Titans 33 Wharfedale 7

Rotherham Titans put in a powerful performance to grind out a well-deserved 33-7 bonus point victory over a tenacious Wharfedale side on a mild afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored Wharfedale by 4 tries to 1, with scores coming from John Okafor, Tainne Finn, Charlie Capps and Matt Smith, with Lloyd Hayes adding 13 points from the tee.

Going into the game it promised to be an abrasive affair and that’s exactly how it turned out as Wharfedale got into Rotherham’s faces made them graft hard for the win.

The first half, although extremely competitive, was a low-scoring one as neither side wanted to give an inch in this rasping encounter; however, Lloyd Hayes nudged Rotherham ahead on 10 minutes with a penalty kick.

The only other score in the opening half came as Wharfedale’s Louis Verity took advantage of a lapse in the Rotherham defence; as he picked up unopposed at the breakdown and raced in from 25 metres. Robbie Davidson added the extras to give the Green Machine a 7-3 lead.

The second half saw Rotherham get on top as their power game started to take its toll on Wharfedale and they reduced their arrears to a single point when Lloyd Hayes knocked over his second penalty.

The final twenty minutes saw Titans increase the intensity even more and this resulted in them scoring a remarkable four tries against a tiring opposition.

The first came on the hour mark when Harry Dunne initially made good ground down the left wing before Matt Challinor delivered a crucial offload under pressure for John Okafor to collect and power over.

Hayes added another penalty shortly after before quick ball through the backs, which involved JB Bruzulier, Harry Dunne, Will Milner and Jack Townend culminated in Tainne Finn going over in the corner on debut.

Inside the final ten minutes loose head prop Charlie Capps bulldozed his way over following good work from the pack and in the final play of the match second rower Matt Smith was on hand to collect another fine offload from Matt Challinor to secure the bonus point.

The victory was impressive and important as Rotherham continues their pursuit of leaders Leeds Tykes and with 13 games played and another 13 to go; everything is still to play for in what will be a long season of rugby.

Speaking after the match Titans Gaz Lewis reflected:

“Wharfedale are in the higher echelons of the league for a reason; I thought they were outstanding, particularly in the first half. They made it a real battle at the breakdown and they got under our skin in terms of the set-piece and made our life difficult.

“At half time we spoke about keeping our belief in what we wanted to achieve and to manage the aspects of the game we could control. We spoke about remaining calm and sticking to our processes and in the second half I thought the lads were outstanding, particularly in the final 20 minutes.

“To overcome some difficult periods against a top side like Wharfedale demonstrated the character within this squad; they showed bucket-loads of it to come back and get the bonus point win.

“This league is far from over; it’s a long season and we’re only at the halfway point and we know there’s a lot of rugby still to be played.

“We have a bit of a break now over Christmas and it’s important that the lads get some rest and recuperate and then come back firing in the New Year; it promises to be an exciting second half to the season.”

Referee: Daniel Woods

Attendance: 250

Yellow Card: Milner (Titans), Baldwin (Wharfedale)

Titans: Okafor (T), Finn (T), Capps (T), Smith (T), Hayes (3P, 2C)

Wharfedale: Verity (T), Davidson (1C)

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Dan Rundle (Tanumi 50), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Tainne Finn, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 57), 3 Gareth Denman (Kivalu 50), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Rupert Kay (Cowen-Leak 40), 8 Callum Bustin (Okafor 40). 

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 19 John Okafor, 20 Tomasi Tanumi.  

Wharfedale: 15 Ryan Hodgson, 14 Tom Darwin, 13 James Coulton, 12 Oliver Cicognini, 11 Louis Verity, 10 Robbie Davidson, 9 Ollie Riddiough (Prell 51), 1 Sam Dickinson, 2 Robbie Collinson (Willis 68), 3 Jake Armstrong (Hirst 73), 4 Elliot Stockton, 5 George Hedgley (Capt.), 6 Jack Pinder, 7 Ben Markey (Green 55), 8 Rob Baldwin (Fawcett 73).

Replacements: 16 Jack Hirst, 17 Dan Willis, 18 Rhys Green, 19 Joe Fawcett, 20 Josh Prell. 

Preston Grasshoppers 7 Titans 34

Rotherham Titans put in a dominant forward display to overpower Preston Grasshoppers 34-7 on a wet and windy afternoon at Lightfoot Green Lane.

Titans outscored the hosts by 6 tries to 1, with scores from Callum Bustin, Zak Poole, Charlie Capps, John Okafor, Jack Bergmanas and Rupert Kay, with Lloyd Hayes adding 4 points from the tee.

The result keeps Rotherham in second place in the table and narrows the gap to Leeds to 6 points.

The match was played in awful wintry conditions as the rain lashed down and the wind swept through. It wasn’t a day for expansive rugby; it was always going to be a day where the forwards would dictate the outcome.

Indeed after just six minutes it was Rotherham number 8 Callum Bustin who got the scoreboard ticking over when he dotted down from a maul close to the line. Unsurprisingly Lloyd Hayes’ conversion from out wide was blown off course.

Preston however hit back within five minutes when lock forward Ellis Causey, dual-registered with Sale Sharks, charged down a clearing kick and neatly controlled before diving over to score a converted try. Unfortunately the tall second rower injured himself on landing and he played no further part in the game.

Despite Rotherham have much the better of things there would be only one more score in the first half. This came in the 25th minute when skipper Zak Poole crashed over following some powerful work from the Titans pack.

Rotherham would have gone in at half time frustrated with themselves after a number of errors led to lots of missed opportunities.

However, a more clinical Roth emerged for the second period as they went through the gears in search of the win and a bonus point.

Within 10 minutes of the restart Titans had their third try when Zak Poole fed loose head prop Charlie Capps who in turn charged in from 10 metres to power over next to the posts.

Before the hour mark the win and bonus point was secured when powerful back rower John Okafor dotted down following further good work from the Rotherham pack.

Two tries inside the final ten minutes added the cherries on top when firstly hooker Jack Bergmanas dotted down from a catch and drive and in the final play back rower Rupert Kay showed great tenacity to score following a brilliant 50 metre break from Lloyd Hayes.

All in all Rotherham will have been delighted to have secured a bonus point win in terrible conditions against a tricky side that beat them last season.

Titans will now focus on a huge Yorkshire derby on Saturday when high-flyers Wharfedale come to Clifton Lane for the last game before Christmas.

Speaking after the match Titans Gaz Lewis reflected:

“We spoke about delivering a professional performance in difficult conditions; it needed to be that when you come to places like this. We stuck to the task in hand and although we didn’t quite deliver that in the first half, we did in the second half with the way we imposed ourselves with a great effort from the lads.

“I think it’s a measure of how far we have come in a short space of time, the lads have the ability to problem solve and that’s a sign of the maturity in the team.

“To be fair to Preston they didn’t go away and they stuck to their task the whole game, but we played to our strengths in very difficult conditions and we are pleased to come away with the five points.

“We’ll now switch out thoughts to Wharfedale next week. I think everyone knows Wharfedale are a physical team; they are going to be abrasive and in your face and it will be very competitive.

“Training has been outstanding for us; we are working hard on our conditioning and physicality and it should be a real tough battle. Hopefully we can get a big crowd and create a good atmosphere at Clifton Lane.”

Referee: Dave Charlton

Attendance: 306

Yellow Card: Cowen-Leak (Titans), Williams (Preston)

Titans: Bustin (T), Poole (T), Capps (T), Okafor (T), Bergmanas (T), Kay (T), Hayes (2C)

Preston Grasshoppers: Causey (T), Hunt (1C)

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Dan Rundle, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jack Taylor, 10 Will Milner (JB Bruzulier 77), 9 JB Bruzulier (Metcalfe 56), 1 Charlie Capps (Denman 70), 2 Luke Cole (Bergmanas 45), 3 Gareth Denman (Kivalu 45), 4 Matt Challinor (Kay 66), 5 Matt Smith, 19 John Okafor, 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin (Cowen-Leak 47). 

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 27 Rupert Kay, 20 Will Metcalfe.    

Preston Grasshoppers: 15 Jacob Browne (Capt.) (Haigh 76), 14 Ben Haigh (Parkinson 45), 13 Jack Lightowler, 12 Ed Keohane, 11 Tyler Spence, 10 Will Hunt, 9 Rory Brand (Povall 76), 25 Jake Pope, 2 Harry Holden (Williams 73), 3 Wade Williams (Haigh 55) (Gosling 71), 4 Ellis Causey (Naylor 12), 5 Ally Murray, 6 Will Riley, 7 Ben Dorrington (Wilkinson 67), 8 Josh Longson.

Replacements: 16 Cameron Wilkinson, 17 Will Parkinson, 24 Ewan Naylor, 19 Izaak Gosling, 20 Niall Povall.