Rotherham Titans were forced to graft hard in defence before grabbing a 18-17 victory with a last-kick-of-the-match penalty from Lloyd Hayes on a grey afternoon at Clifton Lane.
The teams shared 4 tries with Rotherham’s scores coming from Luke Cole and Rob Povey, whilst Lloyd Hayes added 8 points from the tee.
The foundation for this hard-fought victory was built on an epic defensive display by Rotherham.
However, full credit must be extended to Plymouth; they came to Clifton Lane and almost conquered on the back of a valiant effort which saw them spend long periods in the Rotherham half of the pitch.
Indeed, they deservedly took the lead inside the opening 5 minutes when hooker Rhys Williams dotted down from the tail of a catch and drive close to the line.
Titans soon responded though when following a period of forward pressure the ball arrived with hooker Luke Cole who dived over to level the scores.
Against the run of play Rotherham went ahead on 20 minutes when fly half Rob Povey intercepted a pass 5 metres from his line and raced the length of the field to score.
Rotherham spent the remainder of the half on the back foot as Albion powered forward with their big pack. Incredibly however they managed to keep them out under the severest of pressure and often on their own line.
If Roth were hoping to turn the tide in the second half they would have been disappointed. Albion continued where they’d left off in the first half as they dominated most of what went on.
Eventually the pressure told just after the hour mark when the dam broke and Plymouth were awarded a penalty try to take the lead.
Not long after Titans Lloyd Hayes and Albion’s Tom Putt traded penalties to leave the score at 17-15 to the visitors.
In a final twist however, in the very last play of the game Rotherham were awarded a penalty in front of the posts. Up stepped Hayes to nail the kick and secure an unexpected win.
Whilst Albion will no doubt feel they let this one get away, the Rotherham players can be proud of their commitment to stay in the game and their desire to put their bodies on the line to grab the win.
Commenting after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:
“I think for the supporter watching a team win with the last play of the game is always exciting and feels rewarding, but I think this is one of those occasions where Plymouth came here and obviously really fronted up. You could see the emphasis they put in around the set piece, the scrum and the maul in particular.
“But then I’ve got to look at the reaction of our players; I thought our defensive sets and the length of time we were in those defensive sets was exceptional.
“I think the way we problem solved through the adversity of the yellow cards was really great as was the fact that in the 81st minute we could still go and find field position to earn a penalty to win the game.
“That’s what it means stepping up; the game is about small margins and today not a lot went our way, we didn’t have a lot of possession, we didn’t have a lot of territory and you’ve got to give Plymouth credit for the way they brought the game to us, but we’ll go away with a well earned and well-fought four points.”
Titans: Cole (T), Povey (T), Hayes (1C, 2P)
Plymouth Albion: Williams (T), Penalty try, Putt (1C, 1P)
Yellow Card: Capps, Thomas, Bergmanas (Titans)
Attendance: 250
Referee: Ben Rayner
Assistant Referees: Adam Carpenter & Jason Garrick
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Aidan Shortall, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Ronnie Du Randt, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps ©, 2 Luke Cole, 3 Rikki Stout, 4 Zak Poole ©, 5 Curran Maguire, 6 Ellis Thomas, 7 Harry Newborn, 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Andrew Foster, 19 Harry Gilson-Fox, 20 James Naylor.
Plymouth Albion: 15 Tom Putt, 14 Shae Cornish, 13 Archie Hill, 12 Israel Akinrowo, 11 Craig Duncan, 10 Harry Legg, 9 Jack Oulton (Capt.), 1 Jenson Boughton, 2 Rhys Williams, 3 Dan Pullinger, 4 Jake Clemson, 5 Joel Broadhurst, 6 Angus Hodges 7 Jake Bond, 8 Herbie Stupple.
Replacements: 16 Ben Moa, 17 Harry Wilkinson, 18 Ethan Burger, 19 Morgan Stone, 20 Frankie Dart.
