Titans 22 Durham University 19

Rotherham Titans were made to work exceptionally hard for their 22-19 win over BUCS side Durham University on a warm evening under the lights at Clifton Lane.

The hard-fought victory was fully deserved and it served to complete Roth’s pre-season preparations ahead of the visit of Billingham next Saturday for the start of the National 2 North season.

Titans outscored Durham by 4 tries to 3, with a brace coming for Luke Cole and one each for JB Bruzulier and Charlie Capps; Lloyd Hayes added a conversion.

Full credit must be given to Durham who threatened continuously throughout the game and as expected looked bright and lively as they attacked Roth whenever the opportunity arose.

It wasn’t the Titans finest performance to be fair; the South Yorkshire outfit gave away far too many penalties and too often made mistakes at crucial times in promising positions.

However, what was commendable was the spirit they displayed to find a way to get the win and hopefully that same spirit will give them great optimism for the new campaign ahead.

Two Luke Cole catch and drive tries cancelled out dot downs from Toby Tyson and Jake Spurway for the visitors, as the sides went in at the break level at 12-apiece.

Durham skipper Pat Bishop gave the Uni outfit the lead again just 7 minutes into the second half as he converted his own try; all of which kept the pressure on the home side.

Replacement scrum half JB Bruzulier narrowed the Titans deficit with an unconverted try five minutes later and on the hour mark loosehead prop Charlie Capps nosed his side ahead to make it 22-19.

But rather than kicking on Roth struggled to break the shackles of the north east side, but to be fair the visitors never really had an opportunity to take home the spoils.

So Rotherham ended their pre-season run with a perfect 3 wins from 3 and now their focus will be fully tuned in for the visit of Billingham on Saturday.

Guernsey Raiders 12 Titans 35

Rotherham Titans continued their fine pre-season form with an impressive 35-12 win over Channel Islands based side Guernsey Raiders, on a baking summer’s afternoon at Footes Lane.

Rotherham outscored their hosts by 5 tries to 2, with Laurence Cowan-Leak, Harry Dunne, Gareth Denman, Charlie Capps and Lewis Allan all crossing the whitewash; whilst Lloyd Hayes enjoyed a perfect afternoon with 5 conversions.

The match demonstrated the Titans pack strength throughout a keenly contested affair and one they hope, will stand them in good order for the new season ahead in 2 weeks time.

However it was the hosts who scored first when a clearance kick from Roth was charged down inside their own 22; and following a number of subsequent phases second rower Lewis Hillier bundled his way over.

Indeed Rotherham had to wait until the 21st minute before they got on the board and when it came it did so by way of some powerful work by their impressive pack which saw back rower Laurence Cowan-Leak crash over.

Ten minutes later and Roth extended their lead when this time Harry Dunne joined the pack-party to finish off from close range.

The second half saw Roth increase their superiority and advantage when tight head prop Gareth Denman finished off some more forward dominance.

One the hour mark loose head prop Charlie Capps got in on the act as he too added to his sides tally.

Ten minutes from time Guernsey scored the try of the game through Hugo Culverhouse, when from turnover ball inside their 22 they quickly moved play downfield through a number of hands to dot down.

However, Rotherham had the final say four minutes from time when second rower Lewis Allan was on hand to go over following more good work from the pack.

Titans will now look ahead to finishing their pre-season preparations by welcoming Durham University to Clifton Lane on Friday evening for a 7:30pm kick-off.

Then 7 days later the National 2 North season gets underway with the visit of newly promoted Billingham to Clifton Lane.

Titans 40 Newport Salop 7

Rotherham Titans kicked-off their pre-season campaign with a well-deserved 40-7 victory over Shropshire based side Newport Salop.

Titans outscored Salop by 6 tries to 1 with Zak Poole bagging a brace, whilst there was one try each for Jack Bergmanas, Callum Bustin, Laurence Cowen-Leak and Rupert Kay. Lloyd Hayes knocked over 5 conversions for his 10-point tally.

The game was played out in three 25 minute periods with both sides performing well considering it was the first run-out of pre-season.

Newport finished 10th in National League 2 West last term following promotion to the National leagues and their aim is to make the top half of the table this time around.

The game itself saw Rotherham start brightly as they raced into a 14-0 lead just after 10 minutes with catch and drives being finished off by skipper Zak Poole and hooker Jack Bergmanas.

On 20 minutes Roth had their third try when Callum Bustin showed terrific pace and power as he collected a nice inside pass from scrum half Kareem Eissa; the converted back rower charged almost 50 metres to smash his way over next to the sticks.

The second period saw Salop come into the game a little more; culminating in a deserved try from hooker Kev Raqio as he picked up from the base of a ruck to barge his way over.

Rotherham soon hit back however with a further two tries in this period. Laurence Cowan-Leak went in for a powerful try following a spell of forward pressure on the line, before Poole popped up on the right wing to dart over in the corner for his second try of the game.

Remarkably there was only one score in the final period and it came in the last play of the match; but what a try it was!

Following turnover ball in the Titans 22 a counter-attack was mounted and after multiple phases and 11 passes Rupert Kay collected to dot down in the corner.

Lloyd Hayes nailed an excellent conversion from the touchline to make it 5 out of 6 successful kicks.

Next up for the Titans is a trip to the Channel Islands when they take on National League 2 East side Guernsey Raiders on Saturday.