Sale FC 21 Titans 17

Rotherham Titans were denied a famous victory as Sale scored in the final play of the game to run out 21-17 winners on a bright but at times wet afternoon at Heywood Road.

Sale crashed over from a catch and drive in the fifth minute of injury time and although the referee couldn’t see the ball grounded, the assistant referee gave the try.

Titans crossed the whitewash twice with scores from Charlie Capps and Tomasi Tanumi, with Lloyd Hayes adding 7 points from the tee.

Despite the disappointment of defeat Rotherham can be proud of their efforts against one of the top established sides in the division.

They will now focus their attention on next week’s visit of Ding’s Crusaders to Clifton Lane.

Sale started the game brightly with their early efforts being rewarded on 5 minutes when scrum half Joe Green finished off a nice break from the home side.

The early score in previous times may have sent out an ominous warning to the Titans, but in truth it was Rotherham that enjoyed the lion’s share of territory and possession thereafter; their set piece worked well throughout and once again their pack had the better of things at scrum time.

Indeed, Sale wouldn’t score again until 5 minutes before the end.

Rotherham soon levelled matters when loosehead prop Charlie Capps went over after some powerful work close to the line.

Titans took a deserved lead before the half hour mark when centre Tomasi Tanumi found a gap in the Sale defence to slip through and score.

Before the break Rotherham had opportunities to add to their tally, but credit to Sale as their determined defence managed to keep them out.

Lloyd Hayes extended the South Yorkshire sides lead to 17-7 before the hour mark and at this stage it looked as if Roth would go on to run out comfortable winners.

However, Sale are not a top-end side without just cause.

Having hung-in for much of the second half, their time came on 75 minutes when Stone Priestley-Nangle managed to squeeze through the Titans defence to dot down under the posts to set up a tense finale.

In the final play of the game Sale were awarded a penalty and rather than opting to take the 3 points and draw the game, they took the brave option of kicking to the corner.

From the line out a melee ensued over the Titans line and whilst it seemed as if the ball was held up and as no one appeared to be able to see if the ball was grounded or not, it looked as if the only option available to the referee was to signal held up and blow for time.

Unfortunately for Rotherham the touch judge who was ten metres away was able to advise the referee that a try had been scored.

So the game ended in heartbreak for Rotherham, but they can take pride in their performance and confidence in the knowledge they can compete with the best sides in the division.

Speaking post match Harvey Biljon reflected:

“I think you saw a reaction from Sale today and they put in one hell of a performance and gave us a real battle. I think what was encouraging and what we enjoyed was giving our squad a taste of what a top-end National 1 game feels like and looks like.

“It might be a little bit disheartening when you lose a game in injury time, but at the same time I was really impressed by the effort from our players and I’m excited because we’re still learning and we’ve still got a long way to go.

“There was three or four moments with the officials where we gave away a few penalties and we need to go away and understand how to get on their side, because when you look at it from the touchline you’ve got confusion.

“So it’s how the players take those messages from the referee and make sure they can adapt at the right time.

“I don’t have the answers for our players on a couple of questions they have given me, so I’ve got to go away and find out how we can coach those moments in training through the week.

“However, we have just come away from home to Sale FC and taken a point; no one gave us a hope at the beginning of the season. Let’s get encouraged about taking a point against a very good team and look forward to our next challenge against Dings Crusaders.”

Titans: Capps (T), Tanumi (T), Hayes (2C, 1P)

Sale FC: Green (T), Priestley-Nangle (T), Brown (T), Hunt (3C)

Yellow Card: None

Attendance: 600

Referee: Adam Wookey

Assistant Referees: Adam Carpenter & Michael Harris

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Travis Gideon, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Tomasi Tanumi, 11 Ronnie Du Randt, 10 Rob Povey (Ollivent 34) (Povey 40), 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps (Capt.) (Kivalu 30) (Capps 46), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 47), 3 Andrew Foster (Stout 30) (Foster 46) (Stout 74), 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Copley 42), 5 Curran Maguire, 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn, 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Ben Copley, 20 Corben Ollivent.

Sale FC: 15 Mark Dixon, 14 Obi Ene, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 James Robins, 11 Tom Walsh (Roberts 59), 10 Will Hunt, 9 Joe Green (Street 47), 1 Ben Carlile (Brown 56), 2 Josh Brown (Pope 42), 3 Ciaran Parker (Ford 47), 4 Nick Gray, 5 Evan Mintern, 6 Jos Gilmore (Priestley-Nangle 47), 7 Ciaran Booth (Carlile 68), 8 Andrew Hughes (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Jake Pope, 17 Callum Ford, 18 Stone Priestley-Nangle, 19 Osian Roberts, 20 Sean Street.

Titans 48 Esher 19

Rotherham Titans were made to graft hard before eventually running out 48-19 winners over a dangerous Esher side on a sunny afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Rotherham outscored their Surrey-based opponents by 7 tries to 3 with Lloyd Hayes contributing 23 points after dotting down for a brace and adding 13 points from the tee. Callum Bustin also scored two tries, with Jack Bergmanas, Ronnie Du Randt and Luke Cole completing the scoring.

Titans’ forwards demonstrated their dominance throughout which in turn laid the foundations for a rapid start that saw them race into a 19-0 lead inside the opening 25 minutes.

Two powerful Callum Bustin tries sandwiched one from hooker Jack Bergmanas, all of which came through driving mauls close to the line.

Titans blistering start hit the buffers when two Esher tries in the space of 5 minutes followed. Firstly, second rower Will Inglis charged down a clearance kick and proceed to collect and gallop through, then winger Stan Norman intercepted and raced in to narrow his sides deficit to 19-12.

Stunned by Esher’s quick-fire response Rotherham had to regroup and steady the ship. This they did however and before the break they re-established control when Lloyd Hayes collected just inside the visitors 22 before skipping through to score.

The second half saw Esher start brightly as they moved the ball quickly looking for gaps in the Rotherham defence, which they found on 51 minutes when a short pass arrived with full back Harry Faulkner who charged through to score.

Esher were now enjoying their best period of the game and when on the hour mark they chose to kick a 3-pointer from in front of the sticks, it looked as though they would trail by just 4 points. Surprisingly however, Owen Waters saw his effort drift just wide of the target.

From that point on the visitors rarely trouble the Titans line.

Lloyd Hayes extended Roth’s lead with a penalty before full back Ronnie Du Randt nipped in at the corner for the fifth try.

Replacement hooker Luke Cole quickly added the sixth and Lloyd Hayes added the cherry on the top when in the final play of the game he went in for Titans seventh.

Other than for a brief blip in concentration during the third quarter Rotherham will have been delighted with their efforts, which sees them unbeaten after 3 games in National 1.

Next week Roth face a huge test when they cross the Pennines to take on Sale FC at Heywood Road and their focus will now quickly turn to that.

Speaking after the game Titans Harvey Biljon reflected:

"We had a tremendous start but were frustrated by our efficiency in being able to control the pitch and play in the right areas.

"When you concede tries from a charge-down and an intercept you allow teams to stay in the game a little bit longer and it took us 15 or 20 minutes through the second half to impose ourselves again.

“We have to stay focussed and execute the skill and do the brilliant basics for the 80."

Titans: Bustin (2T), Bergmanas (T), Du Randt (T), Cole (T), Hayes (2T, 5C, 1P)

Esher: Inglis (T), Norman (T), Faulkner (T), Waters (2C)

Yellow Card: Wilkins & Gratton (Esher)

Attendance: 250

Referee: Tim Allatt

Assistant Referees: Kieron Henry & Tim Dyer

Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Travis Gideon, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Tomasi Tanumi, 11 Jamie Cooke (Naylor 78), 10 Rob Povey, 9 James Naylor (JB Bruzulier 40), 1 Charlie Capps (Kivalu 49), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 49), 3 Andrew Foster (Donkor 37) (Foster 63), 4 Zak Poole (Capt.), 5 Curran Maguire (Thomas 57), 6 John Okafor, 7 Harry Newborn (Maguire 76), 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Ellis Thomas, 20 JB Bruzulier.

Esher: 15 Harry Faulkner, 14 Stan Norman, 13 Ed Volley (Clare 68), 12 Owen Waters, 11 James Botterill, 10 Tom Walker, 9 Charlie Clare (Mortimer 49), 1 Jacob Morris, 2 Sam Westmacott (Ganley 44), 3 Sam Gratton (Seriki 49), 4 Adam Bullett (Capt.), 5 Will Inglis, 6 Cam Wilkins (Norris 51), 7 Gabriel Seriki (Spiers 44), 8 Josh Thorne (McLean 61).

Replacements: 16 Tom Spiers, 17 Conor Ganley, 18 Olly Norris, 19 Alex McLean, 20 Henry Mortimer. 

Darlington Mowden Park 28 Titans 45

Rotherham Titans impressed in week 2 of National 1 with a 45-28 win over Darlington Mowden Park on a sunny afternoon at the Darlington Arena.

Titans outscored the hosts by 6 tries to 4 with a brace of dot downs for both Zak Poole and Callum Bustin, with Ronni Du Randt and Harry Newborn also crossing the whitewash. Lloyd Hayes sealed a perfect afternoon from the tee with 15 points.

The key to the game was Titans blistering start which saw them race into a 21-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes.

Titans powerful pack laid the foundations as Zak Poole and Callum Bustin bulldozed over for the opening two tries.

This was quickly followed by full back Ronnie Du Randt cutting through to dot down.

A shell shocked Park were forced into making a couple of changes and this lead to former Titan Garry Law coming on in the 23rd minute.

Park worked themselves back into the contest and got on the board when live-wire scrum half Ben Douglas broke through to score.

Rotherham however were in no mood to take their foot off the pedal.

Lloyd Hayes extended Rotherham’s advantage shortly after with a 3-pointer from the tee, before in the final play of the half Harry Newborn secured the bonus point as he finished off after good work from Travis Gideon.

The second half saw the home side make the game a far more even affair.

Indeed, two quick tries after the restart from Ben Douglas and Ollie Walker narrowed Park’s deficit to 31-21 to give them hope of a remarkable comeback.

Sparked back into life however, Rotherham snuffed out the home sides hopes quickly as Bustin and Poole both barged over to effectively wrap up the game.

Credit to Park though, they never gave up and a minute from time they grabbed a deserved bonus point when centre Ben Frankland dotted down.

Rotherham can be delighted, if a little surprised, with their start in National 1 as two wins from their opening two games sees them just a point behind leaders Rams.

The focus will now switch to next Saturday’s home encounter against fellow promoted side Esher at Clifton Lane.

Speaking after the game Harvey Biljon reflected:

“I am absolutely delighted that we have come away from home with a really tough test and got five points; that for this team is a brilliant achievement.

“I think there’ll be a fair bit of learning on how competitive this league is; Darlington did not give up and they thoroughly deserved their four tries and the bonus point.

“At the same time we’ve got to learn not to give those up; there was probably a couple of passes in the first and second half where I think if we can get that right on the pitch, we can make further improvement.

“We have said from the beginning that this is a squad performance and yes we do have a long injury list, but it’s great to see the squad come together and still travel in the right direction and be able to step in and stick to task around what the team is trying to achieve.

“It was great to see those guys come in today; Travis Gideon, James Naylor and Ben Copley all did a great job. Hopefully they’ve got a taste for it and want to keep on taking this club in the right direction.

At this early stage I think we are exceeding expectation, but let’s try and ride the wave as long as we can; we know it’s not going to be easy and we have an even bigger test coming up next in Esher, but let’s try and enjoy the journey and keep improving.”

Titans: Poole (2T), Bustin (2T), Du Randt (T), Newborn (T), Hayes (6C, 1P)

Darlington Mowden Park: Douglas (2T), Walker (T), Frankland (T), Law (4C)

Yellow Card: Newborn (Titans)

Attendance: 712

Referee: Ben Rayner

Assistant Referees: Brendan Fitzmaurice & Simon Williams

Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Travis Gideon, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Tomasi Tanumi, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier (Naylor 67), 1 Charlie Capps (Co-Capt.) (Kivalu 32) (Capps 58) (Kivalu 32) , 2 Luke Cole (Bergmanas 45), 3 Andrew Foster (Stout 32) (Foster 58) (Stout 78), 4 Zak Poole (Co-Capt.), 5 Curran Maguire, 6 Ben Copley (Allan 62), 7 Harry Newborn, 8 Callum Bustin (Copley 67).

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Lewis Allan, 20 James Naylor.

Darlington Mowden Park: 15 Josh Ree, 14 Ollie Walker, 13 Liam Checksfield, 12 Ben Frankland, 11 Ewan Greenlaw, 10 Harry Read (Law23), 9 Ben Douglas, 1 Alfie Barron, 2 Sam Kyle-Clay (Harrison 64), 3 Eoin Harrison (Fantini 23), 4 Oscar Usher (Hall-Lyon 62), 5 Louis Peacock, 6 Max Fraine (Oliver 62), 7 Will Jones (Capt.) (Fraine 78), 8 Joe Craggs.

Replacements: 16 Jacob Oliver, 17 Ethan Hall-Lyon, 18 Yaree Fantini, 19 Garry Law, 20 Callum Trees.

Titans 31 Rosslyn Park 21

Rotherham Titans made a dream start on their return to National 1 with a hard-fought, but well-deserved 31-21 win over a very good Rosslyn Park side.

Titans shared a 6-try thriller with their dot downs coming via Luke Cole, John Okafor and Callum Bustin, whilst Lloyd Hayes added 16 points from the tee.

The downside for Rotherham was back rower Travis Gordon and centre Joe Mounsey both left the field with nasty looking injuries.

The game was very competitive and close throughout; the visitors showed an appetite to play with ball in hand, whilst Rotherham stayed very controlled, allowing their powerful pack to set-up a dominant platform to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Indeed, Titans registered the first points of the game when hooker Luke Cole dotted down from the base of a maul and when Lloyd Hayes added a penalty just before the 20-minute mark, the home side would have been content with their start to Nat 1.

Rosslyn Park have been touted as one of the favourites to win the league and as any good side would, they bounced back quickly as hooker Jasper Cameron powered over for Stefan James to convert.

The intensity was high from both teams and in the space of 2 minutes around the half-hour mark both sides scored again.

John Okafor showed good awareness close to the line to pick up and dive over, whilst Park’s former Titan Charlie Mulchrone, took one of his trademark quick tap-penalties to break and send in full back Joe Luca Smith.

Just before the break Hayes sent over another penalty and the home side went in at the break leading 20-14.

Rosslyn took the lead in the game for the first time early after the restart when that man Mulchrone popped up again to score himself; James added the extras.

Now Rotherham would be examined and their mentality put to the test; the outcome of which was a resounding pass!

Firstly, Hayes nosed Rotherham back into the lead with his third penalty, before on 65 minutes back rower Callum Bustin dotted down following a hugely powerful maul from the impressive pack.

Trailing 28-21 there was a tense finish to the game as Rosslyn Park went in search of a converted try to level the match.

Rotherham however, stood firm and with great intensity kept out the visitors, eventually going on in injury time to grab a late Hayes penalty and deny Park any reward for their spirited efforts.

Rotherham will now quickly regroup, dust themselves down and switch focus to next week’s assignment away at Darlington Mowden Park.

After the game Titans’ Harvey Biljon said:

“The team had to step up to some adversity through the first game of the season after losing a big player like Travis Gordon inside the first 10 minutes. Your team needs to adapt to that pretty quickly and they did that well.

“There were a couple of key areas I need to commend the team on, particularly how they stuck to task, because you could see how dangerous Rosslyn Park was. They had three or four opportunities in the first half and they scored with two of them.

“You can see that we’re going to have to get used to the physicality and fitness in this league, because through the back end of the game there was some real effort required and from a conditioning point of view we were really tested.

“Rosslyn Park just kept coming at us; if you look at their team on paper compared to ours, I think anyone with any rugby understanding would not have put Rotherham in the equation.

“However, being at Clifton Lane with the support base we have here made a big difference. I think that what’s sport is all about – having days like today – and today was a good day for the club!”

Titans: Cole (T), Okafor (T), Bustin (T), Hayes (2C, 4P)

Rosslyn Park: Cameron (T), Joe Luca Smith (T), Mulchrone (T) James (3C)

Yellow Card: JB Bruzulier (Titans)

Attendance: 250

Referee: Matt Sharpe

Assistant Referees: Ian Farrell & Matt Daubney

Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Joe Mounsey (Green 60), 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps (Co-Capt.) (Kivalu 32) (Capps 53), 2 Luke Cole (Bergmanas 40), 3 Andrew Foster (Stout 32) (Foster 53), 4 Zak Poole (Co-Capt.), 5 Curran Maguire (Kivalu 68), 6 John Okafor, 7 Travis Gordon (Newborn 8), 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Harry Newborn, 20 Max Green. 

Rosslyn Park: 15 Joe Luca Smith, 14 Charlie Walker, 13 Theo Manihera, 12 Matt Gordon, 11 Benji Marfo, 10 Stefan James (Smith 68), 9 Charlie Mulchrone (Capt.) (Fenley 68), 1 Josh Pieterse (Cade 21) (Charalambous 68), 2 Jasper Cameron, 3 Rhys Charalambous (Woodward 53), 4 Gregor Gillanders, 5 Jordan Martin, 6 Matt Bolwell, 7 Archie Hoskin, 8 Jack Digby (Stevenson 55).

Replacements: 16 Conrad Cade, 17 Matt Woodward, 18 Craig Stevenson, 19 Ewan Fenley, 20 Luc Smith.

Photo: Gareth Siddons