top of the league with the narrowest of victories over a dangerous Rosslyn Park side 27-26 on a sunny afternoon at Clifton Lane.
Titans claimed the try bonus point with scores from Jackson Barling, Morgan Veness, Harry Newborn and Travis Gordon, with Lloyd Hayes, who was making his 150th appearance for the club, adding seven points from the tee.
This top-of-the-table clash was expected to be a tight affair and that’s just how it played out, as each side gave their all in a physical battle between two top sides.
Titans victory was built on a solid pack performance which allowed the home side to enjoy large periods of possession and territory.
However, credit to Rosslyn Park must be given for their determination in defence which repeatedly throughout the game repelled the Titans when a score looked imminent.
Indeed, it took Rotherham 22 minutes to break the deadlock, after dominating the game up to that point, when winger Jackson Barling showed good strength to power over in the corner for an unconverted try.
To Rotherham’s disappointment, Park quickly went ahead when full back Luke Mehson skipped through to score on the visitors first real foray into the Titans half.
Nevertheless, Rotherham remained undeterred and continued to have the better of things, as the possession stats will no doubt show.
Five minutes before the break the pressure told again on Park and this time hooker Morgan Veness scored a pack try following a powerful drive.
But again, Rosslyn Park bounced back, this time after just 2 minutes and what a belter it was. The visitor’s backline worked the ball at pace and made quick yards downfield, before sending in back rower Arthur Ellis to score under the posts.
If Rotherham were disappointed, they didn’t show it and they made sure of going in at the break ahead when skipper Harry Newborn crashed over in the corner in the final play of the half to make it 17-14.
The intensity from both sides increased even higher in the second half, but it was Rotherham who scored next when centre Travis Gordon showed good footwork to burst clear and race through for his side’s bonus point try. Hayes’ conversion stretched the homes sides advantage to ten points.
Whilst Rotherham continued to have the lions share of the ball, Rosslyn Park were always dangerous with ball in hand, and it probably wasn’t a surprise when scrum half Ewan Fenley darted through to score a converted try.
As the running clock went past the 80-minute mark Rotherham were awarded a penalty 40-metres from goal. Up stepped the reliable boot of Lloyd Hayes to knock over the 3-pointer.
There was always a possibility of a sting in the tail and that came in the shape of Rosslyn Park’s Ewan Fenley. The livewire scrum half was on hand following a breakaway to run around the defence to score near the corner and reduce Park’s deficit to one point, with the conversion to come.
The conversion was close to the far touchline and not at all an easy kick. Unfortunately for Steff James his effort narrowly missed the target and although the game did restart it finished moments later to the raucous cheer of the home crowd.
Whilst Rotherham fully deserved their win, massive credit goes to Rosslyn Park who played their part in this high-class National 1 thriller.
Reflecting after this pulsating encounter Titans Harvey Biljon said:
“That is what top-of-the table clashes are all about, both teams went deep into the game and any neutral here today would have see an unbelievable game of rugby.
“I one hundred percent believe we deserved that victory; our territorial possession both in the first half and for parts of the second half was probably the difference which allowed us to take the result.
“I am greedy though and I want us to be better; there were moments in the game I felt we could have taken our opportunities, and we need to stay composed in those moments.
“We were well aware that Rosslyn Park have X-Factor players that can give you X-Factor moments and that’s why they’re always in the game right up until the end. They came away with points, and they deserved those points.
“We have to make sure we don’t plateau and that we keep building on our performances.
“We probably had our toughest training session of the season on Tuesday and it’s testament to the players that no one hesitated around what we asked of them and they wanted to put themselves in the best place they could going into this game.
“They’ve worked hard and today they got their reward.”
Titans: Barling (T), Veness (T), Newborn (T), Gordon (T), Hayes (2C, 1P)
Rosslyn Park: Fenley (2T), Mehson (T), Ellis (T), James (3C)
Yellow Card: None
Attendance: 250
Referee: Ben Rayner
Assistant Referees: George Ounsley & Simon Park
Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Rob Povey (Broad 45), 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Zach Toerien (Mitchell 68), 2 Morgan Veness (Cole 68), 3 Andrew Foster (Valentine 55), 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Maguire 45), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.), 8 Ellis Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Calvin Mitchell, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Curran Maguire, 20 Sinjin Broad.
Rosslyn Park: 15 Luke Mehson, 14 Charlie Walker, 13 Tom Stanton (Volley 65), 12 Sam Kennaugh, 11 Benji Marfo, 10 Steff James, 9 Ewan Fenley, 1 Mo Nwakor (Wade 17), 2 Charlie Piper, 3 Matt Woodward (Nwakor 63), 4 Jake Cleet, 5 Jordan Martin, 6 Henry Spencer, 7 Arthur Ellis (Capt.), 8 Harry Ledger.
Replacements: 16 Max Fraine, 17 Ali Wade, 18 Connor Kennison-Cook, 19 Freddie Roddick, 20 Ed Volley.
