Titans 17 Stourbridge 10

Rotherham Titans ran out narrow 17-10 winners over Stourbridge at a blustery, but bright Clifton Lane to maintain their promotion ambitions.

Both sides scored a try apiece, but ultimately it was the boot of Matt Minogue that sealed the win against a very good Stourbridge outfit.

Titans’ sole try of the game was scored by skipper Zak Poole 2 minutes from time and now the South Yorkshire side will focus on the important game against league leaders, Hull, in 7 days hence.

The game itself saw a much-improved Stourbridge team to the one Titans had played three weeks earlier at Stourton Park; a game the South Yorkshire side won with some ease to be fair.

However, in this one Stourbridge had loaded their backline with some big boys and the obvious message seemed to be run hard at Rotherham. This they did and for the first 20 minutes of the match Titans struggled to gain any control.

Indeed when hooker Jack Lea crashed over for the visitors and Michael Heaney converted on 21 minutes, the signs looked ominous for the home side.

Eventually Roth inched their way back into the contest with a couple of good penalties from Matt Minogue; this helped to calm the nerves somewhat as the game became a more even affair.

Heaney did slot over a penalty for the hosts before the break, but it was interesting Stourbridge decided to take the points on offer, as up to this juncture they had gone for the corner to set-up the drive. Titans’ resilience in defence had obviously had an impact on their change of strategy.

It was also noteworthy that this would be Stourbridge’s final score of the game as in the second half Rotherham managed to keep them pointless and indeed the West Midlanders rarely got anywhere near the Titans line; but that’s not to say it wasn’t a keenly-fought, close affair between two very good sides.

On the hour mark Rotherham took the lead for the first time when Minogue impressed again from the tee in difficult conditions from out wide.

Then two minutes from time Titans guaranteed the win when skipper, Zak Poole dotted down from a powerful driving maul close to the line.

Overall it was no more than Rotherham had deserved and equally the visitors more than earned their losing bonus point.

Speaking on the pitch immediately after the game, Titans’ Adam Byron said:

“I’ve just said to the boy’s teams that win championships sometimes have to win ugly and I would suggest that’s two weeks in a row that we have done that; but we’ve come out on the right side and we’ll take the win.

“Stourbridge probably had the better of the first half, but I thought we came back into the game well. We were very generous in the first half with the amount of opportunities we gave them, whether that be the penalties or mistakes in the wrong areas; but to come away only trailing by a point at half time is something I was very happy to take.

“We knew Stourbridge was a very good side and I think today’s score shows just how well we played when we went there 3 weeks ago, especially when we were 38-7 up at one stage.

“Today we saw Matt Minogue slot over some crucial kicks which helped to keep us in the game and I knew as long as we could stay in touch, I was confident we would go on to win the game in the second half.

Referee: Owen Taylor 

Attendance: 394

Yellow Card: Ciaran Moore (Stourbridge)

Titans: Poole (T), Minogue (4P)

Stourbridge: Lea (T), Heaney (P, C)

Titans: 15 Matt Minogue, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Colin Quigley (Richardson 28) (Donkor 46), 2 Harry Newborn, 27 Rikki Stout (Quigley 69), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Lewis Wilson, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Matti Williams, 8 Kieran Curran.  

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 28 Keifer Laxton, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Tom Richardson, 20 George Tucker.

Stourbridge: 15 Matt Moseley, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 10 Rhys Pritchard (Ororo 73), 12 Ciaran Moore, 11 Dan Rundle, 25 Mike Penn, 24 Michael Heaney (Capt.) (Morgan 73), 1 Stefan Thorp (McLeod 28), 2 Jack Lea, 3 Chad Thorne (Smith 70), 17 Nick Murphy (O'Sullivan 61), 5 Matt Perks, 6 Mark George, 7 Jasper Smith, 8 Tatenda Mukarati.

Replacements: 20 Ben O'Sullivan, 21 Clarkson McLeod, 19 Jess Smith, 23 Dallas Ororo, 22 Freddie Morgan.

Photo Credit: Gareth Lyons

Luctonians 10 Titans 12

POST-MATCH UPDATED NOTES:

The original full time score of 12-10 to Rotherham Titans was re-instated by the RFU after a series of meeting the following week.

The referee altered the final score after the game, deeming that the last kick of the game, a conversion by Matt Minogue for Rotherham, had gone under the crossbar.

The RFU saw video evidence to prove the kick was good, but more importantly ruled - the score on full time was 12-10 to Rotherham and this couldn’t be changed by anyone after the full time whistle, including the referee.

Rotherham Titans suffered a disappointing and controversial end to their game at Luctonians, as Matt Minogue’s last-kick-of-the-game conversion was deemed to have gone under the bar.

The match ended in a 10-10 draw on a heavy pitch, but Titans frustration was heightened when video footage emerged to clearly show the ball had gone over the bar legitimately.

The result means for the first time this season that Rotherham’s title ambitions are now out of their own hands.

The game itself had to be played on an adjacent pitch due to heavy rainfall in the area which left the main pitch laden with standing water.

In awful conditions due to the sodden surface and strong winds, the error count for both sides was understandably high and as such the game was always going to be a low-scoring affair.

The solitary score of the first half saw Luctonians scrum half Owen Randell dot down after a punt up-field saw the ball bounce kindly for the home side, before a hack on was finished off by the half back.

Titans’ task got a lot tougher just before the break when centre Harry Dunne was shown a red card for foul play.

Rotherham to their credit battled admirably throughout the second half into the unyielding wind and with a reduction in their numbers.

On 65 minutes however Titans endeavours were rewarded when lock forward Matt Challinor bulldozed his way over to level the scores.

Back came the home side as they pressed to regain the lead and as the ball was fed out wide, unfortunately for Rotherham Matt Minogue lost his footing in the mud and Ben Owen took full advantage to run in and score in the corner with 7 minutes remaining.

Rotherham impressed again with their response as their character came to the fore and they battled gamely uphill into the biting wind in search of a late win.

Dramatically in the final play of the match the South Yorkshire side managed to cross the whitewash next to the posts through skipper Zak Poole, after immense work from the Titans pack, to level the game at 10-10 with the conversion to follow.

Minogue duly added the extras and the two referee assistants raised their flags to indicate the dramatic, but successful end to the game for Rotherham.

However, in a cruel twist for the visitors, the referee held conference with his fellow officials before deciding the ball had gone underneath the crossbar!

Rotherham Titans suffered a disappointing and controversial end to their game at Luctonians, as Matt Minogue’s last-kick-of-the-game conversion was deemed to have gone under the bar.

The match ended in a 10-10 draw on a heavy pitch, but Titans frustration was heightened when video footage emerged to clearly show the ball had gone over the bar legitimately.

The result means for the first time this season that Rotherham’s title ambitions are now out of their own hands.

The game itself had to be played on an adjacent pitch due to heavy rainfall in the area which left the main pitch laden with standing water.

In awful conditions due to the sodden surface and strong winds, the error count for both sides was understandably high and as such the game was always going to be a low-scoring affair.

The solitary score of the first half saw Luctonians scrum half Owen Randell dot down after a punt up-field saw the ball bounce kindly for the home side, before a hack on was finished off by the half back.

Titans’ task got a lot tougher just before the break when centre Harry Dunne was shown a red card for foul play.

Rotherham to their credit battled admirably throughout the second half into the unyielding wind and with a reduction in their numbers.

On 65 minutes however Titans endeavours were rewarded when lock forward Matt Challinor bulldozed his way over to level the scores.

Back came the home side as they pressed to regain the lead and as the ball was fed out wide, unfortunately for Rotherham Matt Minogue lost his footing in the mud and Ben Owen took full advantage to run in and score in the corner with 7 minutes remaining.

Rotherham impressed again with their response as their character came to the fore and they battled gamely uphill into the biting wind in search of a late win.

Dramatically in the final play of the match the South Yorkshire side managed to cross the whitewash next to the posts through skipper Zak Poole, after immense work from the Titans pack, to level the game at 10-10 with the conversion to follow.

Minogue duly added the extras and the two referee assistants raised their flags to indicate the dramatic, but successful end to the game for Rotherham.

However, in a cruel twist for the visitors, the referee held conference with his fellow officials before deciding the ball had gone underneath the crossbar!

Referee: George Richardson

Attendance: 354

Red Card: Dunne (Titans)

Titans: Challinor (T), Poole (T)

Luctonians: Randell (T), Owen (T)

Titans: 15 George Tucker (Carlisle 24), 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 23 Jamie Cooke, 10 Matt Minogue, 9 Sam Boxhall, 28 Alastair Donkor (Richardson 40), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 60), 27 Rikki Stout (Quigley 53), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope (Williams 71), 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Lewis Wilson, 8 Kieran Curran. 

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Matti Williams, 19 Tom Richardson, 20 Joe Carlisle.

Luctonians: 15 Giles Morell, 14 Rob Bengry, 13 Nick Yeoward, 12 Ben Owen, 19 James Wheeler, 10 Tom Jones (Cheshire 65), 9 Owen Randell (Nott 57), 1 Connor Deignan, 2 Ben Link (Smith 43), 3 Joe White (Capt.), 4 Tom Smith, 5 Owien Harriott-Davis, 6 Jack Forsythe (Kone 67), 7 Mat Hackley, 8 Sam Jones.

Replacements: 16 Brad Smith, 20 Henry Powell, 30 Cheik Kone, 17 Aiden Cheshire, 21 Josh Nott.

Titans 40 Hull Ionians 12

Rotherham Titans maintained their ambitions of a top-end finish with an impressive 40-12 win over a determined and hugely physical Hull Ionians side.

Titans managed to keep their opponents try-less, whilst running in four scores themselves through a double from Kieran Curran and one each for Callum Bustin and Sam Boxhall.

Fly half Matt Minogue put in another perfect afternoon from the tee as he knocked over all 8 of his efforts.

However, the victory lost some of its gloss for the home side as Callum Bustin and Matt Smith both left the field on stretchers and at the time of writing all at Clifton Lane wish them a speedy recovery.

The game itself was played in windy and wet conditions, but despite this the handling from both sides was pretty impressive.

Following an early penalty from fly half Matt Minogue Titans scored their first try following a barnstorming break from centre Lloyd Hayes, which took play up to the five metre line, after which scrum half Sam Boxhall fed back rower Kieran Curran who powered his way over. Minogue added the extras.

Ionians got themselves on the board through two penalties from centre Lewis Minikin whose efforts sandwiched one from Matt Minogue.

Titans extended their lead on 30 minutes when number 8 Callum Bustin broke off the tail of a dominant maul for Roth’s second try. Minogue impressed from out wide with his conversion.

Rotherham continued to have the better of things in general, but credit to Ionians as some resilient defending kept out the home side. Indeed Lewis Minikin added two more penalties just before the break to send the teams in at half time with Roth holding a 20-12 advantage.

The second period saw Rotherham dominate even more as the visitors began to tire. Two early penalties from Minogue sent his side 26-12 up, before the third try arrived on 56 minutes.

From a line out close to Ionians line Roth set up a powerful driving maul which culminated in Kieran Curran dotting down for his second score of the match. Minogue dutifully added the extras.

The final score of the game came 15 minutes from time and secured the bonus point for the South Yorkshire side.

This time the score came from a flowing move which combined backs and forwards in the build-up, with flanker Matti Williams making good ground before offloading to Sam Boxhall to theatrically dive over the whitewash for the try of the match. Minogue completed a perfect afternoon’s work for himself with the extras.

Titans now have to regroup after the loss of Charlie Capps, Callum Bustin and Matt Smith in the last 2 weeks due to potentially serious injuries.

Speaking immediately after the game Titans Adam Byron said:

“Some of the gloss has obviously been taken off the result because we had two boys leave the field on a stretcher. The injuries didn’t look great, but it’s too early to know just how serious they are.

“We have to say a huge thanks to our medical department for looking after them; we are lucky at Rotherham to have such quality and experience in David Swift and Chris Myers.

“Whenever there is a serious injury which stops the game for a long period it takes it out of the boys and you can lose your focus, but the boys came together and did what they had to do and full credit to them for that.

“Hull Ionians are a good side and we knew they were going to give us a tough test and so we are really pleased to get the result and it’s another game in which we have scored 40 points against one of the top sides.

“Our real focus since the Fylde game has been our game management and that ability to be clinical in finishing off our opportunities and I thought we were good again in those areas and since I’ve been here it’s the first time we’ve been able to do that for two games in a row.

“It was also pleasing to see the boy’s not just win, but win convincingly – just as they did last week down at Stourbridge and that is very pleasing to see.”

Referee: Nikki O'Donnell

Attendance: 377

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Curran (2T), Bustin (T), Boxhall (T), Minogue (4P, 4C)

Hull Ionians: Minikin (4C)

Titans:

15 George Tucker

14 Connor Field

13 Lloyd Hayes

12 Harry Dunne

11 Jamie Cooke

10 Matt Minogue

9 Sam Boxhall (Fisher 78)

28 Alastair Donkor (Richardson 57)

2 Harry Newborn

27 Rikki Stout (Quigley 64)

4 Matt Challinor (Capt.)

5 Matt Smith (Bergmanas 59)

6 Kieran Curran

7 Matti Williams

8 Callum Bustin (Wilson 50)

Replacements:

16 Jack Bergmanas

17 Colin Quigley

18 Lewis Wilson

19 Tom Richardson

21 Oli Fisher

Hull Ionians:

15 Jack Townend

14 Sam Wilson (Metcalfe 41)

13 Lewis Minikin

12 Josh Britton (McDaniel 72)

11 Nathan Hill

10 Ben Smith

9 William Metcalfe (Kirk 40)

1 David Laverick (Bell 67) (Laverick 80)

2 Ben Stephenson

3 Ben Bell (Morton 41)

4 Joe Makin (Capt.)

5 Thomas Peters

6 Alex Campbell (Foffie 40)

7 Allan Hudson (Malcolmson 67)

8 George Mewburn

Replacements:

16 Christopher Morton

18 Kobby Foffie

23 James Malcolmson

19 James McDaniel

20 Charlie Kirk

StoUrbridge 33 Titans 48

Rotherham Titans returned to winning ways with an eye-catching 48-33 win over high-flyers Stourbridge on a windy afternoon at Stourton Park.

Rotherham outscored their opponents by 6 tries to 5, with Jamie Cooke, Zak Poole, Callum Bustin, Kieran Curran, Harry Newborn and Connor Field all crossing the whitewash, whilst Matt Minogue chipped in with a massive 18 points on a perfect day for him.

The win for Rotherham was an important one as it keeps them in touch with a host of clubs at the top of the table and they have taken points directly away from one of their main competitors.

The game itself saw Rotherham put in an excellent performance, but in particular they had a great opening 40 minutes where they scored three tries and restricted a dangerous Stourbridge side to very few opportunities.

Titans’ fly half Matt Minogue opened the scoring on 3 minutes with a well taken penalty before Jamie Cooke touched down for the first try of the game after receiving a huge miss-pass from Joe Carlisle.

Almost from the restart Roth had their second following more good work from Jamie Cooke which resulted in skipper Zak Poole charging in from 20 metres. Minogue impressed from out wide with his conversion to make it 17-0 after 20 minutes to stun the home side.

Stourbridge are not a top team without just cause and five minutes later they got themselves on the board when centre Seb Atkinson crossed the whitewash for captain and ex-Doncaster Knights scrum half, Michael Heaney, to convert.

Undeterred Rotherham continued to dominate in all aspects of the game and in particular at the set piece.

Ten minutes before the break Roth added to their try count when from a line out 15 metres from the line they ran a nice move through Matt Challinor who popped a pass back inside for Callum Bustin to charge through to score.

The second half opened up in the same manner when after 5 minutes Roth had the bonus point in the bag when Kieran Curran dotted down from a catch and drive close to the line.

The game was effectively sealed for the South Yorkshire side on 52 minutes when hooker Harry Newborn scored his side’s fifth try of the game from another line out close to the line, with Minogue adding the extras to make it 38-7.

With the game now gone Stourbridge threw caution to the wind and their backs were allowed to cut loose and this they did to great effect.

Just before the hour mark scores from fly half Afeafe Haisila and replacement centre Arthur Morgan gave the hosts slight hope of a miraculous comeback as they reduced the deficit to 38-19 with a quarter of the match to go.

However, five minutes later Titans Connor Field smashed that hope with an outstanding individual try. Collecting the ball from a goal line drop out around 30 metres out, the powerful winger charged through a host of defenders before showing neat footwork to round the full back to score Roth’s sixth try of the game.

In the final 10 minutes of this pulsating contest a Matt Minogue penalty was sandwiched with two more tries from Stourbridge; firstly with a penalty try and then at the death with winger Dan Rundle touching down.

Speaking on the pitch following this 81-point thriller Titans Adam Byron said:

“Obviously I am really pleased with the result and really proud of the boys; we wanted a reaction after last week and we certainly got that. We’ve come here and ticked a lot of boxes and got rid of a lot of question marks after the Fylde game.

“Playing into the wind in the first half we knew we were going to have to control the half in terms of territory and possession and the boys did that. They were clinical when they needed to be and that’s pleasing as we spoke about that coming into the game.

“We knew Stourbridge was a very good side and we saw that today, they were so dangerous from everywhere on the field and they have some real gas out wide.

“For me however the most important thing about today is that we have ticked boxes that we didn’t last week. We didn’t control the game like we should have done, we weren’t clinical in certain areas and our game management wasn’t as good as it should have been, in that we had all the territory and possession but didn’t come away with the win.

“So the difference from that and this week was huge and we really showed that we do understand how to control games and how to finish them off and that was the most pleasing aspect for me.”

Referee: Andy Wigley

Attendance: 450

Yellow Card: Smith (Titans)

Titans: Cooke (T), Poole (T), Bustin (T), Curran (T), Newborn (T), Field (T), Minogue (2P, 6C)

Stourbridge: Atkinson (T), Haisila (T), Morgan (T), Rundle (T), Penalty Try, Heaney (3C)

Titans: 15 Matt Minogue, 14 Connor Field, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 George Tucker, 10 Joe Carlisle (West 75), 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 29), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 57), 3 Rikki Stout, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith (Williams 75), 6 Zak Poole (Capt) (Curran 31), 7 Matti Williams (Wilson 57), 8 Callum Bustin. 

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Lewis Wilson, 19 Kieran Curran, 20 Jonny West.

Stourbridge: 15 Tom Bacon, 14 Mark Harrison (Wilson 60), 13 Seb Atkinson, 12 Hal Riley (Morgan 41), 11 Dan Rundle, 10 Afeafe Haisila (Scott 57), 9 Michael Heaney (Capt.), 1 Mark George (Thorp 46), 2 Brad Clements, 3 Chad Thorne, 4 Matt Perks, 5 Ben O'Sullivan, 6 Jasper Smith (Jess Smith 50), 7 Michael Worthington, 8 Tatenda Mukarati.

Replacements: 16 Stefan Thorp, 17 Jess Smith, 18 Arthur Morgan, 19 Tobi Wilson, 20 Christopher Scott.