Titans 36 Sheffield Tigers 17

Rotherham Titans finished off their season with a worthy 36-17 bonus point win over local rivals Sheffield Tigers on a warm afternoon at Clifton Lane.

The win confirmed Rotherham’s third place finish in the league behind worthy champions Hull and second placed side Sedgley Park, who too enjoyed a successful season after scoring the most points in the division.

Titans will now look to regroup over the summer as they aim to go two steps further in 22/23.

The South Yorkshire side can be proud of their achievements this term following relegation from Nat 1, rebuilding a new squad and somehow managing to complete the campaign following their long list of horrendous long-term injuries.

Their final game against Tigers saw them only able to field 18 players; nevertheless, their overall performance on the day, after a sluggish start, was impressive and in these last few weeks the players coming in have done an amazing job which should bode well for the future at Clifton Lane.

Tigers started this match with plenty of enthusiasm and nosed ahead as early as the 4th minute when fly half Tom Parkin slotted over a penalty.

And to be fair to the Dore Moor side, they enjoyed the majority and territory and possession inside the opening quarter. Indeed, it took some hardy and resilient defending by Rotherham to keep them from extending their advantage.

Eventually however Titans worked themselves into the contest which saw them on the half hour mark open their account through centre Harry Dunne. Some sloppy work around the breakdown was exploited when Dunne seized the opportunity to steal and then gallop home from 25 metres.

Just before the break Roth doubled their tally when Dunne was on hand again. This time following a quick-tap from scrum half Sam Boxhall, Dunne charged through in support to collect and then barge his way over next to the posts.

Within 5 minutes of the restart Roth had their third try. This time from a scrum close to the line the ball was spread across the field before eventually arriving with winger George Tucker who had the formality of dotting down in the corner.

Titans’ bonus point try came shortly after when prop forward Tom Richardson started things off by stripping the ball on halfway, before he then found Zak Poole. He in turn made some good ground before finding Kieran Curran who slipped in Harry Dunne for his hat trick.

A now totally dominant Rotherham were rampaging all over the field and this inevitably resulted in their fifth try.

A loose ball on halfway was hacked on by Zak Poole up to the Tigers 22, before Connor Field helped it on its way with nudge that was collected nicely by George Tucker, who in turn slipped in Lewis Taylor to finish off. Lloyd Hayes’ conversion extended Roth’s lead to 33-3 which in effect ended the game as a contest.

Credit to Tigers must be given however as they never stopped battling and they were rewarded for their efforts when front rower Sim Meek and full back Harrison Astley ran in for two tries before the end.

Fittingly however, with the last kick of the match Roth’s tight head prop Colin Quigley, who was playing his final game before retirement, stepped up to convert a penalty to the enormous enjoyment of his team mates and the supporters at Clifton Lane.

Speaking on the pitch afterwards Titans head coach Adam Byron said:

“I arrived here in November, I think we had a tough task ahead of us and that was made a bit tougher with a few cancellations that we had and then when we came back after Christmas we knew we had 18 straight weeks without a break and it feels like a very big relief to get to the end of that.

“I think the story of that is a lot of injuries and that’s something that comes from having a hard slog, we had some very good performance and some really pleasing moments and at this time of the year it feels like a big relief and even more so in getting the win over Tigers and staying unbeaten at Clifton Lane all season.

“I want to give huge thanks to all our supporters; the support they have given us throughout the season has been outstanding, both at home and away and that makes a huge difference for the lads.

“With regards to today’s game we had a slow start, again we had to get over that cup final mentality, but I thought we rode the storm well and stayed very much in touch. It was nice to get the first try and once we got to 7-3 and then 14-3 at half time it felt reasonably comfortable.

“However, if we are honest we have to say our set piece didn’t functioning as well as we would have liked and when you work that hard to get field position and then your set piece lets you down that’s very disappointing and it puts you on the back foot. Thankfully it was the same for Tigers and so that evened itself out and then afterwards when we went 4 scores up it felt fairly comfortable after that.”

Referee: Matt Riley

Attendance: 541

Yellow Card: Holmes (Tigers)

Titans: Dunne (3T), Tucker (T), Taylor (T), Hayes (4C), Quigley (P)

Sheffield Tigers: Meek (T), Astley (T), Parkin (2C, P)

Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lewis Taylor, 12 Harry Dunne, 21 George Tucker, 10 Sam Veall, 9 Sam Boxhall (Fisher 52), 18 Alastair Donkor (Richardson 33), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Donkor 76), 3 Colin Quigley (Stout 30) (Quigley 76), 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 5 Lewis Allan, 6 Kieran Curran, 7 Marcus Payne, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.). 

Replacements: 19 Tom Richardson, 27 Rikki Stout, 22 Oli Fisher. 

Sheffield Tigers: 15 Harrison Astley, 14 Sam Down (Keetley 78), 13 Jamie Broadley, 12 Sam Wager, 11 Otis Floyd, 10 Tom Parkin, 9 Ryan Holmes, 1 Will Bennett, 2 Louis Townsend (Meek 11), 3 Nick Bingham, 4 Joe Fitzsimons (McLaughlin 78), 5 Charlie Cone (Baldry 34) (Cone 52), 16 Connor Scott, 7 Angus Hughes (Clark 56), 8 Tom Calladine.

Replacements: 6 Jack Baldry, 17 Sim Meek, 18 Cam McLaughlin, 19 Freddie Clark, 20 Chris Keetley.

Photo Credit: Gareth Siddons

Wharfedale 38 Titans 19

Rotherham Titans suffered a disappointing 38-19 defeat to Wharfedale in their final away game of the season on a warm afternoon at The Avenue.

The disappointment of the result however was overshadowed by a nasty injury to Titans winger Jamie Cooke at the end of the game.

Jamie broke both tibia and fibula in his right leg and underwent an operation in Airedale Hospital where his leg was pinned and plated. Our best wishes, alongside many others who were at the game, including Wharfedale RUFC go out to Jamie for a speedy recovery.

The game itself will be one Rotherham will want to forget and consign to the bin quickly, as it was possibly their most disappointing defeat of a long and difficult season with all the severe injuries that they have picked up along the way.

Right from the start there were worrying signs for the South Yorkshire side as their play appeared to be disjointed and full of errors.

Wharfedale by comparison looked energetic and eager for battle as they ran hard and with intent. Their bright start was converted into points as they raced into a 10-0 lead inside the opening 15 minutes, following a penalty from fly half Tom Davidson and a converted try by flanker Ryan Carlson.

Titans did hit back following impressive work from Jamie Cooke; the winger showed good pace and power to break before popping a nice inside pass to Connor Field allowing him to race in for a nice score.

Back came the hosts however and they deservedly increased their advantage as play was spread across the park quickly ending up with winger Oli Cicognini dotting down.

Before the break Titans skipper Zak Poole scored from a line out close to the line to give his side some hope of a comeback in the second half.

However, the second period saw an even more dominant display from Wharfedale and by the 71st minute they had the game wrapped up following two further tries from hooker Madison Hunting and winger Rian Hamilton, combined with two penalties from Tom Davidson to stretch the hosts lead to 35-12.

Titans collected a consolation try 5 minutes from time when Harry Dunne went over near the corner, but the final say fittingly lay with Wharfedale as Tom Davidson bagged his 4th penalty of the afternoon.

Titans will now need to regroup and prepare themselves for the final game of the season this Saturday when they host local rivals Sheffield Tigers at Clifton Lane; please note the earlier kick-off time of 12 noon.

Referee: Daniel Woods

Attendance: 535

Yellow Card: Carlisle (Titans)

Titans: Field (T), Poole (T), Dunne (T), Carlisle (2C)

Wharfedale: Carlson (T), Cicognini (T), Hunting (T), Hamilton (T), Davidson (4P, 3C)

Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Connor Field, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne, 21 George Tucker, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Sam Boxhall (Fisher 71), 18 Alastair Donkor (Richardson 33) (Donkor 63), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 27 Rikki Stout (Quigley 63), 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope (Williams 51), 5 Lewis Allan, 6 Kieran Curran, 7 Marcus Payne, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.). 

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Colin Quigley, 19 Tom Richardson, 25 Matti Williams, 22 Oli Fisher.  

Wharfedale: 15 Harry Bullough, 14 Rian Hamilton, 13 Ben Blackwell (Stockdale 62), 12 Beau Verity (Moore 55), 11 Oli Cicognini, 10 Tom Davidson, 9 Jack Blakeney-Edwards, 1 Joe Altham, 2 Madison Hunting (Blackwell 68), 3 Sam Dickinson, 4 Rhys Green, 5 Elliott Stockton (Beesley 48), 6 Ryan Carlson (Hedgley 32) (Stockton 55), 7 Jack Pinder (Thompson 63), 30 Josh Burridge (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Matt Beesley, 18 Dan Stockdale, 17 George Hedgley, 19 Jack Thompson, 20 Jonathan Moore.

Sheffield Tigers 22 Titans 41

Rotherham Titans recovered from a slow start to eventually overcome a resilient Sheffield Tigers 41-22 on a bright but blustery afternoon at Dore Moor.

Titans outscored Tigers by 7 tries to 4 with Kieran Curran helping himself to a brace and one each for Sam Boxhall, Harry Newborn, Lloyd Hayes, Connor Field and George Tucker.

The home side started much the sharper as they no doubt looked to give their near-neighbours a bloody nose on this first competitive fixture between the sides.

Indeed, it took Tigers just 4 minutes to breach the Rotherham defence as hooker Louis Townsend broke off the tail of a maul to score the first try.

Titans did hit back shortly after when scrum half Sam Boxhall dotted down following a nice exchange of passes with Jamie Cooke; but Tigers soon restored their advantage when Townsend popped up again to dot down from a catch and drive close to the line.

On 25 minutes matters worsened for Rotherham as former player Jamie Broadley cut through to score a converted try to give Tigers a healthy 17-5 lead and send the Dore Moor crowd into raptures. Indeed the Tigers players on the field celebrated with equal gusto as they anticipated a huge shock was on the cards.

However, Titans eventually began to settle to their task and started to exert some control, all of which resulted in Kieran Curran crossing the whitewash twice before the break.

First he received a quick-tap from Sam Boxhall to barge his way over and then in the final play of the half and following a sustained period of pressure inside the Tigers 22, he received a nice inside pass from Joe Carlisle allowing him to charge through for a nice score to reduce the arrears to 17-15.

Whatever was said over the half time oranges certainly had a positive effect for the Titans, as within 18 minutes of the restart they ran in 4 further tries to effectively seal the game.

First up replacement hooker Harry Newborn showed good strength to muscle over following a number of phases in the 22.

Next a sweeping backs move which started in their own half saw the ball pass through many hands, before arriving with full back Sam Veall; he then ghosted through before popping a pass back inside for Lloyd Hayes to finish off.

Titans’ next try was a belter as skipper Zak Poole ripped the ball from Tigers on the edge of his own 22, before then charging downfield to take play up to the Tigers 10 metre line and then offloading to winger Connor Field to charge in to score under the posts.

The final try for Rotherham saw replacement winger George Tucker show tremendous determination as he burrowed his way over in the corner to end a period of total domination by the Clifton Lane men.

To be fair to the home side they never stopped battling and when replacement forward Sim Meek squeezed over late on to secure a bonus point, it was fair reward for the Tigers efforts on the day.

Speaking on the pitch post-game Titans Adam Byron said:

“We are really pleased with the result; these Yorkshire derbies are tough games and the South Yorkshire derbies are even tougher.  As we’ve seen all season everyone wants to take the Rotherham scalp and you could see how much Tigers wanted it today.

“We go into the lion’s den every week and every week it’s a cup final and it’s a difficult to play cup finals on a weekly basis; no other club in this division has that to contend with, but the boys have done it again and we are really pleased with the performance.

“We probably let ourselves down a little bit in the opening 20 minutes; it’s wasn’t about being outplayed, it was more about our own discipline and decision making and how we managed the game.

“Then in the following 20 minutes we really got ourselves back into the match and we went in at half time just 2 points behind and then we were able to come out in the second half and really do a job.

“The boys are an intelligent group and there’s lots of experience in our dressing room and most of the time they don’t need me to tell them what to do; so our chat at half time was pretty easy and after the break they came out and reacted accordingly and that was very pleasing.”

Referee: Owen Taylor

Attendance: 452

Yellow Card: Richardson & Carlisle (Titans), Broadley (Tigers)

Titans: Curran (2T), Boxhall (T), Newborn (T), Field (T), Tucker (T), Hayes (T, 3C),

Sheffield Tigers: Townsend (2T), Broadley (T), Meek (T), Parkin (1C),

Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Connor Field (Donkor 22), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke (Tucker 49), 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Sam Boxhall, 19 Tom Richardson (Field 32), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Newborn 29), 27 Rikki Stout (Quigley 67), 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 5 Lewis Allan, 6 Kieran Curran, 7 Marcus Payne (Williams 57), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).  

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Alastair Donkor, 25 Matti Williams, 21 George Tucker.

Sheffield Tigers: 15 Sam Down, 14 Otis Floyd, 13 Jamie Broadley, 12 Sam Wager, 11 Chris Keetley (Nicholson 46) (Keetley 77), 10 Tom Parkin, 9 Ryan Holmes, 1 Will Bennett, 2 Louis Townsend, 3 Nick Bingham (McLaughlin 75), 4 Joe Fitzsimons, 5 Charlie Cone (Meek 48), 16 Connor Scott (Clark 77), 7 Jack Baldry (Monks 40), 8 Angus Hughes.

Replacements: 20 Lee Monks, 17 Sim Meek, 18 Cam McLaughlin, 19 Kieran Nicholson, 6 Freddie Clark.

Photo Credit: Roy France

Huddersfield 36 Titans 31

Rotherham Titans surprisingly suffered their third defeat of the season as they crashed to a 36-31 reversal to a spirited Huddersfield side at Lockwood Park.

Titans did manage to pick up two points for their efforts which keeps them in second place in the league. However, the South Yorkshire side will now need to regroup ahead of the visit of Harrogate to Clifton Lane this week.

Whilst it’s fair to say Rotherham endured a bad day at the office, Huddersfield fully deserved their win after a heroic performance on the day and although Titans scored as early as the second minute through centre Jamie Cooke, Huddersfield outplayed their Yorkshire rivals for much of the opening 40 minutes.

Indeed Huddersfield ran in four tries to secure the bonus point before half time through Callum Thompson, Nick Sharpe, Kian Stewart and Sam Nunn.

So delighted at securing the bonus point, Huddersfield’s head coach took delight in thumping out a tune on the away dug-out just to let everyone know how happy he was!

Rotherham’s other points in a lacklustre first half came from number 8 Kieran Curran as he dotted down from the tail of a powerful scrum close to the line.

Titans came out with more purpose after the break and looked more threatening than they had before.

Indeed within10 minutes of the re-start Titans crossed the whitewash twice through centre Harry Dunne who sneaked up the blindside to crash over and then winger George Tucker who finished-off in the corner after the ball was spread across the field through a number of hands.

This reduced the Titans deficit to 26-24 and most in the ground would have expected the South Yorkshire outfit to kick-on and secure the win.

However, Huddersfield were having none of that and to their credit extended their lead just before the hour mark when loosehead prop Callum Thompson crashed over from a catch and drive close to the line.

Back came Rotherham in what was now a thrilling encounter which had the bumper crowd roaring.

With just 8 minutes remaining and following some powerful work from the Titans pack, lock forward Lewis Allan collected the ball to bulldoze his way over. Joe Carlisle added the extras to level the scores at 31-31.

However, it wasn’t to be Roth’s day. With 3 minutes remaining Huddersfield took play up deep inside the 22 before second rower Nick Sharpe effectively used his bulk to crash over and give his side a stunning victory.

Speaking on the pitch following the full time whistle, a disappointed Adam Byron said:

“We are obviously frustrated and I’m upset for the boys in terms that it’s been a long hard slog. We have been doing exceptionally well with players coming into positions with a lack of rugby and performing every week, but today it was maybe one step too far.

“We have to learn from this; we have to learn that if we want to be a team that wants to win the league, we have to turn up every week and we have to be disciplined enough to be in the right frame of mind every week and we have to put in a performance every week.

“At this stage of the year Huddersfield had nothing to play for other than getting a big upset and that was their motivation and because we didn’t turn up, we didn’t put in a performance that was good enough to win and well done to them for getting the result.

“If we want to be a team that’s mid-table then you can turn up some weeks and not others, but we want more than that, we want to be a team that wins a league.

“So we have to be a team that turns up every time and that’s a hard ask, but that’s something we have to learn to do as a squad and that’s the step we’ll have to make next year if we are going to win the league.”

Referee: Ben Davis

Attendance: 498

Yellow Card: Ed Brown (Huddersfield)

Titans: Cooke (T), Curran (T), Dunne (T), Tucker (T), Allan (T), Carlisle (3C)

Huddersfield:  Thompson (2T), Sharpe (2T), Stewart (T), Nunn (T), Milner (3C)

Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Tom Lewis (Taylor 78), 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne, 21 George Tucker, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Sam Boxhall (Fisher 68), 19 Tom Richardson, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Newborn 51), 27 Rikki Stout, 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 5 Lewis Allan, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Keifer Laxton (Payne 45) (Boxhall 78), 8 Kieran Curran (Quigley 64).  

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Marcus Payne, 22 Olly Fisher, 20 Lewis Taylor.

Huddersfield: 15 Tom Hodson, 14 Kian Stewart, 13 Lewis Workman, 12 Will Milner, 11 Sam Nunn, 10 Matt Law, 9 Jonny Mason, 1 Callum Thompson, 2 Liam Stapley, 3 Jack Smith (Walker 39) (Smith 43), 4 Luke Pearson (Davis 39), 5 Nick Sharpe, 6 Harvey Keighley-Payne, 7 Lewis Bradley (Capt.), 8 Ed Brown.

Replacements: 16 Lewis Brook, 17 Toby Walker, 18 Leighton Davis, 21 Joe Potter, 20 Cameron Catleugh.

Titans 47 Loughborough 17

Rotherham Titans maintained their unbeaten home record with a 47-17 win over a spirited Loughborough Students side on a sunny afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans’ points came way of a hat trick by skipper Zak Poole, and one each for Sam Boxhall, Tom Lewis, George Tucker and Joe Carlisle, the latter also added 12 points from the tee.

The win keeps Rotherham on the heels of league leaders Hull and should the East Yorkshire side make any slip-ups on the run-in, the South Yorkshire outfit will look to step-in and take advantage.

The game itself saw Roth start brightly as they raced into a 14-0 lead inside the opening 15 minutes.

The first try came courtesy of the Titans pack as they powerfully drove over from a scrum 10 metres out; number 8 Zak Poole dotted down from the base to seal the deal and fly half Joe Carlisle tagged over the extras.

Roth’s second score came from turnover ball on their own 22 which saw Zak Poole collect and make good ground before Tom Lewis and Marcus Payne combined to send it out wide to scrum half Sam Boxhall; he charged home from 40 metres, with Carlisle adding the conversion.

Loughborough, who looked bright and energetic all afternoon, stunned Roth moments later when full back George Barber showed tremendous tenacity to shake-off a number of tackles before sending in winger Darragh Walsh to score.

However, Titans soon re-established control and scored two further converted tries before the break. The first of which came after full back Sam Veall made significant ground down the right after collecting around halfway, before he popped a nice inside pass to Tom Lewis for him to show a good turn of foot to race in.

The bonus point try saw Veall involved again; he took play up to the line before Sam Boxhall popped out a pass from the base to send in Zak Poole near the corner. Carlisle impressed with the difficult conversion to send his side in at the break leading 28-5.

The second half saw the visitors start with good energy and intent and when winger Ryan Apps crossed the whitewash in the far corner following a long miss-pass; it was a fair reward for the Students’ efforts.

As the game entered the final 10 minutes a flurry of scores followed. On 71 minutes Titans’ skipper Zak Poole showed good awareness to take a quick-tap penalty to run in from close range for his hat trick, before two minutes later the visitors replied with their third try when centre Archie Heard intercepted and ran it home from 55 metres, both tries were converted.

As the game entered its final stages Rotherham finished off in style as they added two more tries to complete a fine afternoon’s work.

Firstly, Joe Carlisle showed some silky skills before dotting down next to the posts and then converting his try for a perfect 6 from 6 for him.

Then in the final play; following a tremendous break downfield from replacement scrum half Ollie Fisher, the ball was fed out wide to George Tucker who just managed to squeeze over in the corner. Sam Boxhall took over kicking duties following Joe Carlisle leaving the field, but unfortunately for him his effort drifted wide.

Overall Rotherham will have been pleased with their performance and the result, but they will have been especially pleased with the players that have come into the squad in recent weeks and impressed in the manner they have.

Speaking immediately after the game Titans Adam Byron concluded:

“We are really pleased with the result and in terms of control I think that’s one of our best performances of the year.

“Getting an early lead was important and it was pleasing that we did, as that’s something we’ve spoken about and once we got that lead I don’t think we ever looked in danger after that.

“I thought we were really clinical today, every time we were in their 22 we seemed to come away with points and the boys managed the game really well.

“There were one or two occasions when it looked like Loughborough may get a couple of quick scores to get themselves back into it, but the lads scrambled back well and stopped them getting any momentum.

“It’s also pleasing to keep our unbeaten record at home; this is something that you want to build your season on and making your home ground a fortress is so important and we’ll try to stay unbeaten here for the rest of the year.”

Referee: Tim Allatt

Attendance: 317

Yellow Card: Poole (Titans)

Titans: Poole (3T), Boxhall (T), Lewis (T), Tucker (T), Carlisle (T, 6C)

Loughborough: Walsh (T), Apps (T), Heard (T), Tom Smith (1C)

Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Tom Lewis, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne (Taylor 40), 21 George Tucker, 10 Joe Carlisle (Boxhall 78), 9 Sam Boxhall (Fisher 71), 19 Tom Richardson (Quigley 39) (Richardson 70), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Newborn 54), 27 Rikki Stout, 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 5 Lewis Allan, 6 Marcus Payne, 7 Keifer Laxton (Williams 70), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Matti Williams, 22 Olly Fisher, 20 Lewis Taylor.

Loughborough: 15 George Barber, 14 Ryan Apps, 13 Ollie Smith (Heard 50), 12 Archie Heard (Burgwin 48), 11 Darragh Walsh, 10 Tom Smith (Capt.), 9 Charlie Briers (Law 40), 1 Seb Smith, 2 Jamie Harding (Westmacott 40), 3 Josh Toms (Harri Williams 33), 4 Toby Adlington, 5 Jack Shine, 6 Anthony Pedlar, 7 Nick Jennings, 8 Fergus Dick (Scharink 49).

Replacements: 16 Mink Scharink, 17 Harri Williams, 18 Sam Westmacott, 21 Jonny Law, 20 Iwan Burgwin.

Photo Credit: Steve Mettam

Tynedale 31 Titans 47

Rotherham Titans maintained their title ambitions with a thrilling 47-31 win over Tynedale on a glorious, sunny afternoon at Station Road.

Rotherham outscored their North East opposition by 6 tries to 5, as Connor Field scored a hat-trick and Jamie Cooke, George Tucker and Tom Lewis all chipped in with 5-pointers; full back Lloyd Hayes had a productive day from the tee as he added a further 17 points.

Titans pretty much dominated the opening 40 minutes which saw them race into a 24-5 half time lead. Jamie Cooke opened the scoring for the South Yorkshire side after good work by the pack meant he could exploit the space outside to run in for the first try.

Lloyd Hayes knocked over a penalty shortly afterwards before Connor Field quickly followed up on the half hour with a try under the posts having picked off a pass to intercept from 35 metres out.

Roth’s third try which came five minutes later was a belter. From turnover ball on the edge of their own 22 Titans collected with first Keifer Laxton and then Zak Poole taking play up inside the Tynedale half. From there the ball was spread across the full width of the pitch for left wing George Tucker to dot down in the corner.

Just before the break there was the first sign of what was to come in the second half when Tynedale winger Seamus Hutton ran in to score.

Rotherham secured the bonus point on 50 minutes when scrum half Sam Boxhall took a quick-tap penalty and made good yardage downfield before finding Lloyd Hayes in support. The full back popped a pass to Connor Field who raced in to score his second of the match.

However, just after the hour mark Titans were stunned when in the space of 2 minutes the hosts ran in two tries through centre Will Miller and full back Robert Parker to reduce the hosts’ arrears to 17-31 which injected some urgency into the game.

Titans settled things down a little when Lloyd Hayes slotted over a penalty, but the peace didn’t last as from the restart Tynedale ran in for their bonus point try through Robert Parker.

In what was fast becoming a game of 7’s Rotherham hit back almost immediately when flanker Keifer Laxton made a busting break from around halfway to take play deep inside the 22, before he offloaded to Tom Lewis in support for his side’s fifth try of the game.

In a gallant display tenacious determination Tynedale came back once more and scored a fifth try through replacement forward Ben Bell, after Roth briefly switched-off from a penalty close to their line.

With four minutes remaining Rotherham would have been nervous, despite holding a 39-31 lead.

However, those nerves were put to bed when firstly Lloyd Hayes added his third penalty of the game and then winger Connor Field picked off another interception to run in from 55 metres to score in the corner and wrap up a thrilling game of rugby in the North East.

Speaking immediately after the match Titans Adam Byron said:

“The boys worked incredibly hard, it was a very hot day and again we are asking players that haven’t had a lot of rugby to come out here and do 80 minutes and they did an outstanding job.

“We had a depleted bench with only four boys on it; and of the two forwards on the bench we could only really use one of them and that‘s a big ask when it’s as hot as it was today.

“Nevertheless, the boys to dug in well because Tynedale made it hard work; every time you kick off you know they are going to have a go at you. And on a big, wide pitch like this one, where there is a lot of space to defend, they make it really hard for teams that come here for the full 80 minutes.

“We knew they were going to have a go at us, we knew they were going to run at us and throw the ball about, but the lads put in a great shift to make sure we did enough to win the game.”

Referee: Tim Allatt

Attendance: 280

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Field (3T), Cooke (T), Tucker (T), Tom Lewis (T), Hayes (4C, 3P)

Tynedale: Parker (2T), Hutton (T), Miller (T), Bell (T), Rodgers (3C)

Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 Connor Field, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne, 21 George Tucker, 10 Joe Carlisle (Lewis 35), 9 Sam Boxhall, 19 Tom Richardson, 2 Jack Bergmanas, 27 Rikki Stout (Quigley 35) (Stout 59), 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 5 Lewis Allan, 6 Marcus Payne, 7 Keifer Laxton, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Harry Williams, 22 Olly Fisher, 20 Tom Lewis.

Tynedale: 15 Robert Parker, 14 Guy Pike, 13 Ross Cooke, 12 Will Miller, 11 Seamus Hutton (Leslie 38), 10 Jake Rodgers, 9 Matty Outson (Capt.), 1 Angus White (Batey 68), 2 David Batey (Carmichael 50) (Telfer 74), 3 Liam Carmichael (Telfer 25) (Loughhead 50), 4 Chris Wearmouth, 5 Graeme Dunn, 6 Jonny Cousin (Bell 50), 7 Henry Wainwright (Blackburn 68), 8 Ben Blackburn (Stanwix 50). 

Replacements: 16 Adam Telfer, 17 Owen Loughhead, 18 Ben Bell, 19 Rob Stanwix, 20 Josh Leslie.   

Photo Credit: John & Barbara Austin

Chester 17 Titans 34

Rotherham Titans maintained an interest at the sharp end of the table with a hard-fought 34-17 win over Chester on a bright and sunny afternoon at Hare Lane.

A keenly contested first half saw Chester race into a 12-0 lead after 26 minutes, before the South Yorkshire side bounced back to score 5 tries through a brace from Jamie Cooke and one each for Rikki Stout, Keifer Laxton and Connor Field.

The South Yorkshire side however did not have things all their own way and following a sluggish start found themselves behind after just 2 minutes when centre Ben Ivory dotted down for fly half Iwan Phillips to convert.

Matters got worse for Roth, who to be fair were struggling to put any significant work together at this stage, when prop forward Alex Reed barged over following more good work from the home side.

Titans eventually got themselves on the board after 30 minutes with a scintillating try from Jamie Cooke. The powerful centre collected on halfway following a line out and then proceeded to cut back inside before galloping down the right wing to score in the corner. Joe Carlisle impressed from out wide with the extras.

Confidence boosted, Rotherham grew into the contest and levelled matters before the break when tighthead prop Rikki Stout touched down following a powerful drive from a line out; Jack Bergmanas’ work in the drive was outstanding.

The second half saw Titans pretty much dominate throughout and in effect seal the game with a 3-try haul in the space of five minutes.

First up on 46 minutes and following a brilliant line break from Lloyd Hayes, play was taken inside the Chester 22. From there the ball was spread quickly along the line and collected by flanker Keifer Laxton who showed a good turn of foot to race in and score as he fended off two defenders.

From the restart the Titans defence showed good line speed which enabled winger Connor Field to pick-off a pass and gallop in from 55 metres for the bonus point try.

The fifth try quickly followed when Joe Carlisle threw a deft little pass to Jamie Cooke who raced in from 45 metres, before having to use great strength to shake-off two defenders to get over the line.

Six minutes from time Lloyd Hayes gave his pack a breather as he nail a penalty to extend his sides lead to 34-12.

However, in the final play of the match Chester scored their third try and it was no more than they deserved when a move which started in their own 22 was finished off by Ben Ivory.

Titans will now prepare for next week’s trip to Tynedale as they attempt to keep in touch with the leaders.

Speaking after the game Titans Adam Byron said:

“It’s always concerning when you go behind early, but what that does do is give you the opportunity to react within the game and that’s something we’ve been working on; that ability to change things within a 40-minute period and not just at half time.

“I was really pleased with how the boys reacted and to go in at half time at 12 apiece was a really big achievement and it set us up for a good second half.

“We had a chat at half time because we understood what did and didn’t work, we knew what we needed to change defensively and once we made the defensive changes Chester found it very difficult to break us down.

“We then played some very good rugby and opportunities came our way; the shape we played exposed them and that was really good to see.

“However, the most pleasing thing was how the boys reacted after the first 20 minutes, they did it all themselves, they made the right changes and really got us on to the front foot.

“Injury wise we’re up against it at the moment, but the boys are really pulling together and it’s great to see everyone contributing to what we are trying to achieve.”

Referee: Ben Davis

Attendance: 377

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Cooke (2T), Stout, (T), Laxton (T), Field (T), Hayes (2C, 1P), Carlisle (1C)

Chester: Ivory (2T), Reed (T), Phillips (1C)

Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 Connor Field (Veall 73), 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne, 21 George Tucker, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Sam Boxhall (Fisher 75), 19 Tom Richardson, 2 Jack Bergmanas, 27 Rikki Stout, 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 5 Lewis Allan, 6 Harry Williams (Payne 60), 7 Keifer Laxton, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Marcus Payne, 22 Olly Fisher, 20 Sam Veall.

Chester: 15 Gethin Long, 14 Jonny Roberts, 13 Ben Ivory, 12 Tom Scott, 11 Kier Gordon, 10 Iwan Phillips, 9 Tom Holloway (Craven 53), 1 Tom Furnival (Woods 45), 2 Scott Robson (Williams 75), 3 Alex Reed (Williams 28) (Reed 58) (Guest 70), 4 George Spalding, 5 James Lloyd (Brearey 56), 6 Harry Wilkinson (Capt.), 7 Sam Brearey (Farrar 45), 8 David Ford (Lloyd 70).

Replacements: 18 Wade Williams, 20 Joshua Woods, 17 Tom Guest, 19 Sam Farrar, 21 John Craven.

Titans 33 Chester 28

Rotherham Titans ran out worthy 33-28 winners over a tenacious Chester side on a bright, but blustery afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored their Cheshire based opponents by five tries to four to maintain an interest in taking the top spot come mid-May.

Rotherham’s points came from touch downs via Jamie Cooke, George Tucker, Harry Dunne, Lloyd Hayes and a penalty try, with 6 points coming from the boot of fly half Joe Carlisle.

Despite a horrendous list of injuries in the Titans pack, which include Charlie Capps, Colin Quigley, Matt Challinor, Matt Smith, Lewis Wilson, Callum Bustin and Kieran Curran, the South Yorkshire side showed great resilience to maintain their unbeaten record at Clifton Lane this season.

However, Roth started slowly out of the blocks and it was Chester who scored first when fly half Liam Reeve knocked over a penalty on 12 minutes, before moments later winger Kier Gordon ran in too easily to touch down in the corner to give his side an early 8-0 lead.

As the first quarter came to a close Roth finally got themselves on the board, when a scrum 5 metres from the line was collapsed by Chester, it left  referee Daniel Woods with no option but to award Titans a penalty try.

Titans’ joy however was short-lived as the injury curse struck again and again it was a forward! This time it was Matti Williams who left the field with what appeared to be a neck injury.

Nevertheless the home side quickly regrouped and scored their second try within minutes.

From a scrum on halfway next to the main stand, scrum half Sam Boxhall found Joe Carlisle who flung out a beautiful  long miss-pass to Harry Dunne before he drew the last defender to send in winger Jamie Cooke for a really nice score.

Rotherham were now rampant and their third try followed quickly, when after a period of possession inside the Chester 22 the ball was spread across the field and into the hands of full back George Tucker who found a gap in the defence to race through.

The bonus point try for Rotherham came just before half time when Connor Field made good ground towards the line, which allowed an alert Harry Dunne to nip in and dive over for a simple score.

As the sides went in at the break, Rotherham would have been pleased with their 28-8 lead and maybe they thought job done.

However, another slow start to the half saw Chester exploit some errors from the home side and within 8 minutes they crossed the whitewash twice through back rower George Baxter and full back Gethin Long to reduce their arrears to 28-18.

The nerves of the home side were calmed just after the hour mark when Lloyd Hayes cut back inside to score Roth’s fifth try following some good powerful work down the left flank from Jamie Cooke.

However, those nerves were jangling again late on after replacement back rower Sam Farrar went over for Chester on 74 minutes for a converted try and Liam Reeve added a penalty as the game went into injury time.

Thankfully for the home side they managed the game out well and held on for a deserved win.

The two sides will have another go at each other next week as the original game in Chester was postponed due to Covid earlier in the season.

Commenting after the match Titans’ Adam Byron said:

“We came into the game wanting five points and that’s what we’ve come away with; so we are pleased with that aspect of the match.

“However, we have 8 forwards out now after today’s game and that obviously will make any teams task that little bit more difficult; but we have to give credit to the boys who came in and put in a great shift.

“We started the game off slowly for some reason, but something seemed to change after about 20 minutes; although we had created a couple of chances early on, we seemed to really turn the screw from the mid-point of the first 40.

“I was a little bit frustrated with how we came out in the second half and again we seemed to struggle a little bit in terms of putting in a full 80-minute performance, but that is something we can work on going forward.

“We are still in the fight for promotion and we’ll continue to give everything as we pursue our ambitions.”

Referee: Daniel Woods

Attendance: 364

Yellow Card: Furnival (Chester)

Titans: Cooke (T), Tucker (T), Dunne (T), Hayes (T), Penalty Try, Carlisle (3C)

Chester: Gordon (T), Baxter (T), Long (T), Farrar (T), Reeve (2P, 1C)

Titans: 21 George Tucker, 14 Connor Field (Veall 70), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Sam Boxhall, 28 Alastair Donkor (Richardson 40), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 27 Rikki Stout, 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 5 Lewis Allan, 6 Keifer Laxton, 7 Matti Williams (H. Williams 21), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 22 Olly Fisher, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Tom Richardson, 20 Sam Veall.

Chester: 15 Gethin Long, 14 Jonny Roberts (Parry 20), 13 Ben Ivory, 12 Tom Scott, 11 Kier Gordon, 10 Liam Reeve, 9 Tom Holloway (Malik 61), 1 Tom Furnival (Roberts 28), 2 Scott Robson (Woods 60), 3 Wade Williams (Furnival 33) (Williams 60), 4 Harry Wilkinson (Capt.) (Spalding 40), 5 James Lloyd, 6 George Baxter (Spalding 46), 7 Sam Brearey, 8 David Ford.

Replacements: 17 Rhodri Parry, 20 Joshua Woods, 18 George Spalding, 19 Sam Farrar, 22 Oscar Malik.

Photo Credit: Gareth Siddons

Hull 20 Titans 17

Rotherham Titans suffered heartbreak at the end of a pulsating clash, as winger Michael Adlard ran in to score from a cross-field kick with 2 minutes remaining to give Hull a dramatic 20-17 win.

The result leaves the Humberside outfit as heavy favourites to go on and win the league.

However, despite the disappointing loss, Titans will battle on in pursuit as they attempt to chase down their Yorkshire rivals, alongside Sedgley Park who are still very much in the race to finish top of the pile.

The game itself was played in front of a bumper crowd thanks to the travelling support, but in wintry conditions as a swirling wind and constant drizzle kept both sides attention throughout.

Indeed it was Rotherham who enjoyed the better of things during a keenly fought opening quarter; despite losing experienced prop forward Colin Quigley on 10 minutes to a nasty looking facial injury.

On 16 minutes Titans thought they had opened the scoring, but unfortunately for them they were held-up over the line.

Titans would rue not putting some points on the board during this period of the game, as on 20 minutes Lady Luck turned her back on them.

From a kick through from Hull’s Stephen Johnson, Titans full back Matt Minogue tried to control the ball with his foot; however the ball spun forward allowing his opposite number Reece Dean to hack on and chase through to score.

Boosted by the try Hull came into the game more and they enjoyed some good success, particularly at scrum time.

On the half hour mark and after a number of reset scrums close to the Titans line, referee Tim Allatt awarded the home side a penalty try to make it 12-0 and also yellow carded Roth’s tighthead Rikki Stout in the process.

Things got even worse for Rotherham moments later when they lost back five forward Lewis Wilson to what appeared to be a serious injury and fly half Joe Carlisle, although he would return for the second half.

Somehow however Roth managed to navigate their way through to half time without conceding any more points.

Rejuvenated after the half time oranges Roth came out for the second period with a spring in their step and a determination to leave a mark on the game.

And although Simon Humberstone knocked over a penalty on 46 minutes to extend Hull’s lead to 15-0, it did little to dampen Titans determination.

Within 10 minutes Roth had reduced their arrears to 15-10 following firstly a well taken penalty from Matt Minogue and then a terrific powerful drive culminating in replacement front rower Tom Richardson dotting down for a converted try.

The comeback was complete 11 minutes from time when another powerful drive from the Rotherham pack saw the home side once again struggle to legally keep it out and referee Allatt awarded a penalty try to give Titans a 17-15 lead.

It was always going to be a tight and nervous end to this top of the table clash.

With two minutes remaining on the clock, Hull, after failing to penetrate the Rotherham defence, pulled the ball out and opted for a cross field kick.

The risky option paid dividends for the home side as the ball bounced kindly and sat up for the chasing winger Michael Adlard to dot down for a dramatic win!

Rotherham will feel they did enough to win the game, but sometimes the bounce of the ball in tight games ultimately decides the winner.

Speaking after the match Titans Adam Byron said:

"That's the rollercoaster of rugby union, it is exactly what happens. Sometimes the bounce of the ball goes your way, sometimes it doesn't. We’ve had a few decisions in recent weeks that went our way, but today the bounce of the ball went Hull’s way.

"We were frustrated at half time but really proud of that second half. The boys went out and did exactly as they were asked and they showed great heart and managed the game well.

"In all honesty we were pretty unlucky not to come away with the win. Nevertheless our attitude remains the same; we are going to keep fighting the rest of this season and see where that takes us come mid-May."

Referee: Tim Allatt

Attendance: 550

Yellow Card: Stout (Titans), Boothman (Hull)

Titans: Richardson (T), Penalty Try, Minogue (1C, 1P)

Hull: Dean (T), Penalty Try, Adlard (T), Humberstone (1P)

Titans: 15 Matt Minogue, 21 George Tucker (Richardson 33) (Carlisle 41), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Joe Carlisle (Tucker 34), 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Colin Quigley (Donkor 10) (Richardson 54), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 53), 27 Rikki Stout, 4 Matt Challinor (Newborn 78), 5 Lewis Wilson (Laxton 33), 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Matti Williams, 8 Kieran Curran.  

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 28 Keifer Laxton, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Tom Richardson, 22 Olly Fisher.

Hull: 15 Reece Dean, 14 Mike Adlard, 13 Iosefo Taunei Turaga, 12 Stephen Johnson, 11 Keane Naylor (Jobling 78), 10 Simon Humberstone (Capt.), 9 Harvey Harding, 1 Loma Kivalu (Beech 32) (Kivalu 71), 2 Mike Jobling (Jones 32) (Makaa'fi 65), 3 Ben Boothman, 4 Cameron Curry, 5 Liam Regardsoe, 6 Latu Makaa'fi (Hicks 34) (Dias 76), 7 Alistair Thomson, 8 Will Hall.

Replacements: 16 Robin Watts, 17 Tom Hicks, 18 Greg Jones, 19 Mike Dias, 20 Charlie Beech.

Photo Credit: Mike Inkley

Titans 17 Stourbridge 10

Rotherham Titans ran out narrow 17-10 winners over Stourbridge at a blustery, but bright Clifton Lane to maintain their promotion ambitions.

Both sides scored a try apiece, but ultimately it was the boot of Matt Minogue that sealed the win against a very good Stourbridge outfit.

Titans’ sole try of the game was scored by skipper Zak Poole 2 minutes from time and now the South Yorkshire side will focus on the important game against league leaders, Hull, in 7 days hence.

The game itself saw a much-improved Stourbridge team to the one Titans had played three weeks earlier at Stourton Park; a game the South Yorkshire side won with some ease to be fair.

However, in this one Stourbridge had loaded their backline with some big boys and the obvious message seemed to be run hard at Rotherham. This they did and for the first 20 minutes of the match Titans struggled to gain any control.

Indeed when hooker Jack Lea crashed over for the visitors and Michael Heaney converted on 21 minutes, the signs looked ominous for the home side.

Eventually Roth inched their way back into the contest with a couple of good penalties from Matt Minogue; this helped to calm the nerves somewhat as the game became a more even affair.

Heaney did slot over a penalty for the hosts before the break, but it was interesting Stourbridge decided to take the points on offer, as up to this juncture they had gone for the corner to set-up the drive. Titans’ resilience in defence had obviously had an impact on their change of strategy.

It was also noteworthy that this would be Stourbridge’s final score of the game as in the second half Rotherham managed to keep them pointless and indeed the West Midlanders rarely got anywhere near the Titans line; but that’s not to say it wasn’t a keenly-fought, close affair between two very good sides.

On the hour mark Rotherham took the lead for the first time when Minogue impressed again from the tee in difficult conditions from out wide.

Then two minutes from time Titans guaranteed the win when skipper, Zak Poole dotted down from a powerful driving maul close to the line.

Overall it was no more than Rotherham had deserved and equally the visitors more than earned their losing bonus point.

Speaking on the pitch immediately after the game, Titans’ Adam Byron said:

“I’ve just said to the boy’s teams that win championships sometimes have to win ugly and I would suggest that’s two weeks in a row that we have done that; but we’ve come out on the right side and we’ll take the win.

“Stourbridge probably had the better of the first half, but I thought we came back into the game well. We were very generous in the first half with the amount of opportunities we gave them, whether that be the penalties or mistakes in the wrong areas; but to come away only trailing by a point at half time is something I was very happy to take.

“We knew Stourbridge was a very good side and I think today’s score shows just how well we played when we went there 3 weeks ago, especially when we were 38-7 up at one stage.

“Today we saw Matt Minogue slot over some crucial kicks which helped to keep us in the game and I knew as long as we could stay in touch, I was confident we would go on to win the game in the second half.

Referee: Owen Taylor 

Attendance: 394

Yellow Card: Ciaran Moore (Stourbridge)

Titans: Poole (T), Minogue (4P)

Stourbridge: Lea (T), Heaney (P, C)

Titans: 15 Matt Minogue, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Colin Quigley (Richardson 28) (Donkor 46), 2 Harry Newborn, 27 Rikki Stout (Quigley 69), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Lewis Wilson, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Matti Williams, 8 Kieran Curran.  

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 28 Keifer Laxton, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Tom Richardson, 20 George Tucker.

Stourbridge: 15 Matt Moseley, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 10 Rhys Pritchard (Ororo 73), 12 Ciaran Moore, 11 Dan Rundle, 25 Mike Penn, 24 Michael Heaney (Capt.) (Morgan 73), 1 Stefan Thorp (McLeod 28), 2 Jack Lea, 3 Chad Thorne (Smith 70), 17 Nick Murphy (O'Sullivan 61), 5 Matt Perks, 6 Mark George, 7 Jasper Smith, 8 Tatenda Mukarati.

Replacements: 20 Ben O'Sullivan, 21 Clarkson McLeod, 19 Jess Smith, 23 Dallas Ororo, 22 Freddie Morgan.

Photo Credit: Gareth Lyons

Luctonians 10 Titans 12

POST-MATCH UPDATED NOTES:

The original full time score of 12-10 to Rotherham Titans was re-instated by the RFU after a series of meeting the following week.

The referee altered the final score after the game, deeming that the last kick of the game, a conversion by Matt Minogue for Rotherham, had gone under the crossbar.

The RFU saw video evidence to prove the kick was good, but more importantly ruled - the score on full time was 12-10 to Rotherham and this couldn’t be changed by anyone after the full time whistle, including the referee.

Rotherham Titans suffered a disappointing and controversial end to their game at Luctonians, as Matt Minogue’s last-kick-of-the-game conversion was deemed to have gone under the bar.

The match ended in a 10-10 draw on a heavy pitch, but Titans frustration was heightened when video footage emerged to clearly show the ball had gone over the bar legitimately.

The result means for the first time this season that Rotherham’s title ambitions are now out of their own hands.

The game itself had to be played on an adjacent pitch due to heavy rainfall in the area which left the main pitch laden with standing water.

In awful conditions due to the sodden surface and strong winds, the error count for both sides was understandably high and as such the game was always going to be a low-scoring affair.

The solitary score of the first half saw Luctonians scrum half Owen Randell dot down after a punt up-field saw the ball bounce kindly for the home side, before a hack on was finished off by the half back.

Titans’ task got a lot tougher just before the break when centre Harry Dunne was shown a red card for foul play.

Rotherham to their credit battled admirably throughout the second half into the unyielding wind and with a reduction in their numbers.

On 65 minutes however Titans endeavours were rewarded when lock forward Matt Challinor bulldozed his way over to level the scores.

Back came the home side as they pressed to regain the lead and as the ball was fed out wide, unfortunately for Rotherham Matt Minogue lost his footing in the mud and Ben Owen took full advantage to run in and score in the corner with 7 minutes remaining.

Rotherham impressed again with their response as their character came to the fore and they battled gamely uphill into the biting wind in search of a late win.

Dramatically in the final play of the match the South Yorkshire side managed to cross the whitewash next to the posts through skipper Zak Poole, after immense work from the Titans pack, to level the game at 10-10 with the conversion to follow.

Minogue duly added the extras and the two referee assistants raised their flags to indicate the dramatic, but successful end to the game for Rotherham.

However, in a cruel twist for the visitors, the referee held conference with his fellow officials before deciding the ball had gone underneath the crossbar!

Rotherham Titans suffered a disappointing and controversial end to their game at Luctonians, as Matt Minogue’s last-kick-of-the-game conversion was deemed to have gone under the bar.

The match ended in a 10-10 draw on a heavy pitch, but Titans frustration was heightened when video footage emerged to clearly show the ball had gone over the bar legitimately.

The result means for the first time this season that Rotherham’s title ambitions are now out of their own hands.

The game itself had to be played on an adjacent pitch due to heavy rainfall in the area which left the main pitch laden with standing water.

In awful conditions due to the sodden surface and strong winds, the error count for both sides was understandably high and as such the game was always going to be a low-scoring affair.

The solitary score of the first half saw Luctonians scrum half Owen Randell dot down after a punt up-field saw the ball bounce kindly for the home side, before a hack on was finished off by the half back.

Titans’ task got a lot tougher just before the break when centre Harry Dunne was shown a red card for foul play.

Rotherham to their credit battled admirably throughout the second half into the unyielding wind and with a reduction in their numbers.

On 65 minutes however Titans endeavours were rewarded when lock forward Matt Challinor bulldozed his way over to level the scores.

Back came the home side as they pressed to regain the lead and as the ball was fed out wide, unfortunately for Rotherham Matt Minogue lost his footing in the mud and Ben Owen took full advantage to run in and score in the corner with 7 minutes remaining.

Rotherham impressed again with their response as their character came to the fore and they battled gamely uphill into the biting wind in search of a late win.

Dramatically in the final play of the match the South Yorkshire side managed to cross the whitewash next to the posts through skipper Zak Poole, after immense work from the Titans pack, to level the game at 10-10 with the conversion to follow.

Minogue duly added the extras and the two referee assistants raised their flags to indicate the dramatic, but successful end to the game for Rotherham.

However, in a cruel twist for the visitors, the referee held conference with his fellow officials before deciding the ball had gone underneath the crossbar!

Referee: George Richardson

Attendance: 354

Red Card: Dunne (Titans)

Titans: Challinor (T), Poole (T)

Luctonians: Randell (T), Owen (T)

Titans: 15 George Tucker (Carlisle 24), 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 23 Jamie Cooke, 10 Matt Minogue, 9 Sam Boxhall, 28 Alastair Donkor (Richardson 40), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 60), 27 Rikki Stout (Quigley 53), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope (Williams 71), 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Lewis Wilson, 8 Kieran Curran. 

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Matti Williams, 19 Tom Richardson, 20 Joe Carlisle.

Luctonians: 15 Giles Morell, 14 Rob Bengry, 13 Nick Yeoward, 12 Ben Owen, 19 James Wheeler, 10 Tom Jones (Cheshire 65), 9 Owen Randell (Nott 57), 1 Connor Deignan, 2 Ben Link (Smith 43), 3 Joe White (Capt.), 4 Tom Smith, 5 Owien Harriott-Davis, 6 Jack Forsythe (Kone 67), 7 Mat Hackley, 8 Sam Jones.

Replacements: 16 Brad Smith, 20 Henry Powell, 30 Cheik Kone, 17 Aiden Cheshire, 21 Josh Nott.

Titans 40 Hull Ionians 12

Rotherham Titans maintained their ambitions of a top-end finish with an impressive 40-12 win over a determined and hugely physical Hull Ionians side.

Titans managed to keep their opponents try-less, whilst running in four scores themselves through a double from Kieran Curran and one each for Callum Bustin and Sam Boxhall.

Fly half Matt Minogue put in another perfect afternoon from the tee as he knocked over all 8 of his efforts.

However, the victory lost some of its gloss for the home side as Callum Bustin and Matt Smith both left the field on stretchers and at the time of writing all at Clifton Lane wish them a speedy recovery.

The game itself was played in windy and wet conditions, but despite this the handling from both sides was pretty impressive.

Following an early penalty from fly half Matt Minogue Titans scored their first try following a barnstorming break from centre Lloyd Hayes, which took play up to the five metre line, after which scrum half Sam Boxhall fed back rower Kieran Curran who powered his way over. Minogue added the extras.

Ionians got themselves on the board through two penalties from centre Lewis Minikin whose efforts sandwiched one from Matt Minogue.

Titans extended their lead on 30 minutes when number 8 Callum Bustin broke off the tail of a dominant maul for Roth’s second try. Minogue impressed from out wide with his conversion.

Rotherham continued to have the better of things in general, but credit to Ionians as some resilient defending kept out the home side. Indeed Lewis Minikin added two more penalties just before the break to send the teams in at half time with Roth holding a 20-12 advantage.

The second period saw Rotherham dominate even more as the visitors began to tire. Two early penalties from Minogue sent his side 26-12 up, before the third try arrived on 56 minutes.

From a line out close to Ionians line Roth set up a powerful driving maul which culminated in Kieran Curran dotting down for his second score of the match. Minogue dutifully added the extras.

The final score of the game came 15 minutes from time and secured the bonus point for the South Yorkshire side.

This time the score came from a flowing move which combined backs and forwards in the build-up, with flanker Matti Williams making good ground before offloading to Sam Boxhall to theatrically dive over the whitewash for the try of the match. Minogue completed a perfect afternoon’s work for himself with the extras.

Titans now have to regroup after the loss of Charlie Capps, Callum Bustin and Matt Smith in the last 2 weeks due to potentially serious injuries.

Speaking immediately after the game Titans Adam Byron said:

“Some of the gloss has obviously been taken off the result because we had two boys leave the field on a stretcher. The injuries didn’t look great, but it’s too early to know just how serious they are.

“We have to say a huge thanks to our medical department for looking after them; we are lucky at Rotherham to have such quality and experience in David Swift and Chris Myers.

“Whenever there is a serious injury which stops the game for a long period it takes it out of the boys and you can lose your focus, but the boys came together and did what they had to do and full credit to them for that.

“Hull Ionians are a good side and we knew they were going to give us a tough test and so we are really pleased to get the result and it’s another game in which we have scored 40 points against one of the top sides.

“Our real focus since the Fylde game has been our game management and that ability to be clinical in finishing off our opportunities and I thought we were good again in those areas and since I’ve been here it’s the first time we’ve been able to do that for two games in a row.

“It was also pleasing to see the boy’s not just win, but win convincingly – just as they did last week down at Stourbridge and that is very pleasing to see.”

Referee: Nikki O'Donnell

Attendance: 377

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Curran (2T), Bustin (T), Boxhall (T), Minogue (4P, 4C)

Hull Ionians: Minikin (4C)

Titans:

15 George Tucker

14 Connor Field

13 Lloyd Hayes

12 Harry Dunne

11 Jamie Cooke

10 Matt Minogue

9 Sam Boxhall (Fisher 78)

28 Alastair Donkor (Richardson 57)

2 Harry Newborn

27 Rikki Stout (Quigley 64)

4 Matt Challinor (Capt.)

5 Matt Smith (Bergmanas 59)

6 Kieran Curran

7 Matti Williams

8 Callum Bustin (Wilson 50)

Replacements:

16 Jack Bergmanas

17 Colin Quigley

18 Lewis Wilson

19 Tom Richardson

21 Oli Fisher

Hull Ionians:

15 Jack Townend

14 Sam Wilson (Metcalfe 41)

13 Lewis Minikin

12 Josh Britton (McDaniel 72)

11 Nathan Hill

10 Ben Smith

9 William Metcalfe (Kirk 40)

1 David Laverick (Bell 67) (Laverick 80)

2 Ben Stephenson

3 Ben Bell (Morton 41)

4 Joe Makin (Capt.)

5 Thomas Peters

6 Alex Campbell (Foffie 40)

7 Allan Hudson (Malcolmson 67)

8 George Mewburn

Replacements:

16 Christopher Morton

18 Kobby Foffie

23 James Malcolmson

19 James McDaniel

20 Charlie Kirk

StoUrbridge 33 Titans 48

Rotherham Titans returned to winning ways with an eye-catching 48-33 win over high-flyers Stourbridge on a windy afternoon at Stourton Park.

Rotherham outscored their opponents by 6 tries to 5, with Jamie Cooke, Zak Poole, Callum Bustin, Kieran Curran, Harry Newborn and Connor Field all crossing the whitewash, whilst Matt Minogue chipped in with a massive 18 points on a perfect day for him.

The win for Rotherham was an important one as it keeps them in touch with a host of clubs at the top of the table and they have taken points directly away from one of their main competitors.

The game itself saw Rotherham put in an excellent performance, but in particular they had a great opening 40 minutes where they scored three tries and restricted a dangerous Stourbridge side to very few opportunities.

Titans’ fly half Matt Minogue opened the scoring on 3 minutes with a well taken penalty before Jamie Cooke touched down for the first try of the game after receiving a huge miss-pass from Joe Carlisle.

Almost from the restart Roth had their second following more good work from Jamie Cooke which resulted in skipper Zak Poole charging in from 20 metres. Minogue impressed from out wide with his conversion to make it 17-0 after 20 minutes to stun the home side.

Stourbridge are not a top team without just cause and five minutes later they got themselves on the board when centre Seb Atkinson crossed the whitewash for captain and ex-Doncaster Knights scrum half, Michael Heaney, to convert.

Undeterred Rotherham continued to dominate in all aspects of the game and in particular at the set piece.

Ten minutes before the break Roth added to their try count when from a line out 15 metres from the line they ran a nice move through Matt Challinor who popped a pass back inside for Callum Bustin to charge through to score.

The second half opened up in the same manner when after 5 minutes Roth had the bonus point in the bag when Kieran Curran dotted down from a catch and drive close to the line.

The game was effectively sealed for the South Yorkshire side on 52 minutes when hooker Harry Newborn scored his side’s fifth try of the game from another line out close to the line, with Minogue adding the extras to make it 38-7.

With the game now gone Stourbridge threw caution to the wind and their backs were allowed to cut loose and this they did to great effect.

Just before the hour mark scores from fly half Afeafe Haisila and replacement centre Arthur Morgan gave the hosts slight hope of a miraculous comeback as they reduced the deficit to 38-19 with a quarter of the match to go.

However, five minutes later Titans Connor Field smashed that hope with an outstanding individual try. Collecting the ball from a goal line drop out around 30 metres out, the powerful winger charged through a host of defenders before showing neat footwork to round the full back to score Roth’s sixth try of the game.

In the final 10 minutes of this pulsating contest a Matt Minogue penalty was sandwiched with two more tries from Stourbridge; firstly with a penalty try and then at the death with winger Dan Rundle touching down.

Speaking on the pitch following this 81-point thriller Titans Adam Byron said:

“Obviously I am really pleased with the result and really proud of the boys; we wanted a reaction after last week and we certainly got that. We’ve come here and ticked a lot of boxes and got rid of a lot of question marks after the Fylde game.

“Playing into the wind in the first half we knew we were going to have to control the half in terms of territory and possession and the boys did that. They were clinical when they needed to be and that’s pleasing as we spoke about that coming into the game.

“We knew Stourbridge was a very good side and we saw that today, they were so dangerous from everywhere on the field and they have some real gas out wide.

“For me however the most important thing about today is that we have ticked boxes that we didn’t last week. We didn’t control the game like we should have done, we weren’t clinical in certain areas and our game management wasn’t as good as it should have been, in that we had all the territory and possession but didn’t come away with the win.

“So the difference from that and this week was huge and we really showed that we do understand how to control games and how to finish them off and that was the most pleasing aspect for me.”

Referee: Andy Wigley

Attendance: 450

Yellow Card: Smith (Titans)

Titans: Cooke (T), Poole (T), Bustin (T), Curran (T), Newborn (T), Field (T), Minogue (2P, 6C)

Stourbridge: Atkinson (T), Haisila (T), Morgan (T), Rundle (T), Penalty Try, Heaney (3C)

Titans: 15 Matt Minogue, 14 Connor Field, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 George Tucker, 10 Joe Carlisle (West 75), 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 29), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 57), 3 Rikki Stout, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith (Williams 75), 6 Zak Poole (Capt) (Curran 31), 7 Matti Williams (Wilson 57), 8 Callum Bustin. 

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Lewis Wilson, 19 Kieran Curran, 20 Jonny West.

Stourbridge: 15 Tom Bacon, 14 Mark Harrison (Wilson 60), 13 Seb Atkinson, 12 Hal Riley (Morgan 41), 11 Dan Rundle, 10 Afeafe Haisila (Scott 57), 9 Michael Heaney (Capt.), 1 Mark George (Thorp 46), 2 Brad Clements, 3 Chad Thorne, 4 Matt Perks, 5 Ben O'Sullivan, 6 Jasper Smith (Jess Smith 50), 7 Michael Worthington, 8 Tatenda Mukarati.

Replacements: 16 Stefan Thorp, 17 Jess Smith, 18 Arthur Morgan, 19 Tobi Wilson, 20 Christopher Scott.

Fylde 21 Titans 17

Rotherham Titans suffered their first defeat of the season, as they went down 21-17 to Fylde on a windy afternoon at Woodlands.

In a highly competitive game which could have gone either way, Titans will rue not finishing off their opportunities, but can take some solace in picking up the losing bonus point to keep themselves in the hunt at the sharp end of the table.

Despite winning the second half and outscoring their hosts by 3 tries to 2, Rotherham left the North West hugely disappointed at losing their unbeaten record for the season.

After scoring their third try late on Rotherham hoped to snatch a late win; unfortunately for them referee Ben Rayner had announced that time was up 30 seconds into injury time; no doubt to the relief of the dignitaries and supporters on the balcony overlooking the clubhouse end of the ground.

In a first half that saw Rotherham enjoy large periods of territory and possession in good areas of the field, it was in fact Fylde who scored the only points with two penalties from fly half Greg Smith; his first came as early as the 3rd minute and his second came with the last kick of the half in the fourth minute of injury time.

Roth thought they had scored twice in the opening period, as in the 6th minute hooker Harry Newborn broke off a maul to charge over the line, but unfortunately for him when referee Rayner got there he deemed Fylde had held the ball up, as he did in the 38th minute when Zak Poole crashed over after a dominant Roth scrum turned over possession.

Fylde extended their advantage early in the second half with Smith’s third penalty.

However, Roth finally got on the board in the 47th minute when centre Harry Dunne finished off a nice try following good work in the build up from Callum Bustin and Jamie Cooke. Matt Minogue’s conversion effort narrowly missed the left upright.

Then in a 10 minute spell which ultimately decided the game, Fylde crossed the whitewash twice through scrum half Matt Sturgess and winger Henry Hadfield to give them a healthy 21-5 lead.

Titans battled back on 70 minutes when number 8 Callum Bustin powered over from a catch and drive close to the line and he did so again in the final play of the match to earn his side a losing bonus point.

Roth will no doubt feel, that whilst they lost to a very good side, they let this one slip away and there’s little doubt too that the South Yorkshire side will now dust themselves down and be ready to go again next week against third placed side Stourbridge.

Speaking afterwards Titans’ Adam Byron said:

“Fylde is a really tough place to come, they have a big wide pitch and that’s not something we are used to compared to Clifton Lane; but the frustration is I felt we came across and put in a performance.

“We gave ourselves opportunities and we put ourselves in good positions, but we weren’t clinical enough when we needed to be. So it almost feels like the game was won, but in those final 5 metres we didn’t come away with the points and the frustration is the game was there to be won and we didn’t grasp that opportunity.

“I’m also frustrated because I feel with this squad of players we can win every game we are involved with, whether that is at home or away and that has to be our mentality from here on in.

“For the majority of the game we did everything right; we played in the right areas, we’ve won the penalties and put it into the corner, we just weren’t clinical enough in that area today.

“Maybe we’ve relied on that area too much and we need to look at other areas of our game as well, but I felt we did enough to win the game, we just didn’t finish it off today.”

Referee: Ben Rayner

Attendance: 800

Yellow Card: Garrod (Fylde)

Titans: Bustin (2T), Dunne (T), Minogue (1C)

Fylde: Sturgess (T), Hadfield (T), Smith (3P, C)

Titans: 15 Matt Minogue, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Harry Newborn, 27 Rikki Stout, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope (Williams 54), 7 Zak Poole (Capt), 8 Callum Bustin.

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 19 Tomos Richardson, 18 Alastair Donkor, 28 Matti Williams, 20 Jonny West.

Fylde: 15 Tom Carleton, 14 Henry Hadfield, 13 Joe Bedlow, 12 Scott Rawlings (Forster 72), 11 Tom Grimes (Lanigan 31), 10 Greg Smith, 9 Matt Sturgess, 1 Sam Kyle-Clay (Barrow 41), 16 Ben Gregory (Capt.), 3 Corey Bowker (Ashcroft 41), 4 Olli Parkinson, 5 Matt Garrod, 6 Harlan Corrie, 7 Ben O’Ryan (Partington 62), 8 David Fairbrother.

Replacements: 17 Zack Barrow, 18 Matt Ashcroft, 23 Charlie Partington, 20 Tom Forster, 19 Adam Lanigan.

Titans 59 Blaydon 7

Rotherham Titans returned to winning ways with an impressive nine try to one victory over a willing Blaydon side on a cool afternoon at Clifton Lane, as they ran out 59-7 winners.

The victory sees Titans remain unbeaten in the league to maintain their title aspirations, as they now look towards next week’s tough away challenge at Fylde.

The match itself saw Titans dominate in most aspects as they scored five first half tries and another four in the second period.

Hooker Harry Newborn dotted down for Titans first after good work in the build up from Joe Carlisle and Matt Smith.

Roth’s second came after they pushed Blaydon off their own scrum inside the 22; scrum half Sam Boxhall was on hand to collect and he fed Zak Poole who in turn sent in winger Connor Field to score in the corner.

To be fair, Blaydon never stopped working and they always looked to play rugby whenever they had possession.

On 27 minutes they scored their only points of the game with a really nice try when fly half Jonny Dowell fed a pass back inside to Alex Charlton, the big second rower proceeded to gallop in from over 60 metres, as the Roth defence opened up.

Normal service was quickly resumed however, as just 4 minutes later Keifer Laxton crashed over for a try from a line out close to the line.

Titans fourth and fifth tries followed shortly afterwards as centre Lloyd Hayes exploited a gap in the Blaydon defence to cruise through and then Connor Field nipped in for his second in the corner as Lloyd Hayes and Matt Minogue combined to send him in.

The second half continued in the same manner and Titans next two tries followed quickly. This time Roth’s number 8 Callum Bustin scored a brace inside the opening 7 minutes.

His first was from close range after Zak Poole sent him in following turnover ball and the second saw him race in from 30 metres having collected a nice little pass from Theo Nwosu-Hope, before skilfully sidestepping the full back to dot down underneath the posts.

Titans’ penultimate try of the game came from Matti Williams; he raced in from 20 metres having received a pass from Matt Minogue. Williams still had work to do, but slick footwork and good strength enabled him to power over.

It was fitting that the final try of the game went to skipper Zak Poole; he rounded off an excellent personal and team performance, as he was on hand to finish off a cross-field move late on in the game.

Matt Minogue made a good contribution both in terms of playing at full back for the first time for a while and with the boot as he impressed with seven successful kicks at goal.

Titans will now prepare hard for what is sure to be a stiff challenge next time out away at third place Fylde.

Speaking on the pitch after the game Titans’ Adam Byron said:

“We are obviously very pleased and it’s nice to get nine tries on the board. It’s a difficult one because when you look at the table people may expect that kind of result, but that doesn’t just happen, the boys put a real shift in to make it happen.

“At times we had to put in some huge defensive sets, they literally ran it from everywhere and hats off to them for that approach, because they made us have to deal with something unexpected. We are used to teams tapping and going and playing quickly, but they literally ran it from everywhere.

“The boys stayed patient, we had to be organised and keep our width in defence whether that was on their five metre line or ours and the lads did that very well.

“Our work-ons this week were quite simple, we needed to make sure that we played our own game, played in the right areas and when we got into those areas to be clinical and that’s how it turned out.

“So we are where we want to be, we are still undefeated to this point and we go on the road next week knowing exactly what job needs to be done when we get to Fylde.”

Referee: Peter Connor

Attendance: 417

Yellow Card: Minogue (Titans)

Titans: Field (2T), Bustin (2T), Newborn (T), Laxton (T), Hayes (T), Williams (T), Poole (T), Minogue (7C)

Blaydon: Charlton (T), Dowell (1C)

Titans: 15 Matt Minogue, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes (Taylor 55), 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Sam Boxhall (West 47), 1 Charlie Capps (Quigley 59), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 47), 3 Colin Quigley (Donkor 40), 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 5 Matt Smith (Newborn 56), 6 Zak Poole (Capt), 7 Keifer Laxton (Williams 40), 8 Callum Bustin (Laxton 55).

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Matti Williams, 19 Lewis Taylor, 20 Jonny West.

Blaydon: 15 Jack Appleton (Horsfall 40), 14 James Cooney, 13 Dan Marshall (Capt.) (Mongan 57), 12 Alex Clark, 11 Jonny Ashman, 10 Jonny Dowell, 9 John Clarkson, 1 Alex Dodds (Winter 47), 2 Danny Gray (Chaplin 63), 3 Drew Thompson, 4 Liam Wright, 5 Alex Charlton, 6 Will Varley, 7 Ethan Hall-Lyon, 8 Ethan Clarke (Harrison 40).

Replacements: 16 Owen Chaplin, 17 Matthew Winter, 18 Sweed Harrison, 19 Nathan Horsfall, 20 Hugh Mongan.

Photo Credit: Steve Mettam

Bournville 17 Titans 17

Rotherham Titans were denied victory with a 95 metre interception try by centre Reikiti Maasi with 4 minutes remaining, which ensured this pulsating Nat 2 North contest finished tied at 17-17.

Titans had plenty of opportunities to keep their winning run going, but unfortunately for them weren’t able to take them on the day.

However, the South Yorkshire side can take some solace in maintaining their unbeaten status and keeping themselves involved in a tightly fought contest for promotion.

The game itself saw Roth get off to the worst possible start as Bournville winger Tom Burrows dotted down for a converted try after just 26 seconds, following a miss tackle and then a chip over the top which caught the visitors cold.

Shell-shocked Titans took a little bit of time to grow into the game, but this they did as they started to go through the gears.

On 11 minutes the scores were level when Keifer Laxton scored from the tail of a maul following a line out close to the line and Matt Minogue impressed with the extras.

Roth continued to have the lion’s share of both possession and territory; however, a combination of handling errors from them and tenacious defending from the host ensured the scores remained level until first half injury time, when Minogue tagged over a 3-pointer to send his side in for the oranges 10-7 to the good.

Nine minutes into the second period Titans extended their advantage when Theo Nwosu-Hope barged his way over the line following a catch and drive from a line out. Crucially, Minogue nailed the conversion from out wide.

At this point most in the ground would have expected Rotherham to go on and secure a bonus point win and to be fair there were plenty of opportunities created by them for that to have happened. However, Bournville defended for their lives and somehow managed to keep their line intact.

Four minutes from time as Roth pressed looking for their third try, a pass close to the line was picked off by centre Reikiti Maasi who proceeded to gallop 95 metres downfield to score under the posts. Mitch McGahan had the formality of converting from in front to level the scores.

There was still time enough left for Roth to manoeuvre themselves downfield to find a winning score, but typical of what had gone before they were unable to find their touch on what turned out to be a disappointing day for them.

Speaking on the field just after the full time whistle, Adam Byron said:

“We are frustrated; it’s not a nice place to be when you can see the boys putting absolutely everything in and really putting their bodies on the line and then to not quite get over the line at the end.

“We just need to be a little bit more composed, a bit more clinical and just have the understanding that if we are a bit more patient when we have the ball teams won’t be able to cope with us; but as I’ve said the effort from the lads was outstanding.

“It never ideal going behind after 26 seconds as that put you on the back foot immediately, but once we got to 17-7 we really should have built on that.

“It wasn’t great that on one occasion when we kicked for the corner it was kept in with a player off the field and then we had couple of drives close to the line where we would normally score and we just didn’t quite convert that pressure today.

“Then by not building on our score we allowed them back into the game, firstly with a 3-pointer and then at the end when we were on their line and they get an interception and go the full length of the field.

“These things can happen, but we need to make sure we have the cushion so if that happens it doesn’t affect the final result.”

Referee: James O’Brien

Attendance: 350

Yellow Card: Capps (Titans)

Titans: Laxton (T), Nwosu-Hope (T), Minogue (2C, P)

Bournville: Burrows (T), Maasi (T), McGahan (2C, P)

Titans: 15 Joe Carlisle, 14 George Tucker, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Matt Minogue, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 75), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 70), 4 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Harry Williams (Matti Williams 45) (Donkor 67), 7 Keifer Laxton, 8 Zak Poole (Capt).

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Matti Williams, 20 Oliver Fisher.

Bournville: 15 Owen Williams, 14 Tom Burrows, 13 Reikiti Maasi, 12 Max Craven, 11 Ethan Walker (Ho 51), 10 Mitch McGahan, 9 Rhys Harrhy, 1 James Burgoyne (McArthur 36) (Burgoyne 70), 2 James Weaver (Rudge 67), 3 Ryan Smeilus, 4 Fynlay Brown, 5 Tom Holliday (Roach 40), 6 Ashley Scriven, 7 Sam Montieri, 8 Callum Thompson.

Replacements: 16 Scott Rudge, 17 Archie McArthur, 18 William Roach, 19 Mark Coulson, 20 Michael Ho.

Photo Credit: Andrew McCumiskey

Titans 13 Sedgley Park 12

Rotherham Titans secured the narrowest of victories against second place side Sedgley Park as they ran out 13-12 winners in a very tense and edgy affair, on a cold and wet afternoon at Clifton lane.

In a tale of two halves Titans dominated the first 40 and went in at the break 13-0 up, but the visitors from the North West had the better of things in the second half.

Indeed, had Sedgley Park fly half Steve Collins managed to nail his conversion with the final kick of the game, he would have inflicted the first defeat of the season on the South Yorkshire side.

However, that was not meant to be and Rotherham remain unbeaten after 13 games and move up into second spot in the league, five points behind Hull, but with 2 games in hand.

The game itself, as expected, was an intensely-fought contest, with neither side giving quarter easily. Indeed the home side had to defend ferociously in the opening exchanges as the visitors laid siege deep inside their 22.

However, having successfully repelled Sedgley’s early onslaught Roth took hold of the game and enjoyed much of what was to follow in the half.

Roth’s first score didn’t arrive until the end of the first quarter, but it was one worth waiting for.

From halfway fly half Matt Minogue put in a lovely chip over the top for skipper Zak Poole to collect and make good ground into the 22, before he found Matt Challinor in support, who in turn shipped on to hooker Harry Newborn who jinked back inside the last defender to dot down under the sticks for a brilliant try. Minogue added the extras.

The second quarter saw Titans pretty much dominate all aspects of the match and although Matt Minogue added two penalties to give Roth a 13-0 advantage, the home side would have felt they should returned a higher points tally for their superiority.

Indeed the second half was a different affair altogether as Sedgley Park found some momentum and enjoyed some long periods of possession.

On 42 minutes Sedgley hooker Matt Gallagher finished off nicely next to the sticks following a good line break and fly half Steve Collins tagged over the extras to reduce Park’s arrears.

Titans did have their moments in the second half and opportunities arose to extend their advantage. Unfortunately for them a lost line-out on the Sedgley line and a kick to the corner which didn’t find touch were just two occasions Roth let slip, all of which left them with a nervy finish to try and navigate.

In the tenth minute of injury time and with the final play of the game Sedgley set up a driving maul and despite some heroic defending by the home side, hooker Matt Gallagher managed to squeeze over for a try to make it 13-12.

Up stepped Steve Collins to take the conversion from about 15 metres infield. Unfortunately for him and Sedgley, the ball just missed the right upright to leave him and his side devastated and give Roth the victory.

Both sides will feel they deserved the win and both sides can take pride in how they went about their business.

Speaking immediately after the game Titans’ Adam Byron said:

“I was pleased that we got over the line. I couldn’t have been happier with how the first half went, I thought we controlled the game really well and our game management was spot on in the first 40.

“That dropped off a little bit in the second half and I think we have to put our hands up and say we didn’t control the game as well in the second period.

“We let what is a very good side back into the match and we used our get out of jail free card right at the end with the missed conversion; but we’ll take the win all day long.

“The boys deserve a huge amount of credit for the shift they put in; our defensive effort was outstanding. We spoke beforehand about being willing to put bodies on the line and showing a big heart; and to a man that’s what they did.

“Another pleasing thing is Sedgley are one of the most organised attacking sides in the division and they only had two line breaks in the whole of the game. The lads kept their spacing’s really well and that paid dividends in the end.

“With all due respect to some other teams we have played, we have gone into those games looking to get 5 points. Today was a big game for us against one of the best sides in the division and one of our closest rivals and the aim was simply to try and get the win!

“So we are delighted we got that and also delighted that we have notched up another win against one of the top sides.

“That’s 13 games undefeated now and that requires a lot of effort from the boys, it means they have to be switched on every week; it’s a very good standard in this league and so to be still unbeaten at this stage means we have to give the boys a massive pat on the back.”

Referee: Tim Allatt

Attendance: 411

Yellow Card: Birtwell (Sedgley Park), Challinor (Titans)

Titans: Newborn (T). Minogue (2P, 1C)

Sedgley Park: Gallagher (2T), Collins (1C)

Titans: 15 George Tucker, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Tom Lewis, 10 Matt Minogue, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 74), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 59), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 63), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Harry Williams (M. Williams 51), 7 Keifer Laxton, 8 Zak Poole (Capt).

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Matti Williams, 20 Jonny West.

Sedgley Park: 15 Andy Riley, 14 Rhys Henderson, 13 Oliver Glasse, 12 Matt Riley (Capt.), 11 Jamie Harrison, 10 Steve Collins, 9 Danny Openshaw, 1 John Blanchard, 2 Matt Gallagher, 3 Ben Black, 4 Bob Birtwell, 5 Connor James (E. Crowe 63), 6 Mark Goodman, 7 Will Lees, 8 Tom Ailes (O. Crowe 34). 

Replacements: 16 Beltus Nonleh, 17 Cash Chilvers, 18 Oscar Crowe, 19 Cam Crampton, 20 Elliot Crowe.

Photo Credit: Rotherham Advertiser

Harrogate 10 Titans 26

Rotherham Titans we’re made to graft hard for their 26-10 win over a tenacious and resilient Harrogate outfit on a dark and wet afternoon at Rudding Lane.

Tries from Matt Minogue, Harry Newborn, Tom Lewis and in the eighth minute of injury time, Callum Bustin, ensured Roth returned home with a full allocation of points.

Following a prolific week of wet weather in North Yorkshire, the pitch was very much on the heavy side and both teams found it difficult to play much flowing rugby.

Nevertheless Rotherham settled into their task and looked threatening from the off. Unfortunately for them however a steady stream of errors prevented them from finishing off at critical moments.

Indeed it was the home side that kick-started the scoreboard on 9 minutes when scrum half Kit Keith knocked over a 3-pointer following an increasing number of penalties conceded by the Titans.

As the half hour mark approached and still trailing you could feel the frustration levels rising in the Titans camp.

However, the tension was somewhat lifted on 27 minutes when Matt Minogue was on hand to capitalise on a Harrogate error on the edge of their own 22. Minogue hacked on from a missed pass and charged through to dot down under the sticks; he then dusted himself down to knock over the extras.

Just before the break Roth doubled their tally when hooker Harry Newborn dotted down near the corner following a powerful drive from a line out. Minogue impressed with his conversion from out wide to send his side in at the break with a 14-3 lead.

Celebrating his birthday by scoring Titans third try was winger Tom Lewis.

Following some impressive work by the Roth pack play was taken deep inside the home 22, before scrum half Sam Boxhall collected and threw a long miss-pass to Lloyd Hayes who in turn drew the last defender before popping Lewis in for his try. Minogue narrowly missed the extras.

To their credit Harrogate never stopped in their efforts and on more than one occasion they caused Rotherham problems. Their work in particular at scrum time was impressive and they challenged Roth in that area like no other team this season.

Indeed the home side were rewarded for their endeavours on 53 minutes when hooker Steve Maycock scored following good work from his pack. Keith added the extras to reduce his side’s arrears to 19-10.

As the game went deep into injury time and with Harrogate closing in on the Titans line, not only did it look like Roth wouldn’t be getting a bonus point try, but if the hosts went over there was probably just enough time remaining to restart the game – and then who knows what!

However, brilliant work by Roth enabled them to turn over the ball and force a penalty. They then proceeded to take play deep into the Harrogate half, culminating with a line out 10 metres from the line.

From there and with the final play Rotherham worked the ball infield before finding number 8 Callum Bustin; he then showed terrific strength and determination to force his way over to secure the bonus point. Minogue tagged on the extras to finish things off.

Speaking immediately after the game Titans Adam Byron said:

“I think our first emotion having just come off the pitch is relief. Obviously we were dominant in terms of the score line and we were never in trouble of losing the game, but we really had to push right at the end to pick up the bonus point.

“I was frustrated some of the things we were trying to do didn’t come off as we’d liked and I was a bit frustrated with myself in terms of we’d prepared for perfect rugby in perfect conditions, when instead we need to be realistic of where we’re playing rugby at times and what the conditions are at this time of the year.

“Overall however I am just really proud of the boys; to actually get that turnover in extra time and then to make their way all the way down the field to get that bonus point try at the death.

“The lads had bucket loads of team spirit and endeavour today, the conditions were awful; it wasn’t a pleasant day to play rugby, the pitch was boggy due to all the rain they’ve had up here this week and for the lads to find that try at the end was very impressive, so a massive well done to them.

“You also have to acknowledge the Harrogate team, they worked really hard too, every time we tried to go around the corner often they were waiting for us. They defended really well and their set-piece was very solid. I was impressed by them and I think they will go on to beat some good sides here.”

Referee: George Jones

Attendance: 250

Yellow Card: Challinor (Titans)

Titans: Newborn (T), Lewis (T), Bustin (T), Minogue (T, 3C)

Harrogate: Maycock (T), Keith (C, P)

Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 Tom Lewis, 13 Mat Clark (West 75), 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Matt Minogue, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Alastair Donkor (Capps 58), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 50), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 58), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Keifer Laxton (Nwosu-Hope 50), 8 Callum Bustin.  

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Charlie Capps, 19 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 20 Jonny West.

Harrogate: 15 Dom Tydeman (Cooke 75), 14 Harry Barnard, 13 Jordan Cummins, 12 Jack Kennell, 11 Will Yates, 10 Phil Wickham, 9 Kit Keith, 1 Jacob Percival, 2 Steve Maycock (Baxter 53), 3 Tom Baxter (Dennis 33), 4 Fraser Kitching (G. Coser 65), 5 Sam Brady (Capt.), 6 Will Seymour (Thompson 41), 7 Martin Dodds, 8 Jonny Coser.

Replacements: 16 Will Dennis, 17 Tom Shrimpton, 18 Guy Coser, 19 Dec Thompson, 20 Danny Cooke.

Titans 26 Huddersfield 12

Rotherham Titans were made to graft hard for the full 80 minutes on an awful wet and windy afternoon at Clifton Lane, before ultimately sealing a deserved 26-12 win over their Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield RUFC.

Titans secured the much-needed bonus point to maintain their push for a top-end finish, with tries coming from Sam Boxhall, Matt Smith, Zak Poole and Callum Bustin, with Matt Minogue adding 6 points from the tee.

On a truly terrible afternoon weather-wise, the wind and rain dictated little rugby would be played and each team found it difficult to escape their own half when playing against the elements.

Rotherham had the benefit in the first period and made the most when after just 6 minutes scrum half Sam Boxhall sniped over near the posts, after good work from the pack took Roth up to the try line. Matt Minogue added the extras.

Despite being camped in their opponents half for much of the time, Roth had to wait until the 24th minute before adding to their tally, when second rower Matt Smith spotted a gap at the breakdown and proceeded to gallop in from around 20 metres to dot down under the posts for Minogue to nail the extras.

Eight minutes before the break and Roth had their third try when skipper Zak Poole touched down following a powerful drive from a line out. Minogue impressed with his conversion in the difficult conditions to give his side a 21-0 lead which they took into half time.

Roth expected a tough second half and Huddersfield ensured they wouldn’t be disappointed. Indeed the third quarter of the game saw Titans penned inside their own 22 for much of that period.

By the hour mark and whilst Roth had two men in the sin bin for various misdemeanours, the visitors crossed the whitewash twice through back rower Lewis Bradley and full back Tom Hodson, with Will Milner converting the latter to reduce his side’s arrears to 21-12.

It was time for steady nerves and for the experience Titans have in the squad to keep things calm and for clear thinking to take hold.

This was evident to see as Roth’s calm and patient approach manoeuvred them into great field position, which in effect allowed them to settle the game with 13 minutes remaining, when from a line out Callum Bustin dotted down in the far corner following another powerful drive from the pack.

Minogue missed the difficult conversion from out wide, but it mattered not as Roth secured the 26-12 bonus point win and maintained their unbeaten status after 11 games.

Post-match and speaking from the sanctuary of indoors, a soaked Adam Byron said:

“The weather was always going to have a heavy impact on the game; the wind was a little bit on and off in the first half when it was behind us, but it really turned against us in the second half when we had it in our faces.

“Coming away with a 21-0 lead and three tries at half time was important; but they certainly put us to task in the second half and they kept us down in our own 22 and put us under pressure for long periods and we had to put in some really good defensive sets and work hard to get out of there.

“We were really pleased that we came through and we managed to get the bonus point win with that fourth try in the second half and that’s what is all comes down to, getting the win and the bonus point is what really counts.

“I think what we have to accept is we’re going to get games like we did last week at Loughborough on an artificial surface where the game is free-running, but we are going to get games like this one, when the weather is against rugby, not just us and we have to adapt and play according to the conditions.

“Our defensive sets were outstanding; it was a little frustrating at times that we would put the hard yards in but the penalty count was starting to build up against us, but the fact that we kept putting those defensive sets in and the 2-man hits was really important to the outcome.

“Huddersfield to be fair kept on us, but at times I think they ran out of ideas of how to break us down; they had the possession but we stayed strong in defence and kept them out for the majority of the time.

“That’s our ninth win in a row now and that’s something that we’d obviously like to keep building on. We are still undefeated, but as I’ve said before, on this run up to Christmas our main goal is to pick up the 5-point wins. So when the conditions are like that, it is a bit of a leveller; a lot of teams would have been happy with a 4-point win, but we really wanted that 5-pointer and we are delighted to have got that.”

Referee: Daniel Woods

Attendance: 487

Yellow Card: Stout & Smith (Titans)

Titans: Boxhall (T), Smith (T), Poole (T), Bustin (T), Minogue (3C)

Huddersfield: Bradley (T), Hodson (T), Milner (1C)

Titans: 15 Tom Lewis, 14 Connor Field, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Matt Minogue, 9 Sam Boxhall (West 76), 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 74), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 67), 3 Rikki Stout (Laxton 65), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Marcus Payne (Quigley 68), 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin.  

Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Alastair Donkor, 19 Keifer Laxton, 20 Jonny West.

Huddersfield: 15 Tom Hodson, 14 Kian Stewart, 13 Lewis Workman, 12 Will Milner, 11 Elliot Knight (Catleugh 67), 10 Joe Potter (Thornton 56), 9 Jonny Mason, 1 Callum Thompson, 2 Liam Stapley (Parkin 69), 3 Andy Rollins (Morgan-McDermott 69), 4 Luke Pearson, 5 Nick Sharpe, 6 Ethan Myers, 7 Lewis Bradley (Capt.) (Davis 61), 8 Eddie Brown.

Replacements: 16 Callum Morgan-McDermott, 17 Ross Thornton, 18 Leighton Davis, 19 Cameron Catleugh, 20 Tom Parkin.

Photo Credit: Gareth Siddons

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.