Rotherham Titans suffered a disappointing 38-19 defeat to Wharfedale in their final away game of the season on a warm afternoon at The Avenue.
The disappointment of the result however was overshadowed by a nasty injury to Titans winger Jamie Cooke at the end of the game.
Jamie broke both tibia and fibula in his right leg and underwent an operation in Airedale Hospital where his leg was pinned and plated. Our best wishes, alongside many others who were at the game, including Wharfedale RUFC go out to Jamie for a speedy recovery.
The game itself will be one Rotherham will want to forget and consign to the bin quickly, as it was possibly their most disappointing defeat of a long and difficult season with all the severe injuries that they have picked up along the way.
Right from the start there were worrying signs for the South Yorkshire side as their play appeared to be disjointed and full of errors.
Wharfedale by comparison looked energetic and eager for battle as they ran hard and with intent. Their bright start was converted into points as they raced into a 10-0 lead inside the opening 15 minutes, following a penalty from fly half Tom Davidson and a converted try by flanker Ryan Carlson.
Titans did hit back following impressive work from Jamie Cooke; the winger showed good pace and power to break before popping a nice inside pass to Connor Field allowing him to race in for a nice score.
Back came the hosts however and they deservedly increased their advantage as play was spread across the park quickly ending up with winger Oli Cicognini dotting down.
Before the break Titans skipper Zak Poole scored from a line out close to the line to give his side some hope of a comeback in the second half.
However, the second period saw an even more dominant display from Wharfedale and by the 71st minute they had the game wrapped up following two further tries from hooker Madison Hunting and winger Rian Hamilton, combined with two penalties from Tom Davidson to stretch the hosts lead to 35-12.
Titans collected a consolation try 5 minutes from time when Harry Dunne went over near the corner, but the final say fittingly lay with Wharfedale as Tom Davidson bagged his 4th penalty of the afternoon.
Titans will now need to regroup and prepare themselves for the final game of the season this Saturday when they host local rivals Sheffield Tigers at Clifton Lane; please note the earlier kick-off time of 12 noon.
Referee: Daniel Woods
Attendance: 535
Yellow Card: Carlisle (Titans)
Titans: Field (T), Poole (T), Dunne (T), Carlisle (2C)
Wharfedale: Carlson (T), Cicognini (T), Hunting (T), Hamilton (T), Davidson (4P, 3C)
Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Connor Field, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne, 21 George Tucker, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Sam Boxhall (Fisher 71), 18 Alastair Donkor (Richardson 33) (Donkor 63), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 27 Rikki Stout (Quigley 63), 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope (Williams 51), 5 Lewis Allan, 6 Kieran Curran, 7 Marcus Payne, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).
Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Colin Quigley, 19 Tom Richardson, 25 Matti Williams, 22 Oli Fisher.
Wharfedale: 15 Harry Bullough, 14 Rian Hamilton, 13 Ben Blackwell (Stockdale 62), 12 Beau Verity (Moore 55), 11 Oli Cicognini, 10 Tom Davidson, 9 Jack Blakeney-Edwards, 1 Joe Altham, 2 Madison Hunting (Blackwell 68), 3 Sam Dickinson, 4 Rhys Green, 5 Elliott Stockton (Beesley 48), 6 Ryan Carlson (Hedgley 32) (Stockton 55), 7 Jack Pinder (Thompson 63), 30 Josh Burridge (Capt.).
Replacements: 16 Matt Beesley, 18 Dan Stockdale, 17 George Hedgley, 19 Jack Thompson, 20 Jonathan Moore.
