Titans 27 Huddersfield 3

Rotherham Titans returned to winning ways with a hard-fought 27-3 win over Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield on a damp afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Tries from Danny Rylance, Harry Dunne, Jack Hedley, Luckas Sableman-Blue, Zak Poole and a conversion from Lloyd Hayes all contributed to a much-needed victory for the South Yorkshire side.

This encounter won’t be submitted to the classic collection due to the stop-start nature of the game and a heavy downpour before the match didn’t help matters, as it created a slippery surface and made handling challenging for both sides.

Nevertheless Rotherham got off to a flying start and took the lead after 5 minutes when prop forward Danny Rylance dotted down from the tail of a powerful  driving maul close to the line.

Shortly afterwards a quick-thinking, sharp-eyed Harry Dunne doubled his side’s advantage when he spotted a gap in the Huddersfield defence and picked up from the base of a ruck to dive over.

A highly competitive and aggressive Huddersfield side made Roth work hard for everything they got and it wasn’t until the half hour mark that the South Yorkshire outfit got their next score.

From a free-kick just outside the Huddersfield 22 on the stand side, the ball was shipped quickly from Zak Poole across the backline and eventually arrived with Sam Veall; the full back nicely ghosted through the defence before offloading to Jack Hedley to touch down in the corner.

Try as they may Rotherham couldn’t add to their tally before the break and they trooped off for the oranges with a 15-0 lead.

Indeed it was the visitors that came out for the second half much the brighter and they got off the mark inside 10 minutes when fly half Will Milner knocked over a 3-pointer from in front of the sticks.

The game then went through a scrappy stage with neither side able to put too many phases together before things broke down. Conditions and good defending from each team meant the next score wouldn’t arrive until 8 minutes from time.

However, when it did arrive Roth showed what they are capable of when they retain possession for a meaningful period.

From a line out in their own half Jack Taylor popped a short pass to the onrushing Callum Bustin who made 30 metres headway before being brought to ground by a gaggle of defenders. The recycled ball was then taken up nicely by Theo Nwosu-Hope before arriving with Veall who again broke the line to send in Luckas Sableman-Blue. Lloyd Hayes impressed with his touchline conversion.

In the final play of the game man-of-the-match Zak Poole somehow managed to wrestle the ball away from Huddersfield on the line to score, following a lovely chip through from Sam Veall down the right wing.

So whilst Roth will know they weren’t at their very best for this one, they will be pleased to get back to winning ways and know there is still plenty left in the tank moving forwards.

Speaking on the pitch afterwards Titans’ Adam Byron said:

“In terms of performance I think the scoreline is a bit flattering; I didn’t think we really got out of second gear. You can tell from the huddle we’ve just had, the chat with the boys was a little bit flat and they wanted more from the game and that just shows the standards that they are setting themselves. They want to be a team that can play with the ball and that’s something we’re working to, but it will come.

“Going into this game on the back of two defeats was never going to be easy, but we really did want to try and play some rugby and put some scores on the board. So as pleased as we are with the result and to have scored five tries, I know and the boys know there are another two or three gears still to come.

“There is lots of rugby left to be played and lots of points still available; we just want to concentrate on ourselves, on the type of rugby that we play and on our performances on the pitch. We can only focus on what we can control and we will aim to keep building as the season progresses.”

Referee: Jamie Parr

Attendance: 250

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Rylance (T), Dunne (T), Hedley (T), Sableman-Blue (T), Poole (T), Hayes (1C)

Huddersfield: Milner (1P)

Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Jack Hedley (Boxhall 61), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue, 10 Corben Ollivent (Taylor 50), 9 Kai Ramrattan, 1 Charlie Capps (Rylance 70), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Inman 66), 3 Danny Rylance (Denman 31), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Marcus Payne (Bustin 59), 7 Rupert Kay, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).  

Replacements: 16 Louis Inman, 17 Gareth Denman, 18 Callum Bustin, 19 Jack Taylor, 20 Sam Boxhall. 

Huddersfield: 15 Tom Lee, 11 Lewis Workman, 13 Matt Law, 12 Ed Barber, 21 Finlay Stewart (Catleugh 65), 10 Will Milner (Potter 73), 9 Simon Wilson, 1 Callum Thompson (Rollins 65), 2 Liam Stapley, 3 Loz Sanderson (Rollins 33) (Sanderson 54) (Effiom 69), 4 Luke Pearson, 5 Eddie Brown, 6 Ethan Myers, 7 Lewis Bradley (Capt.), 8 Rob Jennings (Swift 69).

Replacements: 16 Andy Rollins, 17 Manny Effiom, 18 Callum Swift, 19 Joseph Potter, 20 Cameron Catleugh.  

Sedgley Park 25 Titans 17

Rotherham Titans suffered back-to-back defeats as they went down 25-17 to Sedgley Park on a mild afternoon in the North West.

Titans and Sedgley shared six tries apiece with Roth’s dot downs coming from Gareth Denman, Matt Challinor and Jack Taylor.

Rotherham did have opportunities to win the game, as they did last week against Fylde, but unfortunately for them they just weren’t clinical enough at crucial times in the game.

Whilst there’s no disgrace in losing to the top two teams in the division, it does mean however there is very little ‘wiggle-room’ left for more reversals this term, that is if Titans are going to be involved at the sharp end come April.

The game itself saw Roth take the lead on 9 minutes when tighthead prop Gareth Denman dotted down from the tail of a powerful drive close to the line.

However, for most of the first half it was the home side that had much the better of things, as their forwards competed well and their backs looked sharp and energetic.

Park’s fly half Steve Collins reduced his side’s deficit on 16 minutes with a penalty, before hooker Adam Mallinson and winger Rhys Henderson crossed the whitewash a minute either side of the half-hour mark to race 15-5 ahead.

Rotherham had rarely been inside Sedgley’s 22 during the first period, but when they managed to get there just before the break they had success when following a brief period of forward pressure second rower Matt Challinor grabbed the ball to power over. Sam Veall’s conversion sent Roth in at the break trailing by just 3 points.

The South Yorkshire side came out for the second period with good energy and on 45 minutes were rewarded for that energy when centre Jack Taylor scored an outstanding individual try.

From turnover ball around 65 metres from the Sedgley line Taylor hacked-on down the right wing and then proceeded to show terrific pace and skill to outstrip the defence and nudge the ball over the line before dotting down. Veall missed the conversion to leave Roth 17-15 ahead.

Shortly after however Collins nosed his side back in front following a penalty from in front of the sticks. He was then instrumental seven minutes from time in effectively wrapping up the game when he broke smartly and offloaded to replacement front rower Alex Brooks to score under the posts.

For the second week running Rotherham will reflect on the “what could have been” moments in the game and moving forward will no doubt look to be more clinical when those moments arrive.

Speaking immediately after the game a disappointed Adam Byron said:

“We knew Sedgley Park was a good team and they know how to play the pitch and to be fair they played some really good rugby at times. However, we’re just frustrated because we felt like our effort and our desire to be involved in the game was good, but we just weren’t clinical enough or accurate enough in the right places.

“You can defend for five minutes, you can make double hits, you can be dominant in all the contacts, but if in the sixth minute you give a penalty away, then obviously the outcome isn’t what you want.

“I think we will improve, and the more time we spend together the better we will be. We are a young side; if you look at the average age of our backline, it was around 22 today and even younger when Harry Dunne went off and we were inexperienced in certain areas of the game, but that will come with time.

“The effort is there from the boys, the contact in defence and the desire to defend is there and that’s what you want; we questioned that slightly after last week, but today the boys came out fighting and you cannot question that desire and passion for being in the game today.”

Referee: Ben Wood

Attendance: 350

Yellow Card: Birtwell (Sedgley Park)

Titans: Denman (T), Challinor (T), Taylor (T), Veall (1C)

Sedgley Park: Mallinson (T), Henderson (T), Brooks (T), Collins (2C, 2P)

Titans: 15 Fraser Jones, 14 Jack Hedley, 13 Jack Taylor (Ramrattan 70), 12 Harry Dunne (Ollivent 40), 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue, 10 Sam Veall, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps (Denman 70), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Gareth Denman (Rylance 40), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Zak Poole (Capt.), 6 Marcus Payne, 7 Rupert Kay (Nwosu-Hope 45), 8 Callum Bustin.  

Replacements: 16 Louis Inman, 17 Danny Rylance, 18 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 19 Corben Ollivent, 20 Kai Ramrattan.  

Sedgley Park: 15 Andy Riley, 14 Rhys Henderson, 13 Ollie Glasse, 12 Matt Riley (Capt.), 11 Jacob Tansey, 10 Steve Collins, 9 Sam Stelmaszek, 1 John Blanchard (Nonleh 74), 2 Adam Mallinson (Chilvers 50), 3 Ben Black (Nonleh 32) (Brooks 60), 4 Bob Birtwell, 5 Connor James, 6 Mark Goodman, 7 Valu Tane Bentley (Crowe 63), 8 Tom Ailes.

Replacements: 16 Cash Chilvers, 17 Alex Brooks, 18 Beltus Nonleh, 19 Oscar Crowe, 20 Jake Maher.

Titans 16 Fylde 41

Rotherham Titans crashed to a disappointing 41-16 defeat at home to table-toppers Fylde on a blustery afternoon at Clifton Lane.

The defeat brings to an end a run of 17 consecutive victories on home soil and Titans will now need to regroup before travelling to second placed Sedgley Park this Saturday.

Fylde showed why they are currently top of the pile with an impressive overall performance and they thoroughly deserved their first win at Clifton Lane.

Indeed after just 6 minutes the visitors crossed the whitewash to take a lead they would never relinquish, when winger Adam Lanigan raced in at the corner. Fly half Greg Smith nailed a superb conversion from out wide in gusty conditions.

Roth reduced the arrears when Corben Ollivent knocked over a 3-pointer, but it wasn’t long before Fylde had their second try when centre Connor Wilkinson picked up a nice grubber close to the line to dot down. Smith added the extras to make it 14-3.

Roth did have their moments in the first half, but too often were unable to make them count.

However, on 25 minutes they did score when from a Fylde scrum the home side pushed them off the ball and Rupert Kay broke clear, before offloading to Sam Boxhall who went in near the corner. Ollivent impressed with his conversion.

Ollivent then reduced his side’s arrears to 13-14 with a well taken penalty, but that would be as close as Roth would get to the lead.

Smith added a penalty of his own to send Fylde in at the break 17-13 ahead, but what followed in the second half was disappointing for the home side.

The North West outfit showed their class and ability as they won the second period 24-3, running in a further 3 tries to collect the bonus point.

Tries from hooker and Captain Ben Gregory, replacement back Sam Stott and full back Jordan Dorrington all ensured the table-toppers remain at the summit and with this performance a marker has been laid down of their plan to stay there.

Speaking after the game a disappointed Adam Byron said:

“We are frustrated; I don’t mind being beaten, but we were well beaten today. You can probably see from all our faces we are not the happiest right now, but we need to take it on the chin.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve lost at home and whilst winning runs will inevitably come to an end, to be beaten by a score like that is very disappointing.

“We spoke at half time about certain things that needed to improve, but not only did they not improve in the second half, they got worst.

“Our precision in certain areas of the pitch, our attack just wasn’t what it has been and defensively we weren’t getting the two-man hits and throwing the ball down as we normally like to. So that is very tough to take today, but we’ll own it and look to improve from here.

“Losing Lloyd Hayes on the morning of the game wasn’t ideal, he’s a key player in a key position and he’s a player who normally excels in the big games. His leadership on the pitch and his defensive qualities are outstanding and we obviously missed that. So whilst that was one element that went against us today, it wasn’t the reason we lost the game.”

Referee: Ben Rayner

Attendance: 250

Yellow Card: Dunne (Titans)

Titans: Boxhall (T), Ollivent (1C, 3P)

Fylde: Lanigan (T), Wilkinson (T), Gregory (T), Stott (T), Dorrington (T), Smith (5C, 2P)

Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Jack Hedley, 13 Luckas Sableman-Blue, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jack Taylor, 10 Corben Ollivent, 9 Sam Boxhall (Ramrattan 54), 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 31) (Rylance 52), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Inman 69), 3 Gareth Denman (Donkor 63), 4 Zak Poole (Capt.), 5 Matt Challinor, 6 Marcus Payne (Nwosu-Hope 49), 7 Rupert Kay, 8 Callum Bustin.  

Replacements: 16 Louis Inman, 17 Danny Rylance, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 20 Kai Ramrattan.

Fylde: 15 Jordan Dorrington, 14 Adam Lanigan (Rawlings 74), 13 Connor Wilkinson, 12 Scott Rawlings (Stott 34), 11 Tom Grimes, 10 Greg Smith, 9 Matt Sturgess, 1 Corey Bowker (Lewis 57), 2 Ben Gregory (Capt.), 3 Peter Altham (Ashcroft 40), 4 Olli Parkinson, 5 Harlan Corrie (Garrod 40), 6 Toby Harrison (Fairbrother 40), 7 Henry Higginson, 8 Tristan Woodman.

Replacements: 24 Adam Lewis, 16 Matt Ashcroft, 23 David Fairbrother, 18 Matt Garrod, 20 Sam Stott.

Wharfedale 23 Titans 29

Rotherham Titans grabbed a thrilling 29-23 win over Wharfedale with a try from Sam Veall in the last play of the game.

The win, which was fully deserved and also Titans first at The Avenue, was on full time boisterously celebrated by a large travelling support from South Yorkshire.

However, it looked as if Roth had missed their chance of a famous victory when with what was thought to be the last kick of the match, a Lloyd Hayes’ penalty hit the left hand post and bounced back into play.

All Wharfedale needed to do at that point to claim the win was boot the ball off the field.

Remarkably however, Titans Harry Dunne managed to grapple the ball back into Roth hands and following numerous phases in the 7th minute of injury time Sam Veall managed to glide through to score in the far corner.

The victory was vital for Rotherham, as following a week’s break from league action they take on the top two sides in the table with Fylde at home, followed by Sedgley Park away.

The game was played out in rain, wind and bright sunshine with neither side giving an inch all afternoon as true Yorkshire grit ensured no one took a backward step.

Wharfedale got the scoreboard moving first on 7 minutes when fly half Tom Mann knocked over a 3-pointer.

Rotherham soon responded however when Sam Boxhall turned over possession and the ball arrived with Harry Dunne who quickly slipped a lovely pass back inside to Jack Hedley; he then raced up to the line before offloading to Sam Veall to score a nice team try.

The next score didn’t arrive until just before the half hour mark when following a period of forward pressure from Rotherham the ball was collected by Sam Boxhall who threw a long miss-pass out to winger Jack Taylor who dived in at the corner to score. Hayes impressively nailed the extras from out wide to make it 12-3.

Hayes and Mann then traded penalties before in the last play of the first half Wharfedale scored a try through centre Josh Prell. Tom Mann converted to leave his side trailing 15-13.

There had been a momentum shift towards the end of the first half which saw the home side come more into the game and this continued in the opening exchanges of the second.

Nine minutes in and a catch and drive close to the line saw replacement back rower Matt Speres crash over to give Wharfedale the lead for the second time in the game.

Their lead didn’t last very long however as once again Roth bounced back and this time it was skipper Zak Poole who scored near the posts after receiving a short pass from Sam Boxhall. Hayes’ conversion put Roth 22-18 ahead.

In this most enthralling of contests the tension heightened with four minutes remaining when centre Josh Prell darted over for his second, and Wharfedale’s third try of the game to nose the home side back into the lead at 23-22.

With time running out The Avenue became a Cauldron of Noise, as each side put everything on the line in search of victory.

So when Sam Veall crossed the whitewash in the final play of the match, everyone connected with the Titans exploded with excitement and relief. Hayes added the cherry on top with an impressive conversion from out wide.

Roth may look back on this one in April as a turning point in their season, but before anyone gets carried way they have to face the best two teams in the division next up, starting with table-toppers Fylde in a fortnight at Clifton Lane.

Speaking on the pitch after the game a relieved, but delighted Adam Byron said:

“When we hit the post with what we thought was going to be the last kick of the game I was frustrated and disappointed in that I thought we’d lost another game that we really should have won. It was a difficult kick into the wind and my heart went out to the boys because they had grafted so hard for the win.

“We know it wasn’t our best performance of the season, but the boys worked so hard throughout and they fully deserved to get back on the bus with a win and I’m delighted for them.

“We did some good things today; in the first half when we got into their 22 we scored, but we struggled a bit to do that in the second half, but all credit to Wharfedale, their defensive sets in the second half were very good.

“I think the most frustrating thing is how we let them make territory and it was from our penalties, our simple mistakes, our kick-offs and the only way they made headway in the first half was from our mistakes.

“So going forwards we need to make sure we get our processes right and that we maintain our focus for the full 80 minutes.

However, I am so proud of all the boys for how they never gave up and for the character and desire they showed at the end to get the win.”

Referee: Daniel Woods

Attendance: 535

Yellow Card: Nwosu-Hope (Titans), Hedgley (Wharfedale

Titans: Veall (2T), Taylor (T), Poole (T), Hayes (3C, P)

Wharfedale: Prell (2T), Speres (T), Mann (C, 2P)

Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Jack Hedley, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jack Taylor (Jones 64), 10 Corben Ollivent, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 34) (Capps 61), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Gareth Denman (Rylance 34) (Denman 61), 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 5 Lewis Allan, 6 Marcus Payne, 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin.  

Replacements: 16 Louis Inman, 17 Danny Rylance, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Fraser Jones, 20 Kai Ramrattan.

Wharfedale: 15 Harry Bullough, 14 Tom Darwin, 13 Josh Prell, 12 Oli Cicognini, 11 Robbie Davidson, 10 Tom Mann, 9 Omari Kaup-Samuels (Bell 71), 1 Matt Beesley (Altham 34), 2 Ben Wright (Stockton 68), 3 Sam Dickinson (Hirst 39) (Beesley 63), 4 Simon Borril, 5 George Hedgley, 6 Ryan Carlson, 7 Joe Fawcett (Speres 34), 8 Josh Burridge.

Replacements: 16 Joe Altham, 17 Elliott Stockton, 18 Matt Speres, 19 Jack Hirst, 20 Max Bell.