Loughborough Students 5 Titans 71

Rotherham Titans put in an excellent performance to run out 71-5 winners over Loughborough Students on a bitterly cold afternoon at the University Ground.

Titans outscored their opponents by 11 tries to 1 and now move into third spot in the table, 4 points behind league leaders Stourbridge.

Titans 11 tries came way of a hat-trick for hooker Harry Newborn, a brace for scrum half Sam Boxhall and one each for Callum Bustin, Harry Dunne, Jamie Cooke, Marcus Payne, Fran Entressengle and Matty Drennan, with fly half Matt Minogue impressing with 16 points from the tee on debut.

To be fair to Loughborough they never stopped battling and tried to play some rugby whenever they managed to get some possession. Unfortunately for them that was not very often as they came up against a Rotherham side that was intent on putting in an 80-minute shift.

As early as the third minute the writing was on the wall as Matt Minogue pierced the Students defence to slip in Sam Boxhall for the easiest of dot downs.

Then in the space of 10 minutes the Titans pack showed their prowess as hooker Harry Newborn and number 8 Callum Bustin powered over for two more tries, the latter showed tremendous desire and strength to get over the line.

Next it was the Titans backline that joined the party as Minogue was again the creator of two more tries. The first saw the Aussie throw a long miss-pass to Harry Dunne who ran in to score and the second 3 minutes later saw him nudge a short miss-pass to winger Jamie Cooke who glided in to score.

There was just time before the break for Rotherham to register their sixth try of a pulsating first half when Callum Bustin again showed great determination to break the line before off-loading to Newborn for his second try of the half.

Indeed he didn’t have to wait too long into the second half to register his hat-trick when on 48 minutes he was on hand to dot down from the tail of a catch and driver close to the line.

Ten minutes later and Roth had their eight try when scrum half Sam Boxhall made himself “popular” with the pack when he broke from the back of a drive to snipe over to score.

Titans ninth and tenth tries came via the catch and drive after more impressive work by the pack, with Marcus Payne dotting down the first and Fran Entressengle nonchalantly touching down for the second. In between those tries Loughborough registered their sole points in the game from a Will Sanders try five minutes before the end.

Rounding things off with the final try of the match in the last play of the game was replacement scrum half Matty Drennan, who took a quick tap from 25 metres out and proceeded to dance his way through the defence to score a fine try.

Speaking on the pitch at full time, a delighted Titans head coach, Adam Byron, said:

“I am really pleased with how things went today; we were happy with our first half last week and we asked the boys for an 80-minutes performance this week and that’s what they delivered.

“To score 11 tries in a game is outstanding; the boys showed great patience and had the ability to trust the structure, stick to it and to be patient with the transitioning into that structure when we were in the right areas to play rugby and that obviously paid dividends today.

“We conceded a lot of penalties last week and we knew we needed to tidy things up in that area, because we knew if we didn’t then a team like Loughborough would throw the ball around and use those opportunities to hurt us. So our discipline at the breakdown was critical.

“We were also physical with our carries and we understand the kind of rugby we can play when our pack creates that kind of platform, particularly so against teams which are a little less experience.

“We are starting to play off the foundation our pack is presenting; they are so hard-working and often get us on the front foot and they are capable of scoring the set-piece tries, as well as creating opportunities for our backline.

“The table is very tight at the top and so not only is winning games important, but picking up those bonus points is going to be critical to the final outcome.

“Every week we have got to be looking to come away with that 5-point win and as I’ve said that will only come if we are putting in 80-minute performances.”

Referee: Peter Connor

Attendance: 218

Yellow Card: Challinor (Titans), O’Neil & Wainwright (Loughborough)

Titans: Newborn (3T), Boxhall (2T), Bustin (T), Dunne (T), Cooke (T), Payne (T), Entressengle (T), Drennan (T), Minogue (8C)

Loughborough: Sanders (T)

Titans: 15 Tom Lewis, 14 Connor Field, 13 Mat Clark, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Matt Minogue, 9 Sam Boxhall (Drennan 69), 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 49), 2 Harry Newborn (Entressengle 54), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 54), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope (Newborn 66), 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin (Payne 59).  

Replacements: 16 Fran Entressengle, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Marcus Payne, 20 Matty Drennan.

Loughborough: 15 Alex Wainwright, 14 Will Sanders, 13 James Langston (Trinder 66), 12 William Trinder (Sixton 39), 11 Darragh Walsh (Scharink 64) (Walsh 69), 10 Luca Caplin, 9 Matteo Petrozzi (Nayor 56), 1 Leroy O’Neil, 2 Isaac Bell, 3 Mink Scharink (Parker 48), 4 Harry Longworth (Adlington 49), 5 Chukwuemeka Atuanya (Shine 49), 6 Nicholas Jennings (Capt.), 7 Daniel Eckersley, 8 Nicholas Jakobsen (Atuanya 69). 

Replacements: 16 Thomas Parker, 17 Tobias Adlington, 18 Jack Shine, 19 James Nayor, 20 Troy Sixton.

Titans 38 Tynedale 14

Rotherham Titans ran out 38-14 winners over Tynedale to maintain their unbeaten start to the season on a cool and breezy afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Rotherham outscored their opponents by 6 tries to 2 with a brace from Tom Lewis and one each for Rikki Stout, Mat Clark, Alastair Donkor and a penalty try, with fly half Lloyd Hayes adding 6 points from the tee.

The win sees Rotherham stay in fifth place in the league, nine points behind leaders Stourbridge, but with one game in hand on their West Midlands rivals.

The game itself saw Rotherham dominate throughout; although to be fair to the visitors they never stopped battling and indeed enjoyed some good moments in the second half.

However, right from the off Titans appeared to be in control with their set piece quickly established a platform from which to build.

On 12 minutes that platform resulted in tighthead prop Rikki Stout dotting down for Titans first try, after a powerful drive from a line out marched relentlessly forwards.

By the end of the first quarter Roth extended their lead when the ball was moved quickly from the base of a ruck by Sam Boxhall to Lloyd Hayes at first receiver; the fly half threw a lovely miss-pass to Mat Clark who showed good strength to power over.

Just after the half hour mark and Titans scored a belter of a team try through full back Tom Lewis.

From a Roth scrum just outside their own 22 Boxhall picked up and found Mat Clark who made good ground before involving Jamie Cooke and Callum Bustin who took play up to Tynedale’s 22.

Boxhall, Hayes, Stout, Newborn and Dunne were all then involved as the ball went through the hands before arriving with full back Tom Lewis who raced in to score a superb try in the corner.

Two minutes into the second half Tom Lewis had his second and Titans fourth try when from a Lloyd Hayes clearance kick Tynedale fumbled which enabled Lewis to gather up the loose ball to charge in from 40 metres and score in the corner to give his side a 24-0 lead.

Maybe at this point the home side thought it was job done and maybe their intensity dropped a fraction; but whatever it was credit must be given to Tynedale as they enjoyed a 15 minute period where their hard-work and adventure rewarded them with two converted tries through second rower Chris Wearmouth and centre Guy Pike.

However, in the final 10 minutes Rotherham re-gathered themselves to seal a fine victory when first they were awarded a penalty try on 74 minutes and then eight seconds after coming on as a replacement, loosehead prop Alastair Donkor found a gap in the defence to charge through for Titans sixth try of the match.

Commenting on the result, Titans new head coach, Adam Byron said:

“I am really pleased with how my first game has gone, it’s great to experience the atmosphere and to see what the Titans are all about at home and it’s great that we started with a home fixture.

“It’s good to get the five point win because that what we asked the boys to do. There’s obviously stuff to work on, but that’s normal otherwise we wouldn’t do any training in the week because there wouldn’t be anything to work on and I’m looking forward to getting some more work done with the lads.

“We are always trying to solve issues, we spoke in the week of how we start games etc... and unfortunately this week it was the other way round and we weren’t at our best in the opening period of the second half and we didn’t quite perform as we would have liked.

“I’ve just said to the lads that rugby is about problem solving and that’s not just on a Tuesday and Thursday, but also during the 80 minutes of a game. We did a good job in the first half, but in the second we just needed to problem solve a little bit more.

“It was good to see three of our tries came through the backs, but that’s also credit to our forwards because they suck teams in and get them narrow and that gives our boys in the backline the opportunities to do their thing and they were able to exploit that today.”

Referee: Ben Davis

Attendance: 523

Yellow Card: Theo Nwosu-Hope (Titans)

Titans: Lewis (2T), Stout (T), Clark (T), Donkor (T), Penalty Try, Hayes (3C)

Tynedale: Wearmouth (T), Pike (T), Ball (2C)

Titans: 15 Tom Lewis, 14 Connor Field, 13 Mat Clark, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 Sam Boxhall (Pocklington 74), 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 74), 2 Harry Newborn (Entressengle 71), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 54) (Stout 71), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Marcus Payne (Nwosu-Hope 54), 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin.  

Replacements: 16 Fran Entressengle, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 20 Sam Pocklington.   

Tynedale: 15 Jay West, 14 Seamus Hutton, 13 Guy Pike, 12 James Clark, 11 Adam Todhunter (Outson 66), 10 Matty Outson (Capt.), 9 Alex Ball, 1 Angus White (Carmichael 48), 2 Ralph Johnston, 3 Ben Haigh (Loughhead 69), 4 Chris Wearmouth (Blackburn 56), 5 Graeme Dunn, 6 Jonny Cousin, 7 Joe Mills (Stanwix 62), 8 Henry Wainwright.

Replacements: 16 Liam Carmichael, 17 Owen Loughhead, 18 Rob Stanwix, 19 Jack Outson, 20 Ben Blackburn.

Photo Credit: Gareth Siddons

Titans 20 Hull 15

Rotherham Titans put in a tenacious performance to out-muscle a very good Hull side to run out narrow 20-15 winners on a bright, but windy afternoon at Clifton Lane.                                                                                          

Trailing 12-3 on the hour mark Titans looked to be in danger of losing their first game of the season, but a strong finish ensured they kept their unbeaten status intact.

Rotherham’s points came courtesy of a try each for Callum Bustin and Harry Newborn, with Lloyd Hayes adding 10 points with the boot with some outstanding kicking from the tee.

Indeed it was the home side that started brighter; their energy levels looked good and there was plenty of intensity about their work.

This early pressure resulted in Roth taking a seventh minute lead when fly half Lloyd Hayes knocked over penalty from in front of the posts at the clubhouse end.

Hull had come into the game as joint league leaders and with a reputation of being a tough, physical side and one which could boast of having the meanest defence in the division.

The game confirmed that reputation was deserved and rightfully earned. They matched the Titans physically and their work rate around the park was relentless.

Just after the 20-minute mark and with Hull’s first foray into Titans 22 they came away with a try through loosehead prop Loma Kivalu, who was helped over the line by a powerful pack following a series of pick and goes. Simon Humberstone missed the extras as the swirling wind picked up in severity.

Following a low-scoring first half, the second period saw more points scored, but without the drop in ferocity which had been so evident during the opening 40 minutes.

The visitors had impressed as expected and it was they who scored next on 48 minutes when a series of pick and goes close to the Titans line resulted in replacement prop Charlie Beech dotting down near the corner. This time Humberstone impressed with the extras to take his side 12-3 up.

Rotherham maintained their desire to get back into the game, but frustratingly for them a combination of unfortunate execution and valiant defending from Hull meant they were unable to narrow the gap.

Eventually however on the hour mark Roth finally received some reward for their graft. From a five metre line-out Titans pack drove towards the line for number 8 Callum Bustin to dot down and with Lloyd Hayes’ brilliant conversion from the touchline the game was now in the balance at 12-10 to Hull.

Hull hit back almost immediately to go further ahead at 15-10 with a penalty from Humberstone; this ensured the Shed’s nerves remained frayed and backsides stayed firmly perched on the edges of seats.

Ten minutes from time though Roth finally nosed ahead when a drive from the tail of a line out saw hooker Harry Newborn get the vital dot down next to the corner flag. Hayes once again impressed hugely to convert from touch to put his side 17-15 up.

Three minutes from time Humberstone missed an opportunity to allow Hull to regain the lead when he missed a long-range penalty kick, but with the last action of the match Lloyd Hayes sealed the win for Rotherham with a mid-range penalty to give his side a hard-fought, but well-deserved win.

Speaking on the pitch after the game Titans’ Steve Salvin said:

“To be honest I would have been satisfied even if we hadn’t got over the line, because there have been games this year where we have won, but we haven’t been “at it” and emotionally in the right frame of mind, and that’s all you can ever ask of anyone, you just want the lads to empty the tank.

“But don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing to win the game, but I honestly think if we hadn’t have won I would have gone home nearly as proud as I will tonight, because of the sheer effort and heart that I saw. I just said in the huddle that I never thought we were out of it because I knew we were in the right place emotionally.

“We had to adapt a little bit; I don’t think until just before we scored our first try that we had mauled all game; partly because we’d not had the opportunity and partly because we’d executed poorly, but ultimately that element of our game is what turned it – and for the boys to have been able to adapt and put that in place and put them under that level of pressure was just immense.

“Hull defended a lot and they defended well; they are by far the best defensive team in the league and that showed today.

“The tough thing when you have to defend phase after phase it batters your body and I’m not taking anything away from Hull because I have a huge amount of respect for them, but in the last 10 minutes or so I just felt they were done physically because of all the defending they’d done throughout. They never stopped trying but their tank was running close empty I felt.”

Referee: Llyr ApGeraint-Roberts

Attendance: 544

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Bustin (T), Newborn (T), Hayes (2P, 2C)

Hull: Kivalu (T), Beech (T), Humberstone (P, C)

Titans: 15 Tom Lewis, 14 Connor Field, 13 Mat Clark, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 George Tucker, 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 Jonny West (Pocklington 47), 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Harry Newborn, 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 63), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope (Payne 57), 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin (Nwosu-Hope 70).  

Replacements: 16 Fran Entressengle, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Colin Quigley, 19 Marcus Payne, 20 Sam Pocklington. 

Hull: 15 Stephen McColl, 14 Mike Adlard, 13 Alastair Heard (Capt.), 12 Stephen Johnson, 11 Keane Naylor, 10 Simon Humberstone, 9 Sam Crane, 1 Loma Kivalu, 2 Alistair Thomson, 3 Mike Jobling, 4 Cameron Curry, 5 Liam Regardsoe, 6 Latu Makaa'fi, 7 Laurence Cowen, 8 Will Hall.

Replacements: 16 Reece Dean, 17 Harvey Harding, 18 Ben Boothman, 19 Mike Dias, 20 Charlie Beech.

Photo courtesy of Gareth Lyons

Titans 37 Luctonians 22

Rotherham Titans continued their unbeaten start to the season with a hard-fought 37-22 win over a dogged and resilient Luctonians outfit on a bright afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored their opponents by 5 tries to 3, with Callum Bustin going over for a brace and Fran Entressengle, Mat Clark and Matti Williams chipping in with a dot down each; Lloyd Hayes added 12 points from the tee.

Although not at their best, Rotherham still managed to come out on top against a side that played with plenty of spirit and lots of endeavour.

Indeed it was Roth who started the scoreboard ticking when as early as the third minute Callum Bustin crashed over from the tail of a powerful drive following a line-out close to the line. Lloyd Hayes impressively nailed the extras from out wide.

Luctonians are nearer the bottom of the table than they are top, but as always, league position is no barometer for how well a team can perform.

The North Herefordshire side demonstrated this to good effect just 7 minutes later when their man-mountain lock forward, Owien Harriott-Davis, showed great strength as he bulldozed his way over.

Back came Rotherham though and scored an almost carbon-copy try to their first, as hooker Fran Entressengle dotted down from the tail of the maul and from almost the identical spot on the field, Hayes again was successful with the conversion.

Luctonians scrum half Owen Randell squeezed in a penalty, before Roth added their third try just before half time.

This time it was outside centre, Mat Clark, who touched down following some good ball retention inside the oppositions 22, after Harry Dunne made a good half break to take play up close to the line. Clark then showed good strength under pressure to get the ball down.

Within the first 5 minutes of the second half Roth secured the bonus point try when Callum Bustin peeled off another maul to power over near the corner.

Again however Luctonians responded and they scored a nice try on 49 minutes when full back Tom Jones deftly chipped through for outside centre James Wheeler to nip in to score near the sticks. Randell knocked over the extras to reduce his side’s arrears to 24-15.

It was almost as though Titans needed Luctonians to score to give them the necessary spark to up their own game and this happened once again just 5 minutes later.

This time it was replacement back rower Matti Williams who dotted down following another powerful drive from a line-out. Hayes impressed with his conversion from out wide to extend Roth’s lead to 31-15.

Luctonians refused to roll over as they kept Titans honest in their endeavours and they perhaps deserved their bit of fortune for their third try after a kick-through deflected and bounced kindly for them; all of which enabled replacement front-rower Connor Deignan to collect and show good pace to race through and score. Randell added the extras.

Rotherham did however have the final say as they added two further penalties through Lloyd Hayes to sensibly close out the game.

Speaking on the pitch post-match Titans’ Steve Salvin said:

“A win is a win and today we got exactly that and picked up 5 points and maybe we need to put a bit of context on the result.  

“In the last 2 weeks we have beaten Fylde and Hull Ionians and today we played a team, with all due respect, is possibly going to finish in the bottom half of the table.

“We then have Stourbridge and Hull to follow and they are teams that are expected to be possibly in the top four and so we gave the boys a massive amount of credit for winning over the last 2 weeks.

“However, in the first half particularly we were poor and we’ll need to raise those levels significantly going forwards and we’ll certainly need to raise them going into the Stourbridge game.

“From everything we have seen of Stourbridge, it seems they are a very good side; they’re unbeaten up to this point and we know it’s going to be very tough down there.

“Too many of us today didn’t get ourselves into the right frame of mind and although we have taken five points and that should always be celebrated, it feels disappointing because of our overall performance.

“But as I’ve said, let’s not lose context because the lads have done really well over the last couple of weeks. To go back-to-back against Fylde and Hull Ionians who are both top-four sides and to win and bag 9 points shows we are not a bad side, we’ve just had a bit of an off-day today.

“We now have to make sure we have a good week’s preparation so we’re in good shape to take on Stourbridge next week.”

Referee: Daniel Woods

Attendance: 594

Yellow Card: Kelly (Luctonians)

Titans: Bustin (2T), Entressengle (T), Clark (T), Williams (T), Hayes (3C, 2P)

Luctonians: Harriott-Davis (T), Wheeler (T), Deignan (T), Randell (2C, P)

Titans: 15 George Tucker, 14 Connor Field, 13 Mat Clark (Bustin 74), 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke (Drennan 66), 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 Jonny West, 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 45), 2 Fran Entressengle (Newborn 66), 3 Colin Quigley (Stout 40), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Keifer Laxton, 8 Callum Bustin (Williams 50).  

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Rikki Stout, 27 Matti Williams, 20 Matty Drennan.  

Luctonians: 15 Tom Jones (Nott 52), 14 Frank Kelly, 13 James Wheeler, 12 Rob Aikman, 11 Charlie Grimes, 10 Lewis Parkes, 9 Owen Randell, 1 Ben Murphy (Deignan 57), 2 Ben Link, 3 Joe White (Kone 69), 4 Harry Whiteman, 5 Owien Harriott-Davis (S. Jones 77), 6 Jack Forsythe (Watkins 25), 7 Mat Hackley (Capt.), 8 Sam Jones (Cheshire 52).

Replacements: 20 Connor Deignan, 17 Zac Watkins, 16 Cheick Kone, 19 Aiden Cheshire, 21 Josh Nott.

Photo courtesy of Gareth Siddons

Hull Ionians 24 Titans 27

Rotherham Titans maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a hard-fought, but well-deserved 27-24 win over Hull Ionians on a glorious sun-soaked afternoon at Brantingham Park.

Tries from Matty Drennan, Lloyd Hayes, Callum Bustin and Theo Nwosu-Hope ensured Rotherham picked up the bonus point win to keep them joint top of Nat 2 North with Sedgley Park.

However, once again the South Yorkshire side had to demonstrate their resilience and mental toughness as for the fifth consecutive game they found themselves behind at half time.

As expected, Ionians flew out of the blocks with great emotion and intensity and as a result found themselves 10-0 ahead just after the 20-minute mark, following an early penalty from fly half Ben Smith and then a pick and go try from tighthead prop Ben Bell, which Smith converted.

On the half hour and almost with Titans first foray into the I’s 22, they came away with a try after good work from the backs and forwards took play up close to the line, before scrum half Matty Drennan picked up from the base to dive over.  Jonny West narrowly missed the extras.

Back came Ionians though as Roth continued to struggle to get a foothold in the game and five minutes before the break I’s extended their advantage when on-loan centre Jack Townend exploited a gap in Roth’s defence to race through for a nice try. Smith converted to send Ionians in at the break leading 17-5.

Roth needed a stronger start to the second period and this they managed as their own work-rate and intensity lifted.

Just 4 minutes in and Titans had their second try of the game when Lloyd Hayes collected on the edge of the I’s 22 and proceeded to run around, then through the defence to touch down in the corner for an unconverted try.

From this point forward the game was pretty much dominated by Rotherham and within ten minutes the scores were level after number 8 Callum Bustin peeled off a driving maul close to the line to score near the corner. Lloyd Hayes converted from out wide to make it 17-17.

Despite Roth now being in the ascendancy, Ionians tenaciousness in defence meant the South Yorkshire side had to wait until 10 minutes from time before they took the lead.

The bonus point try for Roth came when Theo Nwosu-Hope charged down a clearance kick inside the I’s 22 and proceeded to collect and run in to dive over in the corner. Again Hayes nailed the conversion from out wide to make it 24-17.

Two minutes from Time Rotherham sealed the game when Hayes added a penalty following more impressive work from the Titans pack.

In added time Rotherham thought they had a fifth try, but unfortunately Theo Nwosu-Hope’s effort was deemed to have been knocked on.

As a consolation and perhaps deservedly so, with the final play of the game Ionians back rower George Mewburn scored his sides third try of the match for Smith to convert.

Speaking straight after the game Titans’ Steve Salvin said:

“We were way off it in the first 40 minutes; we came up against a side that was loaded with emotion, well organised, well coached and physical and for 40 minutes we weren’t even close. We were second best by some distance and to be honest we were probably lucky to get in at half time only 12 points down.

“We started the second half like we should have started the first half; we know we have quality, but quality is meaningless unless you are prepared to work hard. In the first 40 we didn’t work hard enough and in the second 40 we were so much better.

“We’ve done this 3 times away from home now, so you can’t question the boys’ resilience or mental toughness, but what you can probably question is how effective we are in the first 20 or 30 minutes of games away from home.

“We played well in the second half because we worked harder and that’s all we talked about at half time, working harder. We got outworked in the first half and I would argue we outworked them in the second half and as a result we won the game.”

Referee: Peter Caunt

Attendance: 425

Yellow Card: Challinor (Titans)

Titans: Drennan (T), Bustin (T), Nwosu-Hope (T), Hayes (T, P, 2C)

Hull Ionians: Bell (T), Townend (T), Mewburn (T), Smith (P, 3C)

Titans: 15 Tom Lewis, 14 George Tucker, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Jonny West, 9 Matty Drennan (Clark 40), 1 Charlie Capps (Pleasants 60), 2 Harry Newborn (Entressengle 60), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 67), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Harry Williams (Nwosu-Hope 53), 8 Callum Bustin.  

Replacements: 23 Francis Entressengle, 17 Alex Pleasants, 18 Colin Quigley, 19 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 20 Mat Clark.

Hull Ionians: 15 William Edwards, 14 Sam Wilson, 13 Josh Britton, 12 Jack Townend, 11 Nathan Hill, 10 Ben Smith, 9 Josh Bird (Metcalfe 53) Bird (61), 1 David Laverick (Bell 74), 2 Ben Stephenson, 3 Ben Bell (Morton 40), 4 Joe Makin, 5 Alex Campbell (Peters 40), 6 George Mewburn, 7 James Sanderson (Capt.) (C. Sanderson 74), 8 Callam Sanderson (Hudson 60).

Replacements: 16 Christopher Morton, 17 Thomas Peters, 18 Allan Hudson, 19 Kobby Opoku-Fofie, 20 William Metcalfe.

Photo courtesy of Gareth Lyons

Titans 28 Fylde 13

Rotherham Titans ran out 28-13 winners against top-of-the-table Fylde in atrocious wet and windy conditions at Clifton Lane.

The win leaves Rotherham still unbeaten after 5 games, after two tries from back rower Callum Bustin and one from tighthead prop Rikki Stout proved to be the crucial scores against a very dangerous outfit from the North West.

The first half saw Rotherham enjoy the majority of territory and possession. However, following a 2nd minute successful penalty from Jonny West, the South Yorkshire side were unable to convert that pressure into further points.

Indeed, credit has to be given to Fylde for their resilience in defence, after they manfully repelled the Titans on several occasions close to their own line. Their willingness to lay their bodies on the line was commendable and on 20 minutes, although against the run of play, they scored an outstanding try.

Full back Tom Carleton collected a clearance kick inside his own 22 and displayed smart footwork and a turn of foot to evade the several defenders as he took the ball deep inside Titans half. Two quick passes later and winger Henry Hadfield glided in to dot down under the sticks. Greg Smith had the formality of tagging on the extras to give his side a 7-3 lead.

Although disappointed to concede such a long-range try, Rotherham continued to force the game with their powerful play, both in the tight and in the loose. This in turn led to another penalty shortly before the break which West nailed to send Roth in at the break trailing by a solitary point.

Despite the second period being predominantly controlled by Roth, it was Fylde who scored next on 47 minutes when Smith extended his side’s advantage to 10-6 with a penalty kick.

Just four minutes later however Titans regained a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, when from a catch and drive close to the line, number 8 Callum Bustin dotted down after a terrific drive from the pack. West impressed from out wide with his conversion to make it 16-10.

With just over 10 minutes to go Smith put over a long-range penalty against the wind to reduce his side’s arrears to 16-13 and to potentially set up a nervy finish to the game.

However, five minutes later the game was effectively sealed when tighthead prop Rikki Stout touched down following another powerful drive from the home pack.

With the final play of the game in injury time, Callum Bustin scored an outstanding individual try when he collected from over 25 metres out to crash his way through the Fylde defence to put the icing on the top of a fine performance in difficult conditions. Jonny West conversion meant Rotherham replaced Fylde at the top-of-the-table after 5 games.

Speaking on the pitch afterwards Steve Salvin said:

“It was an immensely satisfying victory; to win 28-13 on a pretty grim day weather wise was a good outcome.  The big thing for us to take away is to see 20 lads put that amount of effort into the game; that was just outstanding. I am so proud of them and I’ve just told them to go and enjoy it because they fully deserve it.

“The positive thing is, and I don’t think anyone in the ground today would disagree, we can still get better.  But the thing I will give the lads credit for is effort and I would give them 10 out of 10 for that.

“This game away from home on a dry day against Fylde is a different game. Their game is expansive and high tempo, so today’s conditions wouldn’t have really suited them; but we still had to go out there and do a job against a side that came here full of confidence having put 80 points on a side last week.

“We felt in the first half we ground them down a little bit and then the dam sort of broke in the final 20 minutes and we were able to get a couple of tries and as a group we are delighted to get the win.”

Referee: Owen Taylor

Attendance: 517

Yellow Card: Tucker (Titans)

Titans: Bustin (2T), Stout (T), West (2C, 3P)

Fylde: Hadfield (T), Smith (1C, 2P)

Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 George Tucker (Lewis 63), 13 Mat Clark, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Jonny West, 9 Sam Pocklington, 1 Charlie Capps (Pleasants 60), 2 Harry Newborn (Entressengle 78), 3 Colin Quigley (Stout 33), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Harry Williams (Nwosu-Hope 47), 8 Callum Bustin.  

Replacements: 23 Francis Entressengle, 17 Alex Pleasants, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 20 Tom Lewis.   

Fylde: 15 Tom Carleton, 14 Henry Hadfield (Jordan 75), 13 Tom Forster, 12 Scott Rawlings, 11 Tom Grimes, 10 Greg Smith, 9 Adam Lanigan, 1 Zack Barrow, 16 Ben Gregory (Capt.), 3 Matt Ashcroft (Bowker 36) (Ashcroft 75), 4 Olli Parkinson, 5 Matt Garrod (Bentley 62), 6 Marcus Blake, 7 Phill Mills, 8 Harlan Corrie.

Replacements: 17 Sam Kyle-Clay, 18 Corey Bowker, 19 Tane Bentley, 2 Ben O’Ryan, 20 Scott Jordan.

Photo courtesy of Steve Mettam

Blaydon 17 Titans 49

Rotherham Titans overcame a sluggish start to the game as they stormed back to beat an enthusiastic Blaydon side by 7 tries to 2 to notch-up a worthy 49-17 victory, on a warm afternoon at Crow Trees

The victory sees Rotherham maintain their unbeaten start to the season after 4 games and lifts them into third place in the table, just 2 points behind league Leaders and Titans next opposition in 7 days’ time, Fylde.

Once again however, the South Yorkshire side found themselves behind at the end of the first quarter, as the home side raced out of the blocks to score two tries through loosehead prop Drew Thompson and fly half Jonny Ashman, both of which were converted by Ewan Greenlaw, who also added a penalty on 17 minutes to give his side a perfect start.

At this stage Blaydon were rampant and the momentum was undoubtedly with them and with a 17-0 lead, had they managed to make full use of their dominance at this juncture, the final outcome could have looked very different.

Rotherham however managed to keep their composure as they slowly began to exert some control in the game.

On 23 minutes Titans pack-power yielded its first points of the game when openside flanker Harry Williams dotted down from an authoritative driving maul, following a line out close to the line.

Buoyed with this success Rotherham now looked a better side as their confidence grew and they began moved the ball around and construct good phase work as they retained the ball convincingly.

Just after the half hour mark Roth reduced their arrears further when Mat Clark picked up from the base of a ruck and sniped through to take the ball up to the line before being brought down. Sam Pocklington was on hand however to flick a pass out to blindside flanker Lewis Allan in support, who in turn showed good footwork to step back inside to score.

Joe Carlisle nailed the extras to send Roth in at the break trailing by 17-12.

Rotherham continued to impress in the second period and within 10 minutes they poked their noses in front for the first time, when 22 seconds after coming on as a replacement, Callum Bustin dotted down having broken-off the maul close to the line to score. Jonny West tagged over the extras to give Roth a slender 19-17 lead.

To be fair to Blaydon they still looked threatening, especially in broken play and when there were gaps to be exploited Roth needed to be on their toes to keep them out, but this they did when it mattered.

Just after the hour mark Titans added to their advantage following a nice break down the right wing from debutant George Tucker. As he was grounded deep inside the 22 the ball was picked up by Sam Pocklington and fed back inside to the onrushing Harry Dunne who jinked through to score a nice try.

The next 10 minutes saw two penalties follow and up stepped Jonny West to convert as Roth increased the lead to 30-17.

Two minutes from time any lingering hopes the home side had of a late comeback were quashed when Theo Nwosu-Hope charged the ball down around half way and then Mat Clark hacked on for Jamie Cooke to collect and score under the sticks. West’s conversion made the score 37-17.

From the restart Roth almost switched into party mode as victory had been secured.

A clearance kick from inside his own 22 from Jonny West was brilliantly gathered by Harry Williams who then galloped off before sending the ball out wide to Jamie Cooke, who in turn took play inside the Blaydon 22. A couple of phases later and loosehead prop Alex Pleasants got in on the act when he collected from 15 metres out to charge through to score. West added the extras.

And then in the final play of the game some great handling and offloading resulted in a brilliant team try for the Titans. The cross field move included Mat Clark, Sam Pocklington, Jonny West, Alex Pleasants, Callum Bustin, Zak Poole and Theo Nwosu-Hope who stepped inside before finding Francis Entressengle who raced in to finish off a superb try and seal a marvellous victory.

Speaking on the pitch after the game Titans’ Steve Salvin said:

“Being 17-0 down after 17 minutes wasn’t the start we had planned, but to be honest I still thought we would win the game because we just hadn’t started.

“We reviewed Blaydon in the week and they did almost a picture-perfect execution of a game plan we knew was coming our way. We talked about it, we prepared for it and we trained for it, but for whatever reason in that opening period we just let them do what they wanted and on this pitch with the cohesion they have, they fully deserved their 17-point lead.

“However, I never thought we were out of it and I knew if we got a foothold and some control of the game we would come through. Also, to get back to 17-12 before half time was a massive bonus.

“I think the boys deserve a lot of credit in that they always find a way to get back into games; they were 17-3 down against Sedgley and got themselves into a winning position and today again they came back from being 17 points down and that shows how resilient they are as a group.

“We are still fallible though and if we are going to kick-on and be successful, because we’re not where we need to be yet, we’ll have to keep working until we get there.”

Referee: Michael Harris

Attendance: 348

Yellow Card: None

Titans: H. Williams (T), Allan (T), Bustin (T), Dunne (T), Cooke (T), Pleasants (T), Entressengle (T), Carlisle (1C), West (3C, 2P)

Blaydon: Thompson (T), Ashman (T), Greenlaw (2C, P)

Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 George Tucker, 13 Mat Clark, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Joe Carlisle (West 35), 9 Sam Pocklington, 1 Charlie Capps (Pleasants 57), 2 Harry Newborn (Entressengle 60), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 57), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Lewis Allan (Bustin 46), 7 Harry Williams, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).  

Replacements: 16 Callum Bustin, 17 Colin Quigley, 18, Alex Pleasants, 19 Francis Entressengle, 20 Jonny West.   

Blaydon: 15 Nathan Bailey, 14 James Cooney, 13 Ewan Greenlaw, 12 Alex Clark (Capt.) (Mongan 68), 11 Jack Appleton, 10 Jonny Ashman (Clark 76), 9 John Clarkson, 1 Drew Thompson (Beattie 71), 2 Mike Newstead, 3 Elliott Beattie (Dodds 40), 4 Liam Wright, 5 Keith Laughlin (Kirkbride 20), 6 Alex Charlton, 7 Anthony Harrison (Cooper 16), 8 Ethan Clarke (Gray 59).

Replacements: 16 Danny Gray, 17 Alex Dodds, 18 Ryan Kirkbride, 19 Paddy Cooper, 20 Hugh Mongan.

Titans 48 Bournville 46

Rotherham Titans breathed a huge sigh of relief when with the final kick of the game Lloyd Hayes sealed a 48-46 victory for the home side over a very energetic Bournville outfit.

The victory keeps Titans unbeaten in Nat 2 after 3 games, but they will need to tighten up defensively for their away trip to Blaydon next week.

On a glorious sun-soaked afternoon at Clifton Lane the supporters will remember this one for some time, as Rotherham came out on top in this 13 try bonanza; although at no stage could either side have been confident they would be victorious, as the lead changed hands five times.

Rotherham made the brighter start and inside the opening 15 minutes crossed the whitewash twice through packmen Zak Poole and Matt Challinor, with the opposition 10, Mitch McGahan, slotting over a 3-pointer in between, to leave Roth 10-3 to the good.

However, the visitors bounced back with gusto as they blitzed Rotherham with pace and power to run in 3 converted tries and a penalty in a devastating 15-minutes spell, to Roth’s sole score of a Harry Dunne converted try, to leave the scores at 27-17 to the ‘Chocos’.

Although not at their best on this balmy afternoon, Titans have a spirited bunch of boys who never want to be outdone. So as expected, back they came to reduce the arrears 4 minutes before the break when Matt Challinor crashed over for his second score of the match. Joe Carlisle tagged on the extras to send in the home side trailing 27-24 at half time.

The second period was every bit as frenetic as the first and when Bournville winger Ollie Dawkins ran in to score a converted try after just 2 minutes, to extend the visitors lead to 32-24, the frown lines on Titans faces deepened.

Yet again however the Lane men powered back!

This time Matti Williams and Zak Poole scored almost identical tries on 45 and 50 minutes respectively, through driving mauls from line outs inside the Bournville 22, with Lloyd Hayes also chipping in with two successful penalties to take Roth into a 40-32 lead.

But again, back the Birmingham based side came to narrow the gap to a single point on 70 minutes when replacement back Mikey Ho dashed through to score, for the impressive McGahan to convert.

Six minutes from time Rotherham probably thought they’d done enough to take the spoils when hooker Harry Newborn dotted down from the tail of a maul to give his side its seventh try of the game to go 45-39 ahead.

Now it was just a case of closing out the game!

But this game didn’t want to be closed out and 3 minutes into injury time it appeared as if the visitors had snatched the win when tighthead prop Ryan Smeilus crashed over for the nerveless McGahan to convert and put his side 46-45 up.

However, in the final play of this most remarkable of games Rotherham were awarded a penalty at a scrum and up stepped Lloyd Hayes in the 86th minute to tee up his shot. The nervy and stony silence which surrounded the ground was boisterously broken by the roar of the shed, as Hayes’ effort sailed through the posts to give Roth the most dramatic of victories.

Bournville would have been bitterly disappointed to have missed out on the win and they deserve a huge amount of credit for their part in making this game one of the most memorable in recent times at Clifton Lane.

Speaking after the game a shell-shocked Steve Salvin reflected:

“I think we have to celebrate the result because we have just gained 5 points, but we can’t be too pleased with our overall performance because we’ve just conceded 46 points and we were a long way off where we need to be.

“If that’s a benchmark of where we are in terms of our performance we need to be concerned, because we’ll not get away with that week in and week out and we will end up on the wrong end of the score on a regular basis.

“But we’ll review what we did well and what we didn’t and we’ll work hard as a group to improve and put things right for our next game again Blaydon.”

Referee: Peter Caunt

Attendance:  587

Yellow Card: Poole & Cooke (Titans), Burgoyne & Burrows (Bournville)

Titans: Poole (2T), Challinor (2T), Dunne (T), M. Williams (T), Newborn (T), Carlisle (2C), Hayes (3P)

Bournville: Dawson (T), Burrows (T), Burgoyne (T), Dawkins (T), Ho (T), Smeilus (T), McGahan (5C, 2P)

Titans: 15 Cameron McDonald, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Joe Carlisle (Boxhall 64), 9 Sam Pocklington, 1 Charlie Capps (Pleasants 58), 2 Harry Newborn, 3 Colin Quigley (Stout 50), 4 Matt Challinor (Entressengle 80), 5 Matt Smith, 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope 7 Matti Williams (H. Williams 54), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).  

Replacements: 16 Francis Entressengle, 17 Alex Pleasants, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Harry Williams, 20 Sam Boxhall.   

Bournville: 15 Owen Williams, 14 Tom Burrows, 13 Mark Coulson, 12 Sam Wilson, 11 Ollie Dawkins, 10 Mitch McGahan, 9 Ben Tibbetts, 1 James Burgoyne, 2 Zane Raimondi, 3 Ryan Smeilus, 4 Callum Thompson, 5 Harry Dawson, 6 Sam Monteiri, 7 Ashley Scriven, 8 Umraan Jadwat.

Replacements: 16 Archie McArthur, 17 Jonjo Fanning, 18 Fynlay Brown, 19 Tom Vickers, 20 Mikey Ho.

Photo courtesy of Steve Mettam

Sedgley Park 22 Titans 22

Rotherham Titans maintained their unbeaten start to the season after sharing the spoils at Park Lane with a hard-fought 22-22 draw against Sedgley Park.

The game could have gone either way and both sides could argue they deserved the win.

However, had Joe Carlisle’s long-range drop goal effort 3 minutes from time not narrowly missed the left upright, it would have been the South Yorkshire side that would have carried the day.

Despite Roth taking a fourth minute lead through a Jonny West penalty, it was Sedgley Park who looked the more threatening.

That threat was converted inside the first 25 minutes into a 17-3 lead, following two tries through Rob Birtwell and Matt Gallagher, with Steve Collins converting both and slipping a penalty over in between the tries.

Just after the half hour mark however Roth narrowed the deficit when from a line out close to the line, openside flanker Matti Williams peeled off the maul to crash over. West’s conversion attempt narrowly missed the right upright.

Titans were now fully in the game and looked more accomplished in their work. This turnabout saw them narrow the gap further when from another line out inside the 22, the Roth pack marched forward with authority to allow hooker Harry Newborn to crash over from the tail.

Jonny West expertly converted from out wide to send Titans in at the break trailing by 17-15.

The second half saw both sides batter away at each other as they looked to gain an edge and on 64 minutes it was Rotherham who managed to nose themselves in front with a fine score.

This time however it was a nicely worked move through their backline, when following a period of sustained pressure, Joe Carlisle zipped a pass out to Harry Dunne, who in turn broke through and exchanged passes with Connor Field before running through to dot down. Carlisle tagged on the extras to give Roth a 22-17 lead.

To be fair to the home side they looked dangerous throughout, but Titans nonetheless will be disappointed with what turned out to be the final score of the game to level the match.

From the breakdown on the Roth 10 metre line the Yorkshire side switched off for a moment and Sedgley picked up and broke through the middle allowing scrum half Dan Openshaw to race in from 40 metres for an unconverted try.

Both teams will look back on this one and feel it could have been their day and based on early season form, it’s quite like that both teams will be competing at the business end of the division come April.

Post-match Titans head coach, Steve Salvin, reflected:

“To come here in our second game of the season on what is probably the widest pitch in the division against one of the top sides and to get a draw, we have to be pleased; especially when you consider at one point we were 17-3 down.

“I think we are still quite some way off our potential, I think when we do hit our straps we will be a good side. I’ve just said to the boys that 5 weeks ago we lost to Sale and the week after Sedgley beat Sale, so we know that Sedgley are an outstanding side, but also it shows how much growth we’ve already had and we know there’s much more to come.

It’s always disappointing when you don’t win, but a draw here is better than a loss and we will take that one today.”

Referee: Michael Harris

Attendance: 300

Yellow Card: None

Titans: M. Williams (T), Newborn (T), Dunne (T), West (P, C), Carlisle (1C)

Sedgley Park:  Birtwell (T), Gallagher (T), Openshaw (T), Collins (P, 2C)

Titans: 15 Cameron McDonald, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Jonny West (Carlisle 55), 9 Sam Boxhall (Pocklington 62), 1 Charlie Capps (Stout h/t), 2 Harry Newborn (Entressengle 66), 3 Colin Quigley (Capps55), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith (M. Williams 66), 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 7 Matti Williams (H. Williams 62), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Fran Entressengle, 17 Rikki Stout, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Sam Pocklington, 20 Joe Carlisle.

Sedgley Park: 15 Andrew Riley, 14 Sam Lowthion, 13 Oliver Glasse, 12 Matt Riley, 11 Jamie Harrison, 10 Steve Collins, 9 Dan Openshaw (Tansey 71), 1 John Blanchard, 2 Matt Gallagher, 3 Andrew Curtis (Nonleh 23) (Curtis 44) (Nonleh 69), 4 Robert Birtwell, 5 Oscar Crowe (Chilvers 56), 6 Connor James, 7 Mark Goodman (Crowe 62), 8 Tom Ailes.

Replacements: 16 Beltus Nonleh, 17 Cashel Chilvers, 18 Elliot Crowe, 19 Jacob Tansey, 20 Alex Powell.

Photo courtesy of Steve Mettam

Titans 35 Wharfedale 5

Rotherham Titans got their National 2 North campaign underway with a hard-fought, but well-deserved win over Wharfedale, as they ran out 35-5 winners at a busy Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored their Yorkshire rivals by 5 tries to 1 with Matt Challinor dotting down twice and Jamie Cooke, Zak Poole and Lloyd Hayes also touching down for five pointers. Two Jonny West penalties and a conversion and a Lloyd Hayes conversion completed the scoring for the home side.

In a much-anticipated game and 546 days since the last one at Clifton Lane, all at Titans were keen to get the new season underway with a win.

However, despite enjoying the lion’s share of territory and possession during the opening quarter, it was the visitors who scored first through lock forward Ben Leacock on 19 minutes, after livewire scrum half Sam Gaudie had jinked through to catch Roth flat-footed.

Nevertheless Titans hit back within 10 minutes after a Jonny West show-and-go enabled him to break the line allowing Matt Challinor to crash over following a couple of phases close to the line. West tagged on the extras to give Roth the lead.

Just 5 minutes later and the outstanding Jamie Cooke scored Titans second when he showed great strength to pick up from the base to bulldoze his way over in the corner.

West narrowly missed the extras but just before the break made amends as he slotted over a penalty to give his side a 15-5 lead at the interval.

It was important the home side came out strong for the second half and this they did as they crossed the whitewash twice more inside the opening 13 minutes.

Firstly Matt Challinor crashed over following a series of pick and goes and then captain Zak Poole dotted down after more powerful work from the pack.

To be fair to Wharfedale it would have been easy for them to roll-over at this stage, but full credit to them for continuing to put their bodies on the line as they chased and harassed Rotherham relentlessly and indeed kept them scoreless for the next 25 minutes.

However, late on centre Lloyd Hayes skipped through for Titans fifth try of the match after Sam Pocklington slipped him in from the base of a scrum.

With the last kick of the match Jonny West added a penalty to round off a perfect start to the campaign.

Speaking on the pitch straight after the match and not wanting to get too carried away after one game, Steve Salvin noted:

“We’ve had a steady start and that’s all it is, if you’d offered us this before the game we would have snatched your hand off because we knew the quality of the team we were up against and the quality of the coaching staff they have.

“On top of that we knew they wouldn’t just go away and the only way we’ve got 35 points on the board is we showed some unrelenting qualities and that for me is the biggest positive.

“But there are definitely elements of our game we know we have to make significant improvements on, so as I’ve said it’s a steady start.”

Referee: Carl Adams

Attendance: 531

Yellow Card: Gaudie, Bullough & Beesley (Wharfedale)

Titans: Challinor (2T), Cooke (T), Poole (T), Hayes (T, C), West (2P, C)

Wharfedale: Leacock (T)

Titans: 15 Cameron McDonald, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Mat Clark, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Jonny West, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Harry Newborn, 3 Colin Quigley, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 7 Marcus Payne, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Fran Entressengle, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Matti Williams, 20 Sam Pocklington.

Wharfedale: 15 Rian Hamilton, 14 Ralph Wellock, 13 Harry Bullough, 12 Thomas Davidson, 11 Oli Cicognini, 10 Jack Blakeney-Edwards, 9 Sam Gaudie, 1 Joe Altham, 2 Matt Speres, 3 Matt Beesley, 4 Ben Leacock, 5 Rhys Green, 6 Chris Jackson, 7 Jack Pinder, 8 George Hedgley.

Replacements: 16 George Altham, 17 Chris Steele, 18 Jack Thompson, 19 Ben Markey, 20 Luke Punton.

Photo courtesy of Steve Mettam