Rotherham Titans put in an impressive performance to run out 49-24 winners over a hard-working Hull Ionians outfit on a bright afternoon at Brantingham Park.
Rotherham outscored the hosts by 7 tries to three as John Okafor and Loma Kivalu helped themselves to a brace of tries, with Charlie Capps, JB Bruzulier and Lloyd Hayes all going over too; the latter also impressed from the tea as he secured a perfect afternoon with 7 conversions.
The victory was well-deserved and maintains Titans unbeaten record this term; it also keeps them within touching distance of league leaders Leeds Tykes.
The game itself played in a combative spirit, saw Ionians take the lead on 3 minutes when Lewis Minikin knocked over a penalty.
Rotherham soon settled however and began to enjoy periods of possession and territory which resulted in the first try, when fly half Will Milner slipped through to send in John Okafor under the posts.
Despite their increasing dominance Rotherham had to wait until just before the half hour mark before their next score.
This time it was scrum half JB Bruzulier with a little pop-pass that sent in loose head prop Charlie Capps.
Just before the break Titans Jack Taylor was yellow carded; the result of which saw Ionians camped on the Titans line for a full five minutes.
This was a huge moment in the game, but Rotherham managed to hold out with some outstanding defending with 14 men.
After the break Roth quickly found their stride and by the hour mark had run in another 3 tries to virtually seal the game.
First up JB Bruzulier spun off the back of a powerful maul to dive over, then Lloyd Hayes collected a pass from Bruzulier and proceeded to cut through the I’s defence to score and finally front row replacement Loma Kivalu picked up from the base of a ruck close to the line to dive over.
Inside the final 10 minutes and with the game gone, Ionians chose to run everything in pursuit of a try bonus point.
Eight minutes from time Lewis Minikin got the ball rolling when he sliced through quite easily for I’s first try.
From the restart Roth responded immediately when John Okafor collected and proceeded to gallop almost half the length of the field for a nice individual try.
Back came the hosts however and with lots of adventure and ambition scored a quick-fire brace of tries through Joe Makin and Lucas Powell.
Nevertheless Rotherham did have the final say when Kivalu collected near the posts to dive over in a frenetic ending to the game.
Other than the final 10 minutes of the match Rotherham would have been delighted with their defensive effort, but more importantly, to come away from a tricky test like Hull Ionians with five points is to be highly commended.
Titans will now turn their attention to and prepare well for their next assignment, when Hull visit Clifton Lane on Saturday.
Referee: Michael Harris
Attendance: 317
Yellow Card: Taylor (Titans)
Titans: Okafor (2T), Kivalu (2T), Capps (T), Bruzulier (T), Hayes (T, 7C)
Hull Ionians: Makin (T), Powell (T), Minikin (T, P, 3C)
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Dan Rundle, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Tomasi Tanumi, 11 Jack Taylor, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier (Eissa 59), 1 Charlie Capps (Kivalu 51), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 51), 3 Gareth Denman (Ward 40), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith (Cowen-Leak 79), 19 John Okafor, 7 Laurence Cowen-Leak (Bustin 53), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 30 Reece Ward, 18 Callum Bustin, 20 Kareem Eissa.
Hull Ionians: 15 Lewis Minikin, 14 Sam Wilson (Winch 64), 13 Josh Britton, 12 Will Stowe, 11 Will Yates, 10 Sam Pocklington, 9 Jimmy McDaniel (Hassard 64), 1 Chris Morton, 2 Ally Forth (Edwards 64), 3 Euan Walker (Westwood 46), 4 Joe Makin, 5 Callum Sanderson (Gascoigne 56), 6 Lucas Powell, 7 James Sanderson (Capt.), 8 George Mewburn.
Replacements: 16 Scott Westwood, 19 Sam Edwards, 21 Declan Gascoigne, 24 Tom Winch, 20 Sam Hassard.
