Rotherham Titans brought their Centenary season to an end in spectacular fashion by winning promotion with a 40-26 win over Billingham on a cool afternoon at Greenwood Road.
Titans victory will see them compete next year in National One after a stunning season saw them win 25 out of 26 games and secure their first promotion in 21 years.
The South Yorkshire side outscored their hosts by 5 tries to 4, with dot downs from Jack Bergmanas, Laurence Cowen-Leak, John Okafor, Jack Taylor and Lloyd Hayes, with the latter also adding 12 points from the tee.
The points from Lloyd Hayes made sure for the second season running he topped the National Leagues as the leading point’s scorer and he also broke Juan Pablo Socino’s club record of most points in a season.
Titans’ victory was incredibly their fifteenth consecutive bonus-point win since their narrow loss to Leeds in November and congratulations to Leeds for making the title race an exciting one that went to the final day of the season.
And congratulations to Billingham who deserved their bonus point from the game which guarantees them their place in National 2 North next term.
The game was a tense one with so much at stake for both clubs and although Rotherham had secured the bonus point before the break, they only led by 26-19 with Billingham already on 3 tries.
The second half saw Rotherham take control and extend their lead with an early penalty from Hayes and a try from winger Jack Taylor and when Hayes knocked over another penalty on 72 minutes to make it 37-19 the game was effectively wrapped up.
However, there was late drama on 80 metres when prop forward Dan Dixon got over the line for Billingham to secure their status in the league and well done to them.
However, Lloyd Hayes had the last say with a very late penalty and as they say, the crowd went wild – for both teams!
“It’s a bit of a fairy-tale,” said Titans Harvey Biljon.
He added, "A promotion in a centenary season is something special and in ten, 15 or 20 years’ time people will look back and remember a team that had to stick with it for so long in second place and then go and win a real pressure game (against Leeds) and manage to stay undefeated in the second half of the season and see it out away from home.
"Today’s game reflected the season, we had some real challenges with the way Billingham came at us and we had to problem solve. There was tension through the whole game but the way the team closed out the win through the second half was pretty special considering the way we were challenged in the first half.
"In the huddle afterwards, I thanked the players for their effort and told them they deserved it. They’re champions. No-one can ever take that away from them.”
Try scorer John Okafor said, “Harvey kept telling us, ‘stay in the fight. Don’t look at the league table. I know you guys are the best team in the league so keep going.’ Beating Leeds at Clifton Lane last month was the pivotal moment for us.”
Skipper Zak Poole added, “I’ve been here a long time. This is my club and when it’s your club and you achieve something it means so much more. We’ve been through some downs and fallen short but now we have finally made it happen.
“Today wasn’t just about the lads out there. It was about the fans and every single person connected with Rotherham Rugby Club.”
Referee: Henry Pearson
Attendance: 1002
Yellow Card: Bustin & Newborn (Titans)
Titans: Bergmanas (T), Cowen-Leak (T), Okafor (T), Taylor (T), Hayes (T, 3C, 3P)
Billingham: Kirkbride (T), Kirby (T), Dixon (T), Peter Evans (T, 3C)
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jack Taylor (Kivalu 78), 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier (Metcalfe 72), 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 61), 3 Gareth Denman (Ward 79), 4 Zak Poole (Capt.), 19 John Okafor, 25 Harry Newborn, 7 Laurence Cowen-Leak (Payne 79), 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 30 Reece Ward, 23 Marcus Payne, 22 Will Metcalfe.
Billingham: 15 Elliott Husband (Capt.) (Youll 65), 14 Jonny Horner, 13 Matt Kirby, 12 Joe Evans, 11 Joe Scarborough (Groark 66), 10 Peter Evans, 9 Connor Foley, 23 Dan Dixon, 2 Ed Graham, 3 James Watson (Beadling 79), 24 Ryan Kirkbride (Walton 34), 5 Mike Whinn (Kirkbride 65), 6 Tom Campbell, 7 Nathan Myers, 8 Dan Burns.
Replacements: 16 Kieran Clark, 17 Harry Beadling, 18 Mike Walton, 19 Peter Youll, 20 Louie Groark.
