Rotherham Titans put in an outstanding performance as they beat local rivals Sheffield Tigers 40-10 on a wet afternoon at Dore Moor.
Titans outscored their near-neighbours by 5 tries to 1 with scores coming via a brace from Danny Rylance and one each for Sam Veall, Theo Nwosu-Hope and Matt Challinor, with Lloyd Hayes adding 15 points from the tea.
Hayes’s tally from the game ensured he ended the season with the accolade of being the leading point’s scorer in the division.
With Titans having lost the reverse fixture at Clifton Lane earlier in the season, there was a sense of wanting to even the score going into this one and Rotherham certainly put in a motivated and powerful performance to finish their campaign in some style.
The game started as expected with both sides showing plenty of enthusiasm for the task ahead, but it was Roth who nosed ahead on 7 minutes when Lloyd Hayes knocked over a penalty.
Roth soon stamped their authority on the match though, with their pack in particular showing good dominance both at the set piece and in the loose.
However, when Roth’s first try came it was from scrum half Sam Veal. The acting half back showed great awareness and guile to snipe over from the base of a ruck. Hayes’ successful conversion secured him as the division’s leading point’s scorer for the season.
Ten minutes later and Roth increased their lead when tight head prop Danny Rylance dotted down from a catch and drive close to the line.
Just before the break Tigers did get on the board when fly half Mark Ireland knocked over a penalty.
Following the half time oranges Rotherham started the second period just as strong as the first and inside two minutes had their third try when second rower Theo Nwosu-Hope showed great determination to power his way over.
Hayes converted and followed up with two further penalties to stretch his side’s lead to 28-3.
However, no game between these two teams would be the same without a try from former Titan and Tigers centre Jamie Broadley and just before the hour mark Jamie raced through for his usual dot down under the posts.
Unfortunately for the home side this success was not a catalyst for a comeback as seven minutes later Danny Rylance collected the ball from the tail of a line-out before racing through to score.
The final try of the game came shortly after when Roth’s Matt Challinor collected the ball five metres out before bulldozing his way over with Tigers defenders hanging from him.
The result ensured Rotherham finished the season with six straight wins and following Otley confirming their last game of the season Vs Blaydon wouldn’t take place, Roth secured a fourth place finish in the table.
Speaking after the game Titans Gary Pearce said:
“We knew this was going to be a special game because it’s a local derby and when you get beat in the first one it should motivate you to do better in the next one and all credit to the lads for turning it around today.
“The scoreboard didn’t flatter us at all and the margin of victory should have been much wider; I knew in our warm-up the lads really wanted it and they played ridiculously well and fully deserved the win.
“We weren’t as clinical as we could have been at times, we got a bit excited at overplaying, but it’s the end of the season and you can’t stop them trying to play a bit of rugby. You want them to play, but to also respect the ball.
“In the second half we came out and just blew them away in the first 20 minutes with our power and overall we are really pleased with how the game went.
“I have to give a mention to Lloyd Hayes on his achievement of topping the scoring charts in the division. He’s incredibly accurate off the tee and he doesn’t miss many and all credit to him for what he’s done this year; we are very proud of him.”
Referee: Gavin Jones
Attendance: 365
Yellow Card: Rylance (Titans)
Titans: Rylance (2T), Veall (T), Nwosu-Hope (T), Challinor (T), Hayes (3C, 3P)
Sheffield Tigers: Broadley (T), Ireland (1C, 1P)
Titans: 15 Tomasi Tanumi, 14 Jack Hedley, 13 Harry Dunne, 18 Callum Bustin, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue (Denman 54) (Sableman-Blue 64) (Taylor 69), 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 Sam Veall, 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 57), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Capps 68), 3 Gareth Denman (Rylance 30), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Lewis Allan (Tucker 76), 7 Marcus Payne (Godden 68), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).
Replacements: 12 Aydan Godden, 17 Alastair Donkor, 27 Danny Rylance, 19 Jack Taylor, 21 George Tucker.
Sheffield Tigers: 15 Will Baker, 14 Michael Graham (Miller-Pickering 71), 13 Jamie Broadley, 12 Sam Wager, 11 Curtis Wilson (Chapman 18), 10 Mark Ireland, 9 Ryan Holmes (Capt,), 1 Sim Meek, 17 Will Archer (Townsend 41), 3 Nick Bingham (Cone 78), 4 Joe Fitzsimons, 5 Dan Hawksworth (Cartwright 48), 6 Connor Scott, 7 Angus Hughes, 8 Josh Redfern.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Cone, 2 Louis Townsend, 18 Harry Cartwright, 19 Harry Chapman, 20 Tyler Miller-Pickering.
