Rotherham Titans put in one of their best performances of the season to run out worthy 36-26 winners over a very good Rosslyn Park side on a cool afternoon at The Rock.
Titans victory, their first ever at Park, saw them outscore the hosts by 5 tries to 4 as Mitchell Lacey-Babalola grabbed a brace with one each for John Okafor, Jack Baldry and Jackson Barling, with Lloyd Hayes adding 11 points from the tee.
The win keeps Rotherham hot on the heels of leaders Plymouth Albion as the campaign approaches the business end of the season.
The match saw Rosslyn Park start much the brighter and they found themselves ahead after just 6 minutes when following a good break from skipper Jack Digby, centre Tom Stanton finished off clinically.
Rotherham responded shortly after when a catch and drive on the 22 crabbed infield allowing scrum half JB Bruzulier to break off before slipping a nice inside pass to John Okafor who galloped in under the sticks to level.
The game had an adventurous, entertaining feel to it now and a sharp looking Rosslyn Park retook the lead when a slicing backs move resulted in outside centre Joe Luca Smith going in for an unconverted try.
Maybe in the past Rotherham would have started to doubt themselves and wilt from the challenge, but not this team.
Just after the 20-minute mark Rotherham went ahead when back rower Jack Baldry dotted down from close range after a period of forward pressure. The conversion gave Titans a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
That lead was extended before half time when fly half Rob Povey delivered a delightful cross-field kick to allow Mitchell Lacey-Babalola to sour high above Park’s full back, Charlie Walker, and pluck the ball out of the air to score a lovely try in the corner.
Rotherham expected a response from the home side after the break and Rosslyn didn’t disappoint.
Just two minutes in Rosslyn reduced their arrears to 2 points when hooker Charlie Piper crashed over following a break from Joe Luca Smith.
Undeterred Titans powered onwards and on 53 minutes secured the bonus point try when winger Jackson Barling charged down the line from 30 metres to score, having received a delightful back-handed pass from full back Isaac Shaw.
The lead was extended further when Mitchell Lacey-Babalola grabbed his second of the match when he showed great strength and desire to crash over near the corner, after receiving a nice pass from JB Bruzulier.
Late on in the game Rosslyn Park collect the bonus point when they were awarded a penalty try, but it wasn’t enough for them and Titans saw out the game in a controlled manner.
Commenting afterwards Titans Harvey Biljon reflected:
“Firstly, Rosslyn Park are a very good team and when they turn it on, they can really turn it on, and we saw glimpses of that this afternoon.
“However, I’ve got to commend not just the 20 players that was involved today, but our whole squad, because the way they prepared the team this week was exceptional.
“We put a game plan in place, and whilst you can always do that, they only work if your players back them up and go and deliver and I think our players really stepped up in that space today and they thoroughly deserved the bonus point victory.
“When Rosslyn Park got those two early scores we were talking as coaches about how we didn’t seem to lose or lack any composure, we didn’t panic, we stayed controlled and that’s what I mean when I talk about the game plan.
“We didn’t veer from that; we just stuck to our process and if you look at that over the 80 minutes we came away with the right result.
“Our discipline was very good, Rotherham have worked very hard on that in the way they communicate with the referee and the way in which we are really trying to work with the officials, and I think that makes a huge difference.
“However, whilst the result was outstanding, at the same time we won’t get ahead of ourselves. We know what works well for us as a team, we’ve got to turn up on Tuesday and make sure we put in the training time.”
Titans: Lacey-Babalola (2T), Okafor (T), Baldry (T), Barling (T), Hayes (4C, 1P)
Rosslyn Park: Stanton (T), Smith (T), Piper (T), Penalty Try, Johnston (2C)
Yellow Card: Okafor (Titans), Hosking & King (Rosslyn Park)
Referee: George Ounsley
Assistant Referees: Henry Lowis & Paul Fincken
Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Travis Gordon, 11 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Alastair Donkor (Toerien 60), 2 Morgan Veness (Cole 12), 3 Andrew Foster (Valentine 64), 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Okafor 64), 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 John Okafor (Maguire 22), 7 Harry Newborn (Capt.) (Broad 66), 8 Jack Baldry.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Xavier Valentine, 19 Curran Maguire, 20 Sinjin Broad.
Rosslyn Park: 15 Charlie Walker (Cordy-Redden 45), 14 Luke Mehson, 13 Joe Luca Smith (Walker 63), 12 Tom Stanton, 11 Benji Marfo, 10 Bill Johnston (Mulchrone 38), 9 Ewan Fenley, 1 Maurice Nwakor (Cade 54) (Nwakor 67), 2 Charlie Piper (Fraine 54), 3 Ali Wade, 4 Jake Cleet, 5 Tom Bell (Orchard 71), 6 Jack Digby (Capt.), 7 Archie Hosking, 8 Cameron King.
Replacements: 16 Max Fraine, 17 Conrad Cade, 18 George Orchard, 19 Charlie Mulchrone, 20 James Cordy-Redden.
