Titans 29 Darlington Mowden Park 14

Rotherham Titans were made to work hard for their bonus-point 29-14 win over a tenacious Darlington side on a gloomy afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored Park by 4 tries to 2 with JB Bruzulier grabbing a brace and Tomasi Tanumi and Lloyd Hayes both dotting down, the latter also added 9 points from the tee.

The victory keeps Titans third in the league, just four points behind leaders Richmond and three behind second placed side Rams.

In this highly competitive and keenly-fount affair it was Rotherham that got the scoreboard moving when after 10 minutes JB Bruzulier found the onrushing Lloyd Hayes who collected nicely before crashing though to score next to the posts. Once he’d dusted himself down he knocked over the extras.

Although Rotherham continued to have good moments it was Mowden Park that scored next when following a period of forward dominance inside the home 22, second rower Oscar Usher collected a metre out to barge over for a converted try.

Rotherham for some reason lacked their usual spark and despite good periods of possession and territory close to the line, Mowden Park were able to keep them out.

Indeed, as the half drew to a close it was Park that looked more likely to take a lead going into the break. However, it was now Rotherham that displayed a stubborn resistance to keep their defence intact to end the half level at 7 apiece.

Titans came out for the second forty looking sharper and with more energy than before, but it wasn’t until the hour mark that they managed to add to their tally.

Following some good forward pressure Rotherham took play up to the Darlington line, before scrum half JB Bruzulier collected and threw a lovely miss-pass out to winger Tomasi Tanumi for the easiest of dot downs. Hayes made the conversion.

With just over 10 minutes remaining Park stunned the home side when from a catch and drive hooker Max Fraine dotted down from the tail and Harry Read’s superb conversion from the touchline levelled the match.

Lloyd Hayes calmed the Titans nerves somewhat when his penalty kick a few minutes later restored his sides lead.

Then in the final minutes of the game Rotherham broke the visitor’s resistance when man-of-the-match JB Bruzulier scored two tries through his awareness close to the line to sneak over for both.

Whilst Rotherham fully deserved their win, it was tough on a Darlington side to go away empty handed having put so much into the game.

The Titans will now enjoy a few days off over Christmas before pressing the reset button in the New Year.

Speaking afterwards Titans Harvey Biljon reflected:

“We knew this was going to be a tricky fixture; in our preview we showed the table and where we were and where they were and everyone always looks at the table and just assumes and we didn’t want to do that.

“DMP came here and gave us everything they could, they gave us a battle, they scrapped for absolutely everything and we had to work hard for it.

“We are a team that is growing, a team that’s got confidence and a team that finds a way to get that bonus-point win and right now at the end of a long year that five points is a big one for us.”

Titans: JB Bruzulier (2T), Tanumi (T), Hayes (T, 3C, P)

Darlington Mowden Park: Usher (T), Fraine (T), Read (2C)

Yellow Card: None

Attendance: 250

Referee: Tim Allatt

Assistant Referees: Dave Charlton & Matt Daubney

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Ronnie Du Randt, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps © (Toerien 57), 2 Luke Cole (Bergmanas 52), 3 Andrew Foster (Stout 76), 4 Harry Gilson-Fox, 5 Curran Maguire, 6 John Okafor, 7 Travis Gordon, 8 Zak Poole ©.

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Callum Russell, 20 James Naylor.

Darlington Mowden Park: 15 Harry Read, 14 Ratu Katalau, 13 Callum Mackenzie, 12 Ewan Greenlaw, 11 Callum Trees, 10 Garry Law (Newton 66), 9 Ben Douglas, 1 Sam Kyle-Clay (Murphy 43), 2 Max Fraine, 3 Eoin Harrison (Turnill 60), 4 Oscar Usher (Vaioleti 76), 5 Talite Vaioleti (Parsons 35), 6 Joe Craggs, 7 Will Jones (Capt.), 8 Yaree Fantini (Heathman 60).

Replacements: 16 Cam Murphy, 17 Sam Turnill, 18 Max Heathman, 19 Reuben Parsons, 20 Junior Newton.

Richmond 31 Titans 29

Rotherham Titans went toe to toe with leaders Richmond in a pulsating battle, before a last gasp try from winger Chidera Obonna saw them go down 31-29 on a cool afternoon at The Athletic Ground.

In this nine try thriller Rotherham crossed the whitewash 4 times with Jamie Cooke grabbing a brace and Aidan Shortall and Charlie Capps grabbing one each: Lloyd Hayes added 9 points from the tee.

The game was a physical battle between two of the best sides in the division and at the end there was nothing to choose between them, although Richmond must now have positioned themselves as title favourites having also beaten Rams the week before.

Indeed, it was Richmond who started much the brighter racing into a 14-0 lead inside the opening 13 minutes, after converted scores from winger Chidera Obonna and number 8 Sam Pim.

However, Titans didn’t panic and soon reduced the arrears when winger Aidan Shortall received a pass from Rob Povey to score.

Rotherham signalled their intent shortly after when John Okafor made a nice break before finding Jamie Cooke who went in at the corner for an unconverted try.

In this humdinger of a match back came Richmond before the half hour to extend their lead through centre Sam Dardis who received an overhead miss-pass to score near the corner. The missed conversion from Callum Grieve made it a 7-point game.

It was now Rotherham who enjoyed some possession, and they made the most of it when a lovely chip over the top was collected by Charlie Capps who put Jamie Cooke in for his second try. Lloyd Hayes added the extras to level the score at 19 each.

In the final play of the half however Rotherham were stunned by scrum half Luc Jones who through a cheeky dummy before sneaking in to score a converted try to make it 26-19.

Rotherham regrouped at the break and came out for the second half composed as they went about their business.

Lloyd Hayes reduced Titans deficit with an early penalty before just after the hour mark loosehead prop Charlie Capps crashed over for a converted try to give Rotherham the lead for the first time.

Both sides continued to batter each other in this brutal National 1 encounter and as the game went deep into injury time it looked as if the South Yorkshire side would claim a famous win.

However, credit to Richmond, as in the final play they managed to work the ball wide to winger Chidera Obonna who raced in at the corner to seal the game and send the home side into raptures.

Although the result will disappoint Rotherham, they can be proud of the shift they put in and confident in the knowledge they can more than compete with the best sides in the division.

Speaking after the match Harvey Biljon reflected:

“What a game to be part of and what an opportunity to for us to learn. The players showed lots of character, we were 14-0 down and up until the final play we were leading by 3 points and it just showed how we stayed in it.

“I think through the adversity of losing players, losing our nine and losing a winger and having to adapt and problem solve out there; I think that is great for our players to go through and we will learn from that.”

Titans: Cooke (2T), Shortall (T), Capps (T), Hayes (3C, 1P)

Richmond: Obonna (2T), Pim (T), Dardis (T), Jones (T), Grieve (3C)

Yellow Card: Shortall & Bruzulier (Titans), McMillan (Richmond)

Attendance: 455

Referee: Alan Chandrachud

Assistant Referees: Jeff Highcock & Matthew Shepherd

Titans: 15 Rob Povey, 14 Aidan Shortall (Naylor 44), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Ronnie Du Randt, 10 Corben Ollivent (Maguire 61), 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps © (Kivalu 68), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 53), 3 Alastair Donkor (Foster 40), 4 Zak Poole ©, 5 Curran Maguire (Gordon 44), 6 John Okafor, 7 Ellis Thomas, 8 Callum Bustin (Bergmanas 70).

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Andrew Foster, 19 Travis Gordon, 21 James Naylor.

Richmond: 15 Alex O’Meara, 14 Frank McMillan (Wills 65), 13 Sam Dardis, 12 Callum Grieve, 11 Chidera Obonna, 10 Lewis Dennett, 9 Luc Jones ©, 1 Theo Bevacqua, 2 Will Goffey (Torpey 59), 3 Jimmy Litchfield (Spring 59), 4 Jake Monson, 5 George Nugent (Wakeling 60), 6 Ethan Benson, 7 Lucas Schmid 8 Sam Pim.

Replacements: 16 Callum Torpey, 17 Luke Spring, 18 Henry Wills, 19 Miles Wakeling, 20 Rhett Butler.

Photo: Tim Anger

Titans 15 Blackheath 12

Rotherham Titans continued their fine run of form with a narrow but fully deserved 15-12 win over a resolute Blackheath side on a wet and windy afternoon at Clifton Lane.

With the game going into the final play Rotherham worked the ball infield, allowing fly half Corben Ollivent to seal the match in dramatic fashion with a drop goal.

The thrilling finale sent the faithful in the Shed into raptures because they knew a very good side had just been beaten.

The game was always going to be an attritional affair due to the weather, particularly with gusts of wind reaching 50 mph at times. Nevertheless, both sides gave their all right up to the end in a brutally physical battle.

It was the visitors who took the lead inside the opening 15 minutes when a high clearance kick from Blackheath was gathered and quickly recycled along the backline for Jake Lloyd to finish off in the corner for an unconverted try.

Despite this setback Rotherham remained calm and started to build some pressure as they enjoyed the lion’s share of territory and possession.

The pressure eventually told and lead to a fine try when following some heavy work from the pack the ball was flung out to the backs, with the final pass from Ronnie Du Randt finding winger Aidan Shortall who dived over in the corner to level the score.

The momentum Rotherham enjoyed towards the end of the first half carried into the second half and this resulted in another try when on 47 minutes JB Bruzulier showed great awareness to dive over from the base of a ruck. Lloyd Hayes converted from in front to make it 12-5.

Blackheath are a quality side and a response was inevitable. Twelve minutes from time following some good work by their pack, the ball was quickly spun out wide for Jake Lloyd to dot down for his second try. Incredibly Tom Ffitch nailed the conversion with an outstanding kick to level the game once again.

As the match went deep into injury time it looked as if the teams would share the spoils.

However, with one final huge effort Rotherham manoeuvred the ball downfield and ultimately into a position where Corben Ollivent was able to calmly slot over the dramatic drop goal winner.

The hard-earned victory keeps Rotherham in third spot, six-points behind league leaders and next opponents Richmond. So, the focus will immediately shift towards what will be Titans toughest test to date.

Commenting after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I think you had two very committed teams out there today, both teams will feel that and they’ll be some sore bodies tomorrow and on Monday, because it was pretty physical.

“I was pleased with the way we went about our business, although Blackheath deserved their first score, but the score we took in that top left-hand corner, to push the pass in these conditions was brave and we executed the skill, so I was really proud that we took that score.

“We knew it was going to be tough; we built into the game which was good and it was good to get ahead and we built some momentum. But we had one or two things just not go our way and I think the momentum swung back to Blackheath and they took a score and took a kick in crazy conditions and then it came down to those last few minutes.

“The territory told and we had two chances to win the game; we had a shot to take at goal from a previous penalty, but we took it with a drop goal.

“What pleased me was we found a way to go and get a result.”

Titans: Shortall (T), Bruzulier (T), Hayes (1C), Ollivent (1DG)

Blackheath: (Lloyd (2T), Ffitch (1C)

Yellow Card: None

Attendance: 250

Referee: Ben Wood

Assistant Referees: Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts & Matt Daubney

Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Tomasi Tanumi (Naylor 37) (Tanumi 43), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Aidan Shortall, 10 Corben Ollivent, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps © (Kivalu 70), 2 Luke Cole, 3 Andrew Foster, 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Bergmanas 70), 5 Curran Maguire, 6 John Okafor, 7 Zak Poole © (Thomas 40), 27 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Alastair Donkor, 28 Ellis Thomas, 21 James Naylor.

Blackheath: 15 Jake Hennessey, 14 Jake Lloyd, 13 Leo Fielding, 12 Markus Burcham, 11 Matt Armstrong (Hirskyj-Douglas 56), 10 Oli Burgess (Ffitch 49), 9 Jordan Burns, 1 Archie Holland, 2 Billy Harding (Witchell 74), 3 Andrew Boye (Marsh 56), 4 Finlay O’Sullivan (Cavubati 53), 5 Mike Etete, 6 Josh Smart, 7 Noah Sloot 8 Tom Baldwin ©.

Replacements: 16 Alex Witchell, 17 Rory Marsh, 22 Tex Cavubati, 19 Tom Ffitch, 20 Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas.