Wharfedale 19 Titans 34

Rotherham Titans recovered from a 14-3 half time deficit to stun Wharfedale 34-19 on a roasting hot afternoon at The Avenue.

Both sides scored 3 tries each with Rotherham’s dot downs coming from Matt Challinor, Jack Townend and Harry Dunne; Lloyd Hayes added 19 points from the tea.

On a sapping-hot afternoon it was the home side that scored first after just 3 minutes, when despite their scrum going backwards apace they managed to get the ball out and break quickly, allowing centre James Coulton to go in under the sticks.

Lloyd Hayes got Roth on the board soon after with a penalty, but Wharfedale extended their lead before the half hour mark to 14-3 when second rower Elliot Stockton crashed over following a period of forward pressure close to the line.

Roth had lots of possession during the first half but a combination of errors on their part and resilient defending by Wharfedale ensured they wouldn’t add to their tally.

No doubt during the half time oranges there would have been some stern words spoken in the Roth dressing room.

The second period saw a rejuvenated South Yorkshire side and with the benefit of the slope it took only 8 minutes for Roth to get their first try through Matt Challinor, after a number of pick-and-goes close to the line. Hayes’ conversion made it 14-10.

Titans’ confidence was boosted by their success and they enjoyed long periods of possession which provided some dominance in the game.

During this spell Lloyd Hayes demonstrated his accurate kicking skills by adding a further 3 penalties before full back Jack Townend showed good pace to cut through for an important try. Hayes converted the try and five minutes from time slotted a fifth penalty to effectively seal the game.

However, in injury time there was still time for each side to add a third try.

Replacement back Omari Kaup-Samuels showed great pace to dot down for the home side, whilst in the final play Titans’ Harry Dunne popped up on the right wing to touch down in the corner after collecting from Matt Challinor.

Titans will have been delighted to secure the win at such a difficult place as Wharfedale and they will now switch their focus to the visit of Lymm to Clifton Lane this week.

Speaking after the match Titans’ head coach, Gary Pearce, said:

“We were very good in the second half, we were very powerful and we looked like we’d got loads of energy left in us at the end.

“Our fitness was good; our bench was good and they made a significant impact when they went on and upped the tempo and that’s what you want to see.

“It was tough up the slope in the first half; we were a bit disappointed with some of the points we conceded and even more so with the chances we created but didn’t take; we could have gone in at half time with the lead.

“But this is what happens when you come to places like Wharfedale, they are a dogged side and they make it hard for you and we knew that was going to be the case.

“I thought the lads played well in the second half; Laurence carried really well, John Okafor did the same when he came on and everyone in the front row was outstanding.

“JB had a good game and put us in some really good positions with his kicking and so overall we are really pleased with the outcome.”

Referee: Jack Moorhouse

Attendance: 525

Yellow Card: Gaudie (Wharfedale)

Titans: Challinor (T), Townend (T), Dunne (T), Hayes (2C, 5P)

Wharfedale: Coulton (T), Stockton (T), Kaup-Samuels (T), Davidson (2C)

Titans: 15 Jack Townend (Bustin 76), 14 Dan Rundle, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 28 Callum Bustin (Dunne 30), 11 Tomasi Tanumi, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps (Kivalu 27) (Capps 74), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 36), 3 Gareth Denman (Ward 27) (Denman 61), 27 Matt Challinor (Okafor 51), 5 Matt Smith, 6 Rupert Kay (Challinor 61), 7 Laurence Cowen-Leak (Bergmanas 74), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 30 Reece Ward, 25 John Okafor, 12 Harry Dunne.

Wharfedale: 15 Ryan Hodgson, 14 Rob Davidson (Mallinson 40), 17 James Coulton, 12 Oliver Cicognini, 11 Beau Verity (Omari Kaup-Samuels 23), 10 Louis Verity, 9 Sam Gaudie, 16 Sam Dickinson (Collinson 67) (Armstrong 71), 2 Robbie Collinson (Beesley 52), 3 Jake Armstrong (Altham 48), 4 Elliot Stockton, 5 George Hedgley (Capt.), 6 Jack Pinder (Green 27), 7 Ben Markey (Pinder 55), 8 Rob Baldwin (Markey 68).

Replacements: 23 George Altham, 17 Matt Beesley, 18 Rhys Green, 19 Omari Kaup-Samuels, 20 Toby Mallinson. 

Titans 52 Billingham 24

Rotherham Titans began their season in style as they outscored new boys to the division Billingham by 52-24 on a warm and sunny afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans’ eight tries came via Rupert Kay, Laurence Cowen-Leak, Jack Townend, Jack Bergmanas, Luke Cole, Tomasi Tanumi and a brace for Lloyd Hayes who also added 12 points from the tee.

It took Rotherham just 3 minutes to score their first points of the season, when flanker Rupert Kay collected a nice popped-pass from Jack Bergmanas before breaking through to side-step the fullback to dot down under the sticks.

Billingham however responded quickly and within 6 minutes scored a penalty and then went into the lead when centre Luke Wilson intercepted inside his own 22 and proceeded to gallop the length of the pitch to score.

With their enthusiasm in tact Rotherham mounted a blitz which saw them score three tries inside a 6-minute spell to give them a 28-10 lead and secure the try bonus point.

Firstly Laurence Cowen-Leak showed his power to smash his way over; he was followed by full back Jack Townend who finished off nicely after Lloyd Hayes had ghosted his way through the defence and hooker Jack Bergmanas dotted down from a catch and drive.

Again though Billingham demonstrated their eagerness to not roll over and they too scored a couple of quick tries before the half hour mark.

Fly half Peter Evans skilfully chipped through for Luke Wilson to collect for his second try under the posts and then adventurously from deep inside their own half Billingham played the ball across the backline allowing winger Joe Ross to race home from 60 metres.

The two quick-fire tries narrowed the visitor’s deficit to 28-24 and the possibility of a shock opening-day win was becoming a possibility. However, those points would be the last scored by Billingham!

Either side of half time Lloyd Hayes showed his class with a brace of dot downs to calm the home side’s nerves and two more tries were added when Luke Cole touched down from the tail of a maul and Gareth Denman found Tomasi Tanumi as an extra man out wide to finish things off.

All in all it was a good opening day effort from Rotherham and whilst there will always be things to work on, scoring 8 tries and 50 points is never considered a bad day at the office.

Speaking after the game Titans head coach, Gary Pearce, said:

“I think at times we got lulled in to trying to play a bit too much rugby and we made a too many errors for my liking, but we scored lots of tries, put 50 points on them and nilled them in the second half, so it’s not all bad.

“We were disappointed to give them some of their points because we are better than that, but credit to Billingham they never stopped coming at us.

“We scored some entertaining tries ourselves and we got the five points and that’s the main thing.

“We know next week at Wharfedale will be a different test; it’s always one of the toughest places to go and try and get a result and we’ll give them our upmost respect.”

Referee: Dave Charlton

Attendance: 250

Yellow Card: K Clark (Billingham)

Titans: Kay (T), Cowen-Leak (T), Townend (T), Bergmanas (T), Cole (T), Tanumi (T), Hayes (2T, 6C),

Billingham: Wilson (2T), Ross (T), Evans (P, 3C)

Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Dan Rundle, 13 Harry Dunne (Milner 49), 28 Callum Bustin (Cowen-Leak 71), 11 Tomasi Tanumi, 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 JB Bruzulier (Eissa 63), 1 Charlie Capps (Denman 68), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 49), 3 Gareth Denman (Kivalu 40), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith (Dunne 65), 6 Rupert Kay (Okafor 40), 7 Laurence Cowen-Leak (Kay 66), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 25 John Okafor, 19 Kareem Eissa, 20 Will Milner.  

Billingham: 15 Elliott Husband (Capt.), 14 Joe Ross, 13 Peter Youll (Groark 59), 12 Luke Wilson, 11 Jonny Horner, 10 Peter Evans, 9 Connor Foley (Heron 57), 1 Adam Brown (Clark 68), 2 Jordan Foulds (Graham 65), 3 Kieran Clark (Spoors 57), 4 Ben Walton, 5 Mike Walton, 6 Tom Campbell (Burns 49), 7 John Padley (Campbell 63), 8 Anthony Jackson.

Replacements: 16 Ed Graham, 17 Joe Spoors, 18 Dan Burns, 19 Sam Heron, 20 Louie Groark. 

Photo Credit: Gareth Siddons

Titans 22 Durham University 19

Rotherham Titans were made to work exceptionally hard for their 22-19 win over BUCS side Durham University on a warm evening under the lights at Clifton Lane.

The hard-fought victory was fully deserved and it served to complete Roth’s pre-season preparations ahead of the visit of Billingham next Saturday for the start of the National 2 North season.

Titans outscored Durham by 4 tries to 3, with a brace coming for Luke Cole and one each for JB Bruzulier and Charlie Capps; Lloyd Hayes added a conversion.

Full credit must be given to Durham who threatened continuously throughout the game and as expected looked bright and lively as they attacked Roth whenever the opportunity arose.

It wasn’t the Titans finest performance to be fair; the South Yorkshire outfit gave away far too many penalties and too often made mistakes at crucial times in promising positions.

However, what was commendable was the spirit they displayed to find a way to get the win and hopefully that same spirit will give them great optimism for the new campaign ahead.

Two Luke Cole catch and drive tries cancelled out dot downs from Toby Tyson and Jake Spurway for the visitors, as the sides went in at the break level at 12-apiece.

Durham skipper Pat Bishop gave the Uni outfit the lead again just 7 minutes into the second half as he converted his own try; all of which kept the pressure on the home side.

Replacement scrum half JB Bruzulier narrowed the Titans deficit with an unconverted try five minutes later and on the hour mark loosehead prop Charlie Capps nosed his side ahead to make it 22-19.

But rather than kicking on Roth struggled to break the shackles of the north east side, but to be fair the visitors never really had an opportunity to take home the spoils.

So Rotherham ended their pre-season run with a perfect 3 wins from 3 and now their focus will be fully tuned in for the visit of Billingham on Saturday.

Guernsey Raiders 12 Titans 35

Rotherham Titans continued their fine pre-season form with an impressive 35-12 win over Channel Islands based side Guernsey Raiders, on a baking summer’s afternoon at Footes Lane.

Rotherham outscored their hosts by 5 tries to 2, with Laurence Cowan-Leak, Harry Dunne, Gareth Denman, Charlie Capps and Lewis Allan all crossing the whitewash; whilst Lloyd Hayes enjoyed a perfect afternoon with 5 conversions.

The match demonstrated the Titans pack strength throughout a keenly contested affair and one they hope, will stand them in good order for the new season ahead in 2 weeks time.

However it was the hosts who scored first when a clearance kick from Roth was charged down inside their own 22; and following a number of subsequent phases second rower Lewis Hillier bundled his way over.

Indeed Rotherham had to wait until the 21st minute before they got on the board and when it came it did so by way of some powerful work by their impressive pack which saw back rower Laurence Cowan-Leak crash over.

Ten minutes later and Roth extended their lead when this time Harry Dunne joined the pack-party to finish off from close range.

The second half saw Roth increase their superiority and advantage when tight head prop Gareth Denman finished off some more forward dominance.

One the hour mark loose head prop Charlie Capps got in on the act as he too added to his sides tally.

Ten minutes from time Guernsey scored the try of the game through Hugo Culverhouse, when from turnover ball inside their 22 they quickly moved play downfield through a number of hands to dot down.

However, Rotherham had the final say four minutes from time when second rower Lewis Allan was on hand to go over following more good work from the pack.

Titans will now look ahead to finishing their pre-season preparations by welcoming Durham University to Clifton Lane on Friday evening for a 7:30pm kick-off.

Then 7 days later the National 2 North season gets underway with the visit of newly promoted Billingham to Clifton Lane.

Titans 40 Newport Salop 7

Rotherham Titans kicked-off their pre-season campaign with a well-deserved 40-7 victory over Shropshire based side Newport Salop.

Titans outscored Salop by 6 tries to 1 with Zak Poole bagging a brace, whilst there was one try each for Jack Bergmanas, Callum Bustin, Laurence Cowen-Leak and Rupert Kay. Lloyd Hayes knocked over 5 conversions for his 10-point tally.

The game was played out in three 25 minute periods with both sides performing well considering it was the first run-out of pre-season.

Newport finished 10th in National League 2 West last term following promotion to the National leagues and their aim is to make the top half of the table this time around.

The game itself saw Rotherham start brightly as they raced into a 14-0 lead just after 10 minutes with catch and drives being finished off by skipper Zak Poole and hooker Jack Bergmanas.

On 20 minutes Roth had their third try when Callum Bustin showed terrific pace and power as he collected a nice inside pass from scrum half Kareem Eissa; the converted back rower charged almost 50 metres to smash his way over next to the sticks.

The second period saw Salop come into the game a little more; culminating in a deserved try from hooker Kev Raqio as he picked up from the base of a ruck to barge his way over.

Rotherham soon hit back however with a further two tries in this period. Laurence Cowan-Leak went in for a powerful try following a spell of forward pressure on the line, before Poole popped up on the right wing to dart over in the corner for his second try of the game.

Remarkably there was only one score in the final period and it came in the last play of the match; but what a try it was!

Following turnover ball in the Titans 22 a counter-attack was mounted and after multiple phases and 11 passes Rupert Kay collected to dot down in the corner.

Lloyd Hayes nailed an excellent conversion from the touchline to make it 5 out of 6 successful kicks.

Next up for the Titans is a trip to the Channel Islands when they take on National League 2 East side Guernsey Raiders on Saturday.

Sheffield Tigers 10 Titans 40

Rotherham Titans put in an outstanding performance as they beat local rivals Sheffield Tigers 40-10 on a wet afternoon at Dore Moor.

Titans outscored their near-neighbours by 5 tries to 1 with scores coming via a brace from Danny Rylance and one each for Sam Veall, Theo Nwosu-Hope and Matt Challinor, with Lloyd Hayes adding 15 points from the tea.

Hayes’s tally from the game ensured he ended the season with the accolade of being the leading point’s scorer in the division.

With Titans having lost the reverse fixture at Clifton Lane earlier in the season, there was a sense of wanting to even the score going into this one and Rotherham certainly put in a motivated and powerful performance to finish their campaign in some style.

The game started as expected with both sides showing plenty of enthusiasm for the task ahead, but it was Roth who nosed ahead on 7 minutes when Lloyd Hayes knocked over a penalty.

Roth soon stamped their authority on the match though, with their pack in particular showing good dominance both at the set piece and in the loose.

However, when Roth’s first try came it was from scrum half Sam Veal. The acting half back showed great awareness and guile to snipe over from the base of a ruck. Hayes’ successful conversion secured him as the division’s leading point’s scorer for the season.

Ten minutes later and Roth increased their lead when tight head prop Danny Rylance dotted down from a catch and drive close to the line.

Just before the break Tigers did get on the board when fly half Mark Ireland knocked over a penalty.

Following the half time oranges Rotherham started the second period just as strong as the first and inside two minutes had their third try when second rower Theo Nwosu-Hope showed great determination to power his way over.

Hayes converted and followed up with two further penalties to stretch his side’s lead to 28-3.

However, no game between these two teams would be the same without a try from former Titan and Tigers centre Jamie Broadley and just before the hour mark Jamie raced through for his usual dot down under the posts.

Unfortunately for the home side this success was not a catalyst for a comeback as seven minutes later Danny Rylance collected the ball from the tail of a line-out before racing through to score.

The final try of the game came shortly after when Roth’s Matt Challinor collected the ball five metres out before bulldozing his way over with Tigers defenders hanging from him.

The result ensured Rotherham finished the season with six straight wins and following Otley confirming their last game of the season Vs Blaydon wouldn’t take place, Roth secured a fourth place finish in the table.

Speaking after the game Titans Gary Pearce said:

“We knew this was going to be a special game because it’s a local derby and when you get beat in the first one it should motivate you to do better in the next one and all credit to the lads for turning it around today.

“The scoreboard didn’t flatter us at all and the margin of victory should have been much wider; I knew in our warm-up the lads really wanted it and they played ridiculously well and fully deserved the win.

“We weren’t as clinical as we could have been at times, we got a bit excited at overplaying, but it’s the end of the season and you can’t stop them trying to play a bit of rugby. You want them to play, but to also respect the ball.

“In the second half we came out and just blew them away in the first 20 minutes with our power and overall we are really pleased with how the game went.

“I have to give a mention to Lloyd Hayes on his achievement of topping the scoring charts in the division. He’s incredibly accurate off the tee and he doesn’t miss many and all credit to him for what he’s done this year; we are very proud of him.”

Referee: Gavin Jones

Attendance: 365

Yellow Card: Rylance (Titans)

Titans: Rylance (2T), Veall (T), Nwosu-Hope (T), Challinor (T), Hayes (3C, 3P)

Sheffield Tigers: Broadley (T), Ireland (1C, 1P)

Titans: 15 Tomasi Tanumi, 14 Jack Hedley, 13 Harry Dunne, 18 Callum Bustin, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue (Denman 54) (Sableman-Blue 64) (Taylor 69), 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 Sam Veall, 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 57), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Capps 68), 3 Gareth Denman (Rylance 30), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Lewis Allan (Tucker 76), 7 Marcus Payne (Godden 68), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 12 Aydan Godden, 17 Alastair Donkor, 27 Danny Rylance, 19 Jack Taylor, 21 George Tucker.    

Sheffield Tigers: 15 Will Baker, 14 Michael Graham (Miller-Pickering 71), 13 Jamie Broadley, 12 Sam Wager, 11 Curtis Wilson (Chapman 18), 10 Mark Ireland, 9 Ryan Holmes (Capt,), 1 Sim Meek, 17 Will Archer (Townsend 41), 3 Nick Bingham (Cone 78), 4 Joe Fitzsimons, 5 Dan Hawksworth (Cartwright 48), 6 Connor Scott, 7 Angus Hughes, 8 Josh Redfern.  

Replacements: 16 Charlie Cone, 2 Louis Townsend, 18 Harry Cartwright, 19 Harry Chapman, 20 Tyler Miller-Pickering.

Harrogate 17 Titans 45

Rotherham Titans made it five successive league wins with a dominant 45-17 win over Harrogate on a bright afternoon at Rudding Lane.

Rotherham outscored their hosts by seven tries to three with score’s coming via a hat trick for skipper Zak Poole and one each for Gareth Denman, Luckas Sableman-Blue, Matt Challinor and Harry Dunne, with Sam Veall adding 10 points from the tee.

The victory guarantees Rotherham at least fifth place in the league, which following their mid-season slump can be seen as a positive to take into next season.

The game itself was largely dominated by the South Yorkshire side, but it wasn’t until the 15th minute that they got the scoreboard ticking when skipper Zak Poole dotted down from a catch and drive close to the line.

Poole added a second shortly after, when following a number of phases inside the host’s 22, he showed great strength and determination to crash over next to the sticks. Sam Veall added the extras.

A now rampant Rotherham added to their tally just before the half hour mark when prop forward Gareth Denman dotted down in the corner from a driving maul.

Before half time the bonus point was secured in scintillating style when winger Luckas Sableman-Blue collected the ball on halfway from Callum Bustin; he then proceeded to show great footwork as he raced past three defenders to score a lovely try. Veall knocked over the extras.

The second half was a more even affair, although Titans wasted little time in adding to their score when lock forward Matt Challinor dotted down from a maul after just 4 minutes. Veall converted.

Three minutes later and after good carries from Alastair Donkor and Marcus Payne in the build-up, Sam Veall popped a nice pass to Zak Poole on the edge of the 22 for him to gallop home to score under the posts. Veall’s conversion made it 38-0.

To be fair to Harrogate they never stopped trying and their efforts gained some reward on 54 and 66 minutes respectively when winger Will Yates and replacement centre Harrison Walker both crossed the whitewash. Fly half Tom Steene successfully converted the first.

Two minutes from the end of normal time Harry Dunne, who had a good game playing out of position in the fly half shirt, scored Titans seventh try of the match when he received a pass from Sam Veall to dive over in the corner. Veall impressed with his conversion from out wide.

The last word however came for the hosts when skipper Sam Brady picked up from the base and dived over in the final play of the game.

Nevertheless Rotherham can be pleased with their efforts on the day and can take confidence from the fine form they are currently enjoying. They will now prepare diligently for the final game of the season away to local rivals Sheffield Tigers on Saturday.

Speaking after the game Rotherham head coach, Gary Pearce said:

“We had some late changes in key positions, with Sam at nine and Harry at ten and they both did really well. We scored seven tries and probably left another four out there, but I have to give Harrogate a lot of credit as they stuck in there throughout the game.

“We are always pleased to get a win away from home; we picked up the bonus point and we made it five wins on the trot which always helps in terms of confidence. Our defence was good, but we were a little disappointed to concede the try at the end, when we probably should have scored at the other end moments earlier.

“However, overall it was very positive, the lads are really putting in the effort and with us being down to the bare bones; there’s a few of them playing out of position, but they’re still putting in good performances.

“As a group we have got stronger, of course winning always helps as that gives you more confidence. We have put a lot of emphasis on our structure defensively with Clive (Griffiths) and that has helps us along too.”

Referee: Dan Woods

Attendance: 275

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Poole (3T), Denman (T), Sableman-Blue (T), Challinor (T), Dunne (T), Veall (5C)

Harrogate: H Yates (T), Walker (T), Brady (T), Steene (1C)

Titans: 15 Jack Taylor, 14 Jack Hedley, 13 Tomasi Tanumi, 18 Callum Bustin, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue (Tucker 69), 10 Harry Dunne, 9 Sam Veall, 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 27) (Rylance 69), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Capps 51), 3 Danny Rylance (Denman 27), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Marcus Payne (Cambier 51), 12 Aydan Godden, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Rupert Kay, 17 Alastair Donkor, 30 Gareth Denman, 27 Cade Cambier, 21 George Tucker.   

Harrogate: 15 Charles Buckley, 14 Rupert Scrase, 13 Will Rawlinson (Walker 48), 12 Harry Yates, 11 Will Yates, 10 Tom Steene (Rawlinson 55), 9 Ben Raubitschek (Fox 73), 1 Jacob Percival (Baxter 65), 2 Steven Maycock, 3 Tom Baxter (Elsayed 41), 4 Sam Fenn (Jones 41), 5 Sam Brady (Capt.), 6 Martin Dodds, 7 Will Hill (Jackson 53) (Fenn 70), 8 Thomas Spencer-Jones.  

Replacements: 17 Seifeldin Elsayed, 18 Chris Jackson, 16 Greg Jones, 19 Harrison Walker, 21 Sam Fox.

Titans 38 Preston Grasshoppers 7

Rotherham Titans put in an impressive performance as they ran out convincing 38-7 winners over Preston Grasshoppers on a mild afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored their North West opponents by 6 tries to 1 with their tries coming via a brace from Jack Hedley, a penalty try and one each for Lewis Allan, Jack Bergmanas and Zak Poole, with Lloyd Hayes adding 6 points from the tea.

The victory was the first time Rotherham had put 4 successive wins together all season and adds to their strong finish to the season. They will now aim to make it five on the spin in their next outing away to Harrogate.

This game was expected to be a much tighter affair as Grasshoppers came to Clifton Lane in good form and having beaten the Titans at their place earlier in the season and whilst the visitors did put in a valiant shift, Rotherham never looked like relinquishing control at any stage of the match.

Indeed Roth took the initiative and the lead as early as the 2nd minute when winger Jack Hedley broke down the right hand side; he then exchanged passes with Zak Poole before diving over for a nice score. Lloyd Hayes’s conversion unfortunately hit the left upright.

Despite dominating the opening exchanges of a scrappy affair, it wasn’t until after the half hour mark that Roth added to their tally, when a powerful scrum close to the line was illegally disrupted and referee Ben Davies quite rightly awarded a penalty try.

Almost from the restart Titans had their third try when back rower Lewis Allan picked-up from the base and dived over underneath the posts. Hayes added the extras to give his side a 19-0 half time lead.

The second period followed the pattern of the first with Rotherham controlling much of what went on and they secured the bonus point try just before the hour mark when hooker Jack Bergmanas dotted down from a catch and drive close to the line. Hayes impressed with his conversion from the touchline to make it 26-0.

To be fair to Hoppers they never stopped trying and they deservedly got something for their efforts shortly after when winger Will Clapham finished off after a nice chip through from fly half Will Hunt. The latter added the extras from in front to the posts.

Five minutes later however and normal service was resumed when Titans skipper Zak Poole powered over in the corner following a slick pass from Lloyd Hayes, although the latter was unsuccessful withy the conversion.

Nevertheless, three minutes from time Rotherham put the icing on the cake when a lovely inside pass from Lloyd Hayes found Jack Hedley who raced through to score under the sticks for a converted try.

Speaking after the game a contented Titans head coach, Gary Pearce said:

“We were pleased with parts of our game, but we’re not getting carried away as we know we still have a lot of work to do.

“I though Sam Veall had a good game at scrum half; I don’t think he’s worn that shirt since he was about 11 years-old. And whilst Lloyd had a good game at 10, that’s not his best position and I’d prefer him being a bit wider where he can be even more effective.

“I think at times we tried to play too much rugby, too quickly, but to outscore your opposition by 6 tries to 1 is not a bad effort. I thought we left a few more points out there, but from where we’ve come in a relatively short space of time and to have now won four on the trot is something we can be pleased with.”

Referee: Ben Davis

Attendance: 250

Yellow Card: Poole (Titans), Swarbrick (Preston)

Red Card: Mabaya (Preston)

Titans: Hedley (2T), Allan (T), Bergmanas (T), Poole (T), Penalty Try, Hayes (3C)

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

Titans: 15 Jack Taylor, 14 Jack Hedley, 13 Harry Dunne, 28 Callum Bustin, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue (Tucker 57), 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 Sam Veall, 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 30) (Capps 49), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Godden 62), 3 Danny Rylance (Denman 27) (Rylance 49) (Denman 68), 4 Matt Challinor (Donkor 72), 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Lewis Allan, 7 Marcus Payne (Cambier 57), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 23 Aydan Godden, 17 Alastair Donkor, 29 Gareth Denman, 27 Cade Cambier, 21 George Tucker.   

Preston Grasshoppers: 15 Jacob Browne, 14 Will Clapham, 13 Harry Swarbrick, 12 Ed Kehoane (Pearson 54), 11 Tyler Spence (Orry 48), 10 Will Hunt (Kehoane 68), 9 Harry Moulding (Capt.) (Squirrell 54), 1 Oga Mabaya, 2 Olli Trippier (Thompson 40), 3 Matt Woodward, 4 Ewan Naylor, 5 Ally Murray, 6 Will Riley (Norrington 19), 7 Josh Longson, 8 Scott Richardson.

Replacements: 16 Harry Thompson, 17 George Orry, 18 Dec Norrington, 19 Jake Squirrell, 20 Ben Pearson. 

Chester 28 Titans 38

Rotherham Titans massively impressed as they beat Chester 38-28 on bright but cool afternoon at Hare Lane.

Rotherham outscored the home side by 6 tries to 3, with tries from Danny Rylance, Jack Taylor, Tomasi Tanumi, Callum Bustin, Zak Poole and Jack Hedley, with Lloyd Hayes adding 8 points from the tee.

The win moves Rotherham on to 65 points alongside Chester in the league, although Roth have played a game less and a strong finish to the season could see them end up in fifth spot, which after a mid-season slump would give everyone at the club some optimism for next season.

The game itself was an entertaining affair which saw the home side take the lead as early as the third minute when centre James Hampson raced through to dot down for Liam Reeve to convert.

Shortly afterwards however Rotherham levelled matters when a powerful drive from a line out was finished off by tighthead prop Danny Rylance; Lloyd Hayes maintained his push to become the league’s leading points scorer with the conversion.

The game wasn’t ten minutes old when Chester retook the lead after Liam Reeve’s accurate cross-field kick was expertly gathered by winger Ben Ivory who dotted down in the corner for an unconverted try.

Relative calmness followed as the next score didn’t arrive until the 23rd minute when a lovely chip over the top from Titans Lloyd Hayes was neatly collected by winger Jack Taylor to score a nice try.

The final score of the first 40 came before the half hour mark when Roth switched the direction of play in midfield before an interchange of passes between Tomasi Tanumi and Jack Taylor saw the former gallop through to score near the post for Hayes to convert and send Roth in at the break with a 19-12 lead.

The second period saw the hosts start much the brighter and a succession of penalties were conceded by Titans which resulted in Liam Reeve adding three kicks from the tee to give his side a 21-19 advantage.

Another flurry of scores was set to follow; on the hour mark Titans regained the lead when Callum Bustin collected and found a gap in the defence to charge through for a converted try, before 3 minutes later Chester back rower Kyle Joseph dotted down following a catch and drive close to the line.

However, five minutes later Rotherham retook the lead for the third time when skipper Zak Poole showed amazing strength to score following a break-off from a scrum close to the line. Lloyd Hayes converted to make it 33-28.

The game was finally wrapped up for Roth in the final play of the match when Chester coughed-up the ball whilst looking to snatch the game at the death. The lost ball was gathered and eventually found its way into the hands of winger Jack Hedley who showed good pace to score in the corner to seal an impressive and entertaining win for the South Yorkshire side.

Titans now have a week off for Ester before they welcome Preston Grasshoppers to Clifton Lane for their final home game of the season, before two away games at Harrogate and Sheffield Tigers, with the latter now being confirmed for the 29th of April.

Speaking after the match Titans head coach, Gary Pearce, said:

“I was really pleased with the lads, they showed a lot of effort and commitment and they played really well in parts. We know we have a lot of things to work on, but to come to Chester with their home record as it is and to get a bonus point win is an outstanding result.

“Chester are a good side, they battled very hard and they are a difficult team to beat on their own patch and I’m proud of the lads for the shift they have put in. We asked the lads to work hard and to put in a committed performance and that’s what they did and they can be very proud of themselves.

“We carried the ball really well when we got into the danger zones and we were powerful when we needed to be. I thought everyone played their part; I thought Danny Rylance had a great game, as did Zak Poole and Matt Challinor and I thought Sam Veall cleared up well at times and both the Jack’s on the wings looked quick when their turned on the gas.

“We know we’re not a bad side; we just have to make sure we put it together when it matters and that’s what the lads did today. We just have to keep it going now so we can finish off the season with some good performances for our supporters.”

Referee: George Ounsley

Attendance: 480

Yellow Card: Challinor (Titans), Lewtas & Long (Chester)

Titans: Rylance (T), Taylor (T), Tanumi (T), Bustin (T), Poole (T), Hedley (T), Hayes (4C)

Chester: Hampson (T), Ivory (T), Joseph (T), Reeve (2C, 3P)

Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 Jack Hedley, 13 Tomasi Tanumi, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jack Taylor, 10 Joe Carlisle (Veall 14), 9 Kai Ramrattan (Allan 65), 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 20), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Danny Rylance, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Marcus Payne (Bustin 49), 7 Rupert Kay, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 23 Aydan Godden, 17 Alastair Donkor, 16 Lewis Allan, 27 Callum Bustin, 20 Sam Veall.   

Chester: 15 Gethin Long, 14 Ben Ivory, 13 Jorge Lewtas, 12 James Hampson, 11 Sean Green (Craven 65), 10 Liam Reeve, 9 Tom Holloway, 1 Josh Woods (Croft 67), 2 Scott Robson (Woods 75), 3 Tom Furnival (Williams 67), 4 Harry Wilkinson (Capt.), 5 Mike Byrne (Freschini 66), 6 Kyle Joseph, 7 Shaun Owen (Lloyd 66), 8 Luke Cox.

Replacements: 17 Alick Croft, 18 Wade Williams, 19 Jimmy Lloyd, 20 Leo Freschini, 21 Charlie Craven.

Titans 28 Otley 21

Rotherham Titans put in an outstanding effort to beat Otley 28-21 and secure the bonus point on a blustery afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans’ four tries came from Danny Rylance, Zak Poole, Jack Taylor and Tomasi Tanumi, with Lloyd Hayes adding 8 points from the tee.

As the old cliché goes it was a game of two halves, with the wind playing a huge part in what went on throughout the match. Titans went in at the break with a 17-0 lead and then it was a case of holding on as the expected comeback from Otley was mounted.

Rotherham took their time to get the scoreboard moving, as the visitors defended with all their might in the early exchanges. However on 18 minutes a powerful catch and drive close to the line saw tight head prop Danny Rylance crash over. Hayes narrowly missed the extras from out wide.

Ten minutes later and Roth’s inspirational skipper Zak Poole took a quick tap-penalty and proceed to bundle his way over with two Otley defenders hanging off him. Hayes added the extras.

As half time drew near Rotherham knew they would need at least one more score if they were to have any chance of protecting their lead in the second half, as the blustery wind picked up its pace.

Titans had created a number of opportunities prior to this, but for various reasons were unable to add to their tally.

However in the final play of the half scrum half Kai Ramrattan cleverly chipped a lovely ball through the Otley defence for winger Jack Taylor to collect in his stride, before stepping back inside to score for an unconverted try.

Following the half time oranges Rotherham made a bright and crucial start to the second half when centre Tomasi Tanumi touched down in the corner after good work in the build up from Zak Poole and Lloyd Hayes, although the latter narrowly missed the extras from out wide.

The expected comeback from Otley began before the hour mark when they scored two tries in three minutes through centres Clark Wells and Gavin Stead, with the latter converting both from in front of the posts.

On 64 minutes Lloyd Hayes settled the Titans nerves with a penalty, but the relief lasted only 3 minutes before the impressive Ben Waddington touched down for the visitors to narrow his side’s deficit to 25-21.

You could feel the nerviness around the ground as Otley went in search of a late score that would seal a dramatic comeback for them.

However, four minutes from time Lloyd Hayes knocked over another penalty and Rotherham held out for a deserved win over their Yorkshire rivals.

Speaking after the game Titans head coach, Gary Pearce said:

"We haven't played for three weeks and we were ring rusty. We scored a lot of points in the first half, but we should have scored a lot more; we probably left 15 or 20 points out there, and that always makes a game of it.

“Otley are fourth in the league for a reason. They're a decent side and have plenty of confidence, but our defence got better through the second half.

"It's just good to get a game in, and I'm sure we'll be better for it.

"To mark centenary week with a win is also good for the club. It's onwards and upwards for us now, that's what we're looking for."

Referee: Dave Charlton

Attendance: 250

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Rylance (T), Poole (T), Taylor (T), Tanumi (T), Hayes (C, 2P)

Otley:  Wells (T), Waddington (T), Stead (T, 3C)

Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 Jack Hedley, 13 Tomasi Tanumi (Veall 45), 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jack Taylor (Sableman-Blue 60), 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Kai Ramrattan, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Danny Rylance (Donkor 29) (Rylance 60), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Lewis Allan, 7 Marcus Payne, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Tom Richardson, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Cade Cambier, 19 Sam Veall, 20 Luckas Sableman-Blue.   

Otley: 15 Charles Morgan, 14 Duncan Darling, 13 Clark Wells, 12 Gavin Stead, 11 Elliot Morgan, 10 Edward Crossland, 9 Rory Gaffney (Wickham 53), 1 Ethan Thiart (Nicholls 63), 2 Luke Cole, 3 Reece Ward (Moss 31) (Ward 72), 4 Adam Malthouse (Capt.), 5 Simon Willet (Gibson 53), 6 Dan Preston-Routledge, 7 Sam Hodge, 8 Sam Waddington.

Replacements: 16 Ryan Gibson, 17 Billy Nicholls, 18 Jason Moss, 19 Alex Johnson, 20 Philip Wickham.

Photo Credit: Gareth Siddons

Titans 36 Sheffield 26

Rotherham Titans returned to winning ways with an impressive 36-26 win over local rivals Sheffield on a cold afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans outscored the Abbeydale outfit by 5 tries to 4, with Corben Ollivent, Callum Bustin and a penalty try, with Lloyd Hayes grabbing a brace and also adding 11 points from the tee.

The win completes the double over Sheffield for this season, as Titans won 39-14 at Abbeydale Park back in early November.

This one however was a closer, more even affair, although Titans thoroughly deserved their bonus-point victory.

Indeed Rotherham started the game much the brighter and raced into a 12-0 lead inside the first 20 minutes following tries from Corben Ollivent and Lloyd Hayes, with the latter converting his own try.

Sheffield however demonstrated plenty of grit and determination as you would expect in a South Yorkshire derby and a quick-fire brace of tries from scrum half Elliot Fisher and winger Christian Hooper just after the half hour mark, put them ahead 14-12.

Nevertheless, Rotherham maintained their composure despite the shock of conceding two quick scores and they continued to edge matters, whilst Sheffield always looked dangerous with the ball in hand, as they looked to counter whenever the opportunity arose.

Just before half time Roth were awarded a penalty try as Sheffield skipper Alex Fawdry was yellow carded for illegally preventing a Titans try in the corner.

After the break and despite Rotherham enjoying the better moments it was Sheffield who scored next through the lively Elliot Fisher, after he supported a break to run in under the sticks. Fisher then converted to put his side back ahead. This was the fourth time the lead had changed hands.

Ten minutes later, the lead changed again for the final time when Titans Callum Bustin powered and bulldozed his way over following a good period of possession from the pack. Lloyd Hayes’ conversion put Roth 26-21 to the good.

Six minutes from time Titans eased their nerves somewhat when Lloyd Hayes knocked over a penalty to stretch the lead to 8 points.

And when a minute later Hayes also crossed for a converted try in “Plants Corner” the game was effectively wrapped up.

Fair play to Sheffield however, as in the final play of the game Fisher crossed the whitewash to secure both his hat trick and a losing bonus point for his side.

Rotherham will have been delighted with the win, especially with it being a South Yorkshire derby and they will now prepare hard for another South Yorkshire derby against Sheffield Tigers next Saturday at Dore More; KO 3pm.

Speaking after the game Titans head coach, Gary Pearce said:

“We scored five tries and could have scored ten if I’m honest. I’m disappointed we weren’t more clinical but it’s a derby game, we’re coming to the end of the season, the grounds are hardening up and everyone wants to play a little bit more.

“We just got a little bit too excited at times. If we’d been a bit more patient we’d have scored a few more.

“I’m still pleased. There were quite a lot of good performances across the park and we have plenty of enthusiasm in the team. It was a win at home with five points and we’ll take that and move on.”

Referee: George Ounsley

Attendance: 250

Yellow Card: Poole (Titans)

Titans: Ollivent (T), Bustin (T), Penalty try, Hayes (2T, 3C, P)

Sheffield: Hooper (T), Fisher (3T, 3C)

Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 Corben Ollivent, 13 Tomasi Tanumi, 28 Callum Bustin (Payne 74), 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Connor Dever (Boxhall 68), 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Richardson 79), 3 Danny Rylance (Donkor 65), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Marcus Payne (Allan 55), 7 Rupert Kay (Dunne 31), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Tom Richardson, 17 Alastair Donkor, 18 Lewis Allan, 19 Harry Dunne, 21 Sam Boxhall.   

Sheffield: 15 Alfie Kimpton, 14 Ieuan Cooke (Crapper 38) (Cooke 49) (Hignell 59) (Taylor 75), 13 Will Taylor (Douglas 72), 12 Will Smith, 16 Christian Hooper, 10 Callum Posa, 9 Elliot Fisher, 1 Ben Whitney, 18 Jude Noble, 3 George Rogers (Hicklin 20), 4 Dave Clayden (Crapper 59), 5 Dom Parsons, 6 Alex Fawdry (Capt.), 7 Matt Adcock, 8 Ryan Burrows.

Replacements: 22 Jake Hicklin, 24 Will Booth, 21 Archie Crapper, 20 Jason Hignell, 17 Kaj Douglas.

Huddersfield 39 Titans 27

Rotherham Titans suffered a disappointing 39-27 defeat away at Huddersfield on a cold afternoon at Lockwood Park.

Titans scored three tries through Rupert Kay, Zak Poole and Callum Busting, with Lloyd Hayes adding 12 points from the tee.

Rotherham for the second season running left Lockwood Park disappointed as Huddersfield demonstrated once again they are not a team to be underestimated at home.

Titans actually started the game much the brighter and only a determined defensive display from the hosts kept their line intact as the first quarter elapsed without score.

Will Milner and Lloyd Hayes then traded penalties before winger Kian Stewart dotted down in the corner for the first try of the game for Huddersfield.

Milner stretched Field’s advantage before the break with a penalty, but in the final play of the half and despite being reduced to 14 men due to Charlie Capps receiving a yellow card, Rotherham’s Rupert Kay crashed over the whitewash with great determination. Hayes’ conversion sent Roth in at the break trailing 13-10.

Inside 6 minutes of the restart Rotherham went ahead after a Lloyd Hayes penalty and a quick thinking try from skipper Zak Poole, who had his wits about him from a rapidly taken penalty to go over next to the posts for a converted try to make it 20-13.

However, within a 10 minute spell it all went horribly wrong for Rotherham as Huddersfield winger Kian Stewart helped himself to a hat-trick.

Suddenly Roth trailed 32-20 in a game they had enjoyed the better moments and they looked shell-shocked.

Seven minutes from time though Titans gave themselves some hope of a recovery when Callum Busting barged his way over for a converted try to reduced his side’s arrears to 32-27.

However, those hopes were finally dashed late on when Field’s other winger Finlay Stewart – brother of Kian – galloped home to seal a deserved win.

Rotherham will now have to quickly put their disappointment behind them and prepare for a huge South Yorkshire derby against Sheffield at Clifton Lane this Saturday.

Speaking after the match a disappointed Titans Gary Pearce said:

“We played all the rugby in the first half, but we were just playing in the middle of the field. They didn’t play much rugby or many phases, but in the second half they score three tries from three kicks which came out of nothing.

“We just played dumb in certain situations; our lads worked hard, but we just kept on making error after error and that’s just not good enough at this level. We did play some good stuff at times, but we have to keep hold of the ball and we didn’t, we just gave the ball away too easily.

“I can’t express how disappointed we are; I told the lads we have to front-up and be better than we were today. We’re not a bad side but we aren’t showing that right now.

“They get the ball and score from nothing, they didn’t even have to work for their tries; it’s not as though they have pounded us and they’ve come at us for 6 or 8 phases; no, we just let them score from one phase and we really can’t let that happen and we made too many individual errors.

“The scoreboard shows they got 39 point’s, they’re not a 39 point side against us. We get down there and put on lots of pressure and we have to earn our points, they didn’t have to do that for their points and that’s not good enough.

“We need to get back on the training ground and work that bit harder to get better as a squad, because at the minute it’s not very good.

“You sometimes have to hold your hand up; you put a Rotherham shirt on and you’ve got to be accountable and at the minute they are not accountable for the errors and we need to help them improve so we can cut down on them.”

Referee: Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts

Attendance: 437

Yellow Card: Capps (Titans)

Titans: Kay (T), Poole (T), Busting (T), Hayes (3C, 2P)

Huddersfield: K. Stewart (4T), F. Stewart (T), Milner (4C, 2P)

Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 Sam Veall, 13 Tomasi Tanumi, 28 Callum Busting (Dunne 36), 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue (Richardson 36) (Sableman-Blue 45) (Ollivent 70), 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Richardson 75), 3 Gareth Denman (Rylance 30), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope (Cambier 75), 6 Marcus Payne (Busting 53), 7 Rupert Kay, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Tom Richardson, 17 Danny Rylance, 18 Cade Cambier, 19 Harry Dunne, 22 Corban Ollivent. 

Huddersfield: 15 Tom Hodson, 14 Kian Stewart (Law 72), 13 Lewis Workman, 12 Ed Barber, 11 Finlay Stewart, 10 Will Milner, 9 Joe Potter (Wilson 53), 1 Callum Thompson (Dawson 75), 2 Ethan Myers, 3 Andy Rollins, 4 Luke Pearson, 5 Eddie Brown, 6 Liam Parfitt (Stapley 70), 7 Lewis Bradley (Capt.), 8 Rob Jennings (Jones 48).

Replacements: 16 Alex Dawson, 19 Liam Stapley, 20 Matt Law, 21 Simon Wilson, 22 Tom Jones.

Titans 20 Sedgley Park 38

Rotherham Titans put in a big effort before unfortunately going down 38-20 to league leaders Sedgley Park on a blustery afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans scored two tries through Connor Dever and Luckas Sableman-Blue, with Lloyd Hayes adding 10 points from the tea.

To be fair the better team on the day won the game and they will likely go on to win the division and ply their trade in National 1 next season, but the scoreline slightly flattered the North West outfit.

Indeed Rotherham, with the elements in their favour in the first half, were the better side and took a deserved 13-5 lead in at the break.

Titans’ scrum half Connor Dever got the scoreboard ticking over as early as the fifth minute when he sniped over from close to the line following a period of forward pressure. Lloyd Hayes impressed in the difficult conditions with the conversion.

Connor James soon replied for the visitors down the left hand side to score in the corner, but fly half Steve Collins wasn’t able to add the extras.

Roth continued to have good periods throughout, but unfortunately for them they were unable to penetrate the whitewash, in no small part, this was due to some outstanding defensive sets from Park.

Nevertheless Roth did add to their tally with two nicely taken penalties from Lloyd Hayes.

Just before the break Sedgley Park back rower Connor James suffered a nasty lower leg injury which brought the half to a premature conclusion.

Fortunately Rotherham has an excellent medical department and Doctor Chris Myers and head physio David Swift were quickly on hand to assist Connor within seconds. All at Clifton Lane wish Connor a speedy recovery.

At the beginning of the second half there was some controversy when Rhys Henderson was deemed to have scored a try, which some suggested close to the play was indeed beyond the dead ball line.

Nevertheless, credit has to go to Henderson for his tenacious chase which led to the game-changing moment.

Rotherham appeared to be shaken by the outcome and Sedgley took heart and within 15 minutes they added another try from full back Andy Riley and two penalties from Collins to stretch their lead to 23-13.

Titans however never stopped putting in a shift and hopes of a fightback were raised when just after the hour mark winger Luckas Sableman-Blue dotted down in the corner following quick hands along the backline. Hayes mightily impressed from out wide with his conversion to reduce Titans arrears to 23-20.

Sedgley however are top of the league for a reason and before the end they scored two more tries through Dan Mayer and Rhys Henderson, with Collins adding a third penalty to round things off.

Park seemed to have improved a lot from earlier in the season and it’s difficult to see them not lifting the divisional honours this term.

Rotherham will now regroup and prepare for next week’s Yorkshire derby against Huddersfield at Lockwood Park.

Speaking afterwards Titans head coach, Gary Pearce, said:

“I think we are still a bit too naive about where we play the game; when you’ve got a day like today where the wind is so strong, you can’t play all your rugby on the halfway line. They gave us a lesson in the second half in how to play in those conditions and they made very few errors.

“The game changer was the try which was given at the start of the second half. I couldn’t see from where I was on halfway, but the people down at that end said it was over the dead ball line. If it was then that’s obviously very disappointing.

“It’s moments like that which can change the momentum of games and I think that happened today. However, what we can’t question is the lad’s effort and commitment.

“We know we’re a long way from being a top of the table side at this point and we have to give Sedgley a lot of credit. They are a good side and now they are 18 and 0 for the season. They are disciplined, well organised and well drilled and they have a lot of good players that have been together a long time.

“But we are still very disappointed because we thought we would really be in with a chance and we were for long periods; but crucially you have to put points on the board when you have your moments and we didn’t do that enough times today.”

Referee: Ben Rayner

Attendance: 250

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Dever (T), Sableman-Blue (T), Hayes (2C, 2P)

Sedgley Park: Henderson (2T), James (T), A. Riley (T), Mayer (T), Collins (2C, 3P)

Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Jack Taylor (Carlisle 51), 13 Tomasi Tanumi, 12 Callum Bustin, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue, 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 Connor Dever (Boxhall 45), 1 Charlie Capps (Rylance 74), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Richardson 77), 3 Gareth Denman (Rylance 30) (Denman 53), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Marcus Payne (Allan 65), 7 Rupert Kay, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Tom Richardson, 17 Danny Rylance, 18 Lewis Allan, 19 Joe Carlisle, 20 Sam Boxhall. 

Sedgley Park: 15 Andy Riley, 14 Rhys Henderson, 13 Oliver Glasse, 12 Matt Riley (Capt.), 11 Jamie Harrison, 10 Steve Collins, 9 Jacob Tansey (Bedlow 16), 1 John Blanchard, 2 Dan Mayer (Mallinson 74), 3 Beltus Nonleh (Black 35) (Nonleh 62), 4 Bob Birtwell, 5 Oscar Crowe (Chilvers 74), 6 Connor James (Bentley 37), 7 Mark Goodman, 8 Tom Ailes.

Replacements: 16 Cash Chilvers, 17 Adam Mallinson, 18 Ben Black, 19 Valu Tane Bentley, 20 Joe Bedlow.

Titans 52 Hull Ionians 25

Rotherham Titans put in a brilliant performance to overrun third-placed side Hull Ionians 52-25 on a bright afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Roth showed that on their day they can be a handful for any side in the division as they outscored their opponents by 8 tries to 3.

Rotherham’s tries came way of a brace on debut for Tomasi Tanumi, with one each for Callum Bustin, Gareth Denman, Matt Challinor, Danny Rylance, Lloyd Hayes, who also added 12 points from the tee and fittingly on his 100th appearance for the club, Zak Poole.

Titans raced out of the blocks and showed their intent from the start and their appetite for the contest was clear to see.

That intent was duly rewarded inside 16 minutes as Titans scored twice through driving mauls close to the line in “Plant’s Corner”. Callum Bustin and Gareth Denman were each on hand to dot down.

Hull Ionians are not third in the table for no reason and before the half hour mark they struck back through Lewis Minikin who knocked over a penalty, scored a try and then converted it to reduce his side’s arrears to 14-10.

However, undeterred Rotherham continued to show great energy and desire. This in turn led to a third try before the break when the ball was shipped on to Matt Challinor for him to clatter his way over. Hayes’ conversion ended the half with Roth 21-10 t the good.

An early Lewis Minikin penalty was soon surpassed as Titans secured one point with their fourth try. This came after I’s bundled a line out inside their 22, allowing Roth to poach and spread the ball quickly through the backs for Tomasi Tanumi to step back inside to score a fine try on debut.

Titans were now buoyant and look threatening every time they had possession and they didn’t have to wait too long before their next score.

On 53 minutes a quick-tap penalty from Connor Dever found prop forward Danny Rylance and he showed great determination to power over close to the sticks.

Ionians did register a second try on the hour mark through replacement forward Tyler Heelas, but within a minute Titans knocked any hopes of a late comeback on the head when Tomasi Tanumi scored his second in the corner following great work in the build-up from Lloyd Hayes.

Inside the final 10 minutes Rotherham added two further tries through Lloyd Hayes and fittingly Zak Poole on his 100th appearance for the club, before with the last play of the game Ionians got a consolation try through the talented Jack Townend.

All in all not too many from outside the Titans camp would have seen this result as possible, but inside the dressing room it was thought a corner had been turned and a win was definitely attainable against what is a very good Ionians side.

Titans will now get back to the training field and aim to improve further for when they take on top-of-the-league Sedgley Park on Saturday at Clifton Lane.

Speaking after the game Titans head coach, Gary Pearce, said:

“We’re obviously delighted with the result; when we played Fylde the other week we were really good and we were very unlucky not to beat them that day. And we know our lads have plenty of heart and spirit and that we have some good players here.

“We scored 8 tries and were pretty dominant; we bashed them and across the park we were really good. We brought Tomasi Tanumi in this week and I thought he made a nice impact. He communicates well and that helps a lot with some of the younger lads.

“Our forwards were very dominant; they caused so much carnage out there which was great to watch; but we should be doing that because they are good players.

“We are at home and the expectation is that we win games and we should be winning games; so hopefully from here with a little bit of a fire inside them we can hopefully carry that on into the rest of the season.

“This is all down to the players, they are the ones that have to come out and do the business and that’s what they have done and full credit to them.”

Referee: Nathan Howarth

Attendance: 250

Yellow Card: Payne (Titans), Pocklington (Ionians)

Titans: Tanumi (2T), Bustin (T), Denman (T), Challinor (T), Rylance (T), Poole (T), Hayes (T, 6C)

Hull Ionians: Heelas (T), Townend (T), Minikin (T, 2P, 2C)

Titans: 15 Sam Veall (Tucker 71), 14 Jack Taylor, 13 Tomasi Tanumi, 12 Callum Bustin, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue, 10 Lloyd Hayes (Dever 77), 9 Connor Dever (Boxhall 66), 1 Charlie Capps (Denman 48), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Richardson 75), 3 Gareth Denman (Rylance 30), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 6 Marcus Payne (Allan 75), 7 Rupert Kay, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).

Replacements: 16 Tom Richardson, 17 Danny Rylance, 18 Lewis Allan, 19 George Tucker, 20 Sam Boxhall.   

Hull Ionians: 15 Lewis Minikin, 14 Sam Wilson, 13 Cameron Burnhill, 12 Jack Townend, 11 Josh Britton (Celella 67), 10 Ben Smith, 9 Sam Pocklington, 1 Chris Morton, 2 Allan Hudson, 3 David Laverick (Westwood 33), 4 Joe Makin, 5 Alex Campbell (Heelas 51), 6 Callam Sanderson, 7 James Sanderson (Capt.) (Powell 67), 8 Declan Thompson.

Replacements: 16 Scott Westwood, 17 Lucas Powell, 18 Tyler Heelas, 19 Tom Bullough, 20 Alfredo Celella.

Titans 20 Wharfedale 27

Rotherham Titans were disappointingly beaten 27-20 by an energetic Wharfedale outfit on an overcast afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Titans did pick up the losing bonus point and scored three tries through Lloyd Hayes, Luckas Sableman-Blue and Aydan Godden, with Hayes also adding 5 points from the tee.

In truth Rotherham lost the game in the first half after an uninspiring performance saw them go in at the break trailing 13-5, after some indifferent moments on their part against a Wharfedale side that looked eager all afternoon.

Nevertheless, despite not having had much ball in the opening 15 minutes it was Rotherham who got on the board first.

A delightful cross-field kick from Connor Dever was perfectly weighted for Jack Taylor to collect on the right wing. He fed Sam Veall who made good ground before he slipped in Lloyd Hayes who showed tremendous strength to power over in the corner for an unconverted try.

Before the half hour mark however Wharfedale took a lead they would never relinquish with two penalties from fly half Tom Davidson.

Six minutes before the break Wharfedale scored their first try and from Titans point of view it was a disappointing one to concede.

Winger Oscar Canny took a quick-tap 10 metres from his own line and proceeded to gallop fifty metres down field before sending in flanker Joe Fawcett to score under the posts. Davidson tagged on the extras to send his side in at the break leading 13-5.

Rotherham improve and indeed won the second half and when Lloyd Hayes knocked over a penalty early on to reduce Titans arrears to 13-8, hopes were raised of a comeback.

However, just 5 minutes later and Wharfedale scored a second try; this too would have been a disappointing one to concede for Rotherham.

Scrum half Henry MacNab spotted a gap in the Roth defence just outside his own 22 and exploited this with a fifty-metre gallop downfield before interchanging passes with James Coulton. The pass back to him from Coulton looked forward, but MacNab didn’t hang around to find out and he raced in for a converted try.

Titans too showed they were up for the fight and bounced back quickly to score their second try through Luckas Sableman-Blue; he showed great power to get over the line following a good period of play from the Rotherham pack. Hayes nailed the extras to keep the game alive.

However, a Roth mistake soon afterwards resulted in Wharfedale’s third try.

Titans missed touch from a penalty which landed in-field 5 metres from the Wharfedale line. Credit to the Green Machine must be given, as following a number of phases they went the length of the field to allow scrum half MacNab to dot down for his second score. Davidson’s extras stretched his sides lead to 27-15.

Titans rallied late on and gave themselves some hope, when 5 minutes from time back rower Aydan Godden scored from the tail of a maul for an unconverted try.

Then Roth went in search of a score which would have levelled the game and given them two bonus points, but Wharfedale held out for a deserved win.

Speaking after the match Titans head coach, Gary Pearce, said:

“We were down to the bare bones and it was an opportunity for lads to step up.

“The problem we have is that with us having one team, our lads who don’t play regularly haven’t played in a long time whereas the lads who stepped in for Wharfedale play every week in their second team.

“We can’t make excuses and to be fair the scoreline flattered us a bit. We made too many errors.

“I’d say we’re too individual at the minute, not a team, and I think that’s been in evidence while I’ve been here really.

“We’re not going to change that overnight and now we move on to next week.”

Referee: Michael Harris

Attendance: 250

Yellow Card: Canny (Wharfedale)

Titans: Sableman-Blue (T), Godden (T), Hayes (T, C, P)

Wharfedale: MacNab (2T), Fawcett (T), Davidson (3C, 2P)

Titans: 15 Sam Veall (Parker 40), 14 Jack Taylor, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Luckas Sableman-Blue, 21 George Tucker (Dever 75), 10 Connor Dever (Ramrattan 65), 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps (Donkor 36) (Capps 63), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Richardson 63) (Bergmanas 78), 3 Danny Rylance, 4 Matt Challinor (Capt.), 5 Cade Cambier, 6 Marcus Payne, 24 Aydan Godden, 8 Rupert Kay.

Replacements: 16 Tom Richardson, 17 Alastair Donkor, 22 Ollie Parker, 19 Kai Ramrattan, 20 Fraser Jones.  

Wharfedale: 15 Louis Verity, 14 Owen Bullock, 13 James Coulton, 12 Josh Walters, 11 Oscar Canny, 10 Tom Davidson, 9 Henry MacNab, 1 Joe Altham, 2 Jack Hirst, 3 Sam Dickinson, 4 Elliott Stockton, 5 Simon Borrill, 6 Joe Fawcett, 7 Rhys Green, 8 Rob Baldwin (Capt.).  

Replacements: 16 James Meehan, 17 Jack Kitching, 18 Sam Smith, 19 Ryan Hodgson, 20 Josh Prell.

Fylde 30 Titans 23

Rotherham Titans put in a tremendous shift away at league leaders Fylde, before eventually coming up agonisingly short in a 30-23 defeat on a wet afternoon in the North West.

Titans crossed the whitewash twice through Charlie Capps and Callum Bustin, with Lloyd Hayes adding 13 points from the tee.

For Rotherham to be so disappointed at not getting what would have arguably been a deserved win, shows just how well they competed, particularly in the second half where most of the action took place in the Fylde half.

Additionally, had Titans not made a couple of late errors, alongside some unfortunate on-field calls which went against them, the South Yorkshire side could well have been celebrating at the end.

Equally and to be fair to Fylde, their first half attacking display coupled with their second half resilience in defence could also be argued they too deserved the spoils.

The game itself was played for large parts in a depressing drizzle, but the hosts brightened up the afternoon with at times some scintillating rugby from their backline; whilst Roth too played some decent rugby and once again showed their prowess up front.

Indeed it was Roth who scored first through a Lloyd Hayes penalty, before Fylde centre Sam Stott barged his way over for the first try, showing great strength on route. Greg Smith converted.

Roth narrowed the gap when Hayes added a second penalty soon after, but on 18 minutes Fylde full back Jordan Dorrington finished off a really nice backs move to dot down for an unconverted try.

Undeterred, Roth remained calm in their approach and worked the ball downfield, before loosehead prop Charlie Capps picked up from the base and dotted down to finish off an excellent period from the Rotherham pack. Lloyd Hayes tagged on the extras to give Roth a 13-12 lead.

Smith and Hayes then traded penalties before on the stroke of half time Titans Jack Taylor was yellow carded for being offside.

In the moments that followed Roth switched-off for a moment and Fylde took a quick-tap and fed the ball to Jordan Dorrington who darted over in the corner. Smith missed the conversion and the sides went in for the oranges with Fylde holding a 20-16 lead.

Misfortune for Rotherham led to the next score which came for Fylde on 54 minutes.

Firstly from a ruck the ball was spat out and fell kindly for the hosts who chipped on downfield. The ball then bounced awkwardly as Roth tried to gather; from there Fylde gathered and Connor Wilkinson went over for a converted try.

From this point on in the game it was pretty much all Rotherham and they enjoyed lots of territory and possession.

Just before the hour mark a powerful driving maul from Roth clattered the hosts backwards at pace for what appeared to be a nice try for the forwards. Unfortunately for them the referee deemed a technical infringement had occurred and the try wasn’t awarded.

Roth then set-up another opportunity with a 5-metre line out, but the throw was adjudged to not have been straight.

Finally Roth did get over for a try when another powerful driving maul went over from around 10 metres; Callum Bustin broke off just before the line to score. Hayes converted nicely to reduce the arrears to 27-23.

Close to the final whistle Smith added his second penalty for the hosts; however, as Roth tried to snatch a late draw they turned over possession inside the Fylde 22 and the ball was hurriedly kicked-off the field to end a pulsating contest.

Speaking after the game Titans head coach, Gary Pearce said:

“We can’t fault the lads for effort, they were absolutely tremendous and as we know it’s always a difficult place to come and play.

“I thought in the second half we were completely all over them and for whatever reason we seemed to fall foul on a few decisions.

“It was puzzling at times because we were so dominant in certain areas, but I am so proud of the lads because they have absolutely given everything and that’s all we can ask.

“Yes we can be better, we lost two or three line outs from 5 metres and that didn’t help, but at the end of the day the boys were outstanding.

“We are so frustrated though, we should have at least drawn the game and maybe even won it.

“At the end they took Gaz Denman off the ball under the sticks and it’s difficult to understand how no one sees that and that’s another opportunity to score that was denied us.

“However, we can take some positives and the lads deserve a lot of credit. Let’s face it, we’ve come to a side that’s top of the league and hoping to go into National 1 and we’ve come here and outplayed them.”

Referee: Llyr Ap Geraint-Roberts

Attendance: 525

Yellow Card: Taylor (Titans)

Titans: Capps (T), Bustin (T), Hayes (3P, 2C)

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

Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Jack Taylor (Tucker 70), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Callum Bustin, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue, 10 Connor Dever, 9 Sam Boxhall (Ramrattan 70), 1 Charlie Capps (Denman 48), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Gareth Denman (Rylance 28) (Capps 66), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Lewis Allan (Cambier 72), 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 7 Marcus Payne, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).  

Replacements: 16 Tom Richardson, 17 Danny Rylance, 18 Cade Cambier, 19 Kai Ramrattan, 20 George Tucker.

Fylde: 15 Jordan Dorrington, 14 Adam Lanigan, 13 Connor Wilkinson, 12 Sam Stott, 11 Tom Grimes (Rawlings 40), 10 Greg Smith, 9 Cole Potts, 1 Zach Barrow (Bell 50), 2 Ben Gregory (Capt.), 3 Corey Bowker (Higgins 66), 4 Olli Parkinson, 5 Matt Garrod (Corrie 33), 6 Toby Harrison (Garrod 72), 7 Henry Higginson, 8 David Fairbrother.

Replacements: 16 Patreece Bell, 17 Joe Higgins, 18 Harlan Corrie, 19 Ben Turner, 20 Scott Rawlings.

Tynedale 24 Titans 10

Rotherham Titans suffered a disappointing 24-10 defeat to Tynedale on a bitterly cold and blustery afternoon at Station Road.

The hosts played the conditions much the better and arguably won the game in the first half, when playing into a fierce wind they went in at half time trailing by just 3 points.

Titans only try of the game came from scrum half Sam Boxhall, with Lloyd Hayes adding 5 points from the tee.

The hosts took the lead on 14 minutes when a miss tackle in midfield resulted in Tynedale centre Will Miller dotting down under the sticks for fly half Jake Rodgers to convert.

Roth quickly put that disappointment behind them when two minutes later Lloyd Hayes broke through from 25 metres before popping a nice inside pass to Sam Boxhall to dive over close to the posts. Hayes converted to level matters.

With the conditions as they were and with a fierce wind at their backs, it was important Roth built a score to defend for the second half.

Unfortunately for them and despite making a number of breaks they were only able to add a solitary Lloyd Hayes penalty at the end of the half.

As expected, the second period saw the hosts make full use of the conditions as they pinned Roth back inside their own half for most of it and despite some resilient defending, the pressure inevitably told when lock forward Chris Wearmouth dove over from a pick-and-go for a converted try.

Ten minutes from time a Jake Rodgers penalty crucially gave Tynedale a 7 point lead which looked certain to at least guarantee them a draw.

To their credit Rotherham never stopped trying to save the game and they engineered multiple phases at the end as they tried to do so.

Unfortunately for them in the final play of the match a fumbled ball was hacked on from Jake Rodgers in his own half, before he won the foot race to score under the posts and then dust himself down to convert his try to give Tynedale a deserved win.

Speaking after the game Titans head coach, Gary Pearce, said:

“It was a game of two halves with the strong wind; we didn’t use it well and we probably tried to overplay in the first half. We didn’t capitalise on our breaks; we made 5 or 6 clean breaks but we didn’t end up with points from them.

“They played the conditions better than we did and they were a bit more patient than we were; but the lads played with bags of effort and commitment.

“Right up until the death it was a one score game before on the whistle they get the breakaway try under the posts and all credit to them for that.

“But we are only at the beginning of the journey and we have to be positive; we have to roll up our sleeves and work harder and to be a bit smarter and that’s hopefully what we’ll be.”

Referee: Michael Harris

Attendance: 325

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Boxhall (T), Hayes (C, P)

Tynedale: Miller (T), Wearmouth (T), Rodgers (T, 3C, P)

Titans: 15 Jack Taylor (Bustin 77), 14 Jack Hedley (Ollivent 40), 13 Sam Veall, 12 Lloyd Hayes, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue, 10 Connor Dever, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps (Denman 59), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Gareth Denman (Rylance 35) (Capps 71), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Lewis Allan (Payne 59), 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 7 Callum Bustin (Cambier 71), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).  

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Danny Rylance, 18 Cade Cambier, 19 Marcus Payne, 20 Corben Ollivent

Tynedale: 15 Rob Parker, 14 Seamus Hutton (Cooke 71), 13 Joe Lilley, 12 Will Miller, 11 Alex Dryden, 10 Jake Rodgers, 9 James Blackett, 1 Angus White (Batey 54) (White67), 2 Louis Frankland (Johnston 77), 3 Oscar Caudle, 4 Chris Wearmouth (Capt.), 5 Graeme Dunn (Nankivell 44), 6 Ben Bell, 7 Jonny Dodd, 8 Ben Blackburn (Cousin 40).  

Replacements: 16 Ralph Johnston, 17 David Batey, 18 Jonny Cousin, 19 Ross Cooke, 20 Will Nankivell.

Blaydon 19 Titans 47

Rotherham Titans got back to winning ways with a convincing 47-19 victory over an energetic Blaydon side on a bright afternoon at Crow Trees.

The South Yorkshire outfit ran in 7 tries to 3 with Jack Hedley scoring a hat trick, Sam Boxhall bagging a brace and one each for Jack Taylor and Callum Bustin. Lloyd Hayes added 12 points from the tee with 6 successful conversions.

The scoreline however masks the fact Blaydon were a very competitive outfit that made Rotherham work hard for everything they got.

Indeed after just 11 minutes Titans trailed 12-0 following two nice tries from Blaydon’s scrum half John Clarkson, who also converted his first dot down.

At this point the game had a Déjà vu feel to it, as in the corresponding fixture last term Titans trailed 17-0 after 17 minutes.

However, Rotherham began to settle into the game and they started to establish some sort of control in proceedings.

This in turn led to their first try on 25 minutes when following a period of forward dominance the ball arrived with Lloyd Hayes who offloaded to Connor Dever for him to quickly send in winger Jack Hedley in the corner.

Five minutes later and Hedley had his second score after a terrific break from Zak Poole took play inside the 22; from there the ball came out to Corban Ollivent who found Dever in the backfield, he threw a glorious miss-pass to Hedley who cut back inside to touch down.

As half time approached Roth added a third score when a lovely cross-field kick from Sam Veall was collected by Jack Taylor, from out wide on the left wing he proceeded to glide through for a nice try. Hayes narrowly missed his only conversion of the game and the sides went in with Roth 19-12 to the good.

Within 3 minutes of the restart Titans secured the bonus point.

Matt Challinor started things off with a powerful break in midfield before finding Sam Boxhall; he in turn fed Sam Veall who made a skilful offload as he was going to ground under pressure to Jack Hedley; the speedy winger wasted no time in racing through for his hat-trick.

However, if Roth had thought Blaydon were about to roll over and allow them to dictate, they would have been mistaken, as just 3 minutes later the home side had their third score when replacement back, Zac Thompson charged through close to the posts.

Despite Blaydon’s refusal to give up two tries from Roth’s scrum half Sam Boxhall effectively wrapped up the contest.

His first came after good work from Corban Ollivent down the right hand side, whilst his second was a more individual effort that saw him intercept a pass on his own line, before racing 95 metres downfield to dot down.

Then just before the end of what had been a good display of rugby from both teams, Titans Callum Bustin put the icing on the cake when he ran in following a dominant scrum from the visitors.

Speaking after the game, Titans forwards coach, Matt Smith, said:

“We’ve just had a month away from rugby and our last game against Preston was very disappointing, but today was far better. To get five points away from home on the back of a long trip is very pleasing and it’s just nice to get that winning feeling again.

“I thought the lads did some really good stuff today and to put 47 points on a team means you have to do a lot of things right.

“We are building, we are starting something new and we are trying to get that accountability in there because that was a big thing that was missing and I’m really happy for the boys.

“I was delighted with how the scrum went and that allowed us to get a foothold in the game and obviously control the territory.

“I thought when we did open up and when we got into our attack that we played some good stuff and with Connor Dever coming in at 10 that probably helped, as that freed us up a bit and allowed us to attack them and as a result we scored some great tries.”

Referee: Dave Charlton

Attendance: 225

Yellow Card: Bailey (Tynedale)

Titans: Hedley (3T), Boxhall (2T), Taylor (T), Bustin (T), Hayes (6C)

Blaydon: Clarkson (2T, C), Thompson (T, C)

Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Jack Hedley, 13 Jack Taylor, 12 Lloyd Hayes, 11 Luckas Sableman-Blue (Ollivent 18) (Sableman-Blue 69), 10 Connor Dever, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Charlie Capps (Denman 61), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Newborn 45) (Bergmanas 69), 3 Gareth Denman (Rylance 31), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Lewis Allan (Bustin 72), 6 Theo Nwosu-Hope (Cambier 72), 7 Rupert Kay, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).  

Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Danny Rylance, 18 Callum Bustin, 19 Cade Cambier, 20 Corben Ollivent.

Blaydon: 15 Nathan Bailey, 14 Jonny Ashman, 13 James Cooney, 12 Ewan Greenlaw, 11 Jack Appleton (Thompson 29), 10 Dan Marshall (Capt.), 9 John Clarkson (Douglas 45), 1 Ralph Appleby, 2 Charlie Smith (Sanderson 67), 3 Alex Dodds (Siddle 50), 4 Darren Barry, 5 Austin Phillips, 6 Liam Wright, 7 Cameron Roy (Turnbull 65), 8 Ethan Hall-Lyon (Roy 72).

Replacements: 16 Matt Siddle, 17 Dan Sanderson, 18 Adam Turnbull, 19 Ben Douglas, 20 Zac Thompson.

Preston Grasshoppers 21 Titans 16

Rotherham Titans were beaten 21-16 by Preston Grasshoppers on a bitterly cold afternoon at Lightfoot Green Lane.

Each team scored 2 tries with Titans dot downs coming from Marcus Payne and Callum Bustin.

Rotherham got off to a horrible start which saw them trail 15-0 inside 11 minutes. The gap would prove too big to overcome despite great effort from the South Yorkshire outfit.

Following Hoppers fly half Will Hunt knocking over a penalty on 5 minutes, the home side quickly extended their lead when Hunt put in a marvellous cross-field kick which was collected by winger Tyler Spence to run in from close range.

Two minutes later and Hunt was in the thick of it again when he ran back a Titans clearance kick, before finding centre Jacob Browne who in turn sent in Tyler Spence for his second try. Hunt added the extras to make it 15-0.

Rotherham found it difficult to get and then maintain possession for any length of time, but they eventually did and the game became a more even affair.

Corban Ollivent got Titans off the mark on 18 minutes with a penalty and from there Roth began to compete well; their scrum and line out performed well all afternoon.

Unfortunately for them however at crucial times their decision making and skills let them down, although to be fair it wasn’t easy for either side in the bitterly cold conditions with a liberal sprinkling of snow underfoot.

Hunt was having a good game as he pulled the strings for the home side and before the half hour he added to his tally with a nicely taken drop goal from just inside the 22.

Roth worked hard to try and reduce their arrears before the break but the home side managed to keep them at out.

Titans started the second period with good energy and Ollivent nibbled into the deficit on 46 minutes with a 3-pointer from in front of the sticks.

Just 8 minutes later and Roth’s hopes of a comeback took a boost, when from a five metre scrum the ball broke loose and flanker Marcus Payne was on hand to dot down for an unconverted try.

Back came the home side though and on the hour mark Edward Keohane knocked over a penalty after Hunt had left the field.

Roth’s pack had performed well all game and on 64 minutes they were rewarded; from a line out close to the line they powered over with Callum Bustin dotting down for an unconverted try.

With 15 minutes remaining there was plenty of time for Rotherham to kick-on and take the win. Unfortunately for them however they never really got into the right areas and Hoppers saw the game out without too many nervy moments and when the full time whistle went the Preston lads celebrated with great enthusiasm.

Speaking after the game a disappointed forwards coach, Matt Smith, said:

“We seem to find new ways of shooting ourselves in the foot; today we just made bad decisions and some of our skills were just not good enough for this level and we were made to pay.

“We constantly put pressure on them throughout, but then we’d make an error and release that pressure and that’s disappointing because there’s lots of effort there.

“I can see the players trying hard, but what we’ve got to do is make better decisions and execute our skills to a higher level than where they are at the moment.

“We all have to take a look back at this game and have an honest chat with ourselves about how and where we can improve, because at the moment we are performing below par. We know we have a good group of lads; it’s just about how we improve going forwards as a group.

“But as I’ve said, the one thing that can’t be questioned is the lad’s effort; it’s plain to see they are giving it everything, what we’ve got to do is put that effort into better quality and better decision making. If we can do that then we can start making progress going forwards.”

Referee: James O’Brien

Attendance: 247

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Payne (T), Bustin (T), Ollivent (2P)

Preston Grasshoppers: Spence (2T), Hunt (1P, 1C, 1D/G), Keohane (1P)

Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Fraser Jones, 13 Jack Taylor, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Ollie Parker, 10 Corben Ollivent, 9 Sam Boxhall (Ramrattan 57), 1 Charlie Capps (Rylance 32) (Capps 60), 2 Harry Newborn (Inman 75), 3 Gareth Denman (Donkor 40) (Denman 60), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Theo Nwosu-Hope (Cambier 77), 6 Callum Bustin, 7 Marcus Payne, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).  

Replacements: 16 Louis Inman, 17 Danny Rylance, 18 Alastair Donkor, 28 Cade Cambier, 20 Kai Ramrattan.

Preston Grasshoppers: 15 Ben Pearson, 14 Will Clapham, 13 Jacob Browne, 12 Edward Keohane, 11 Tyler Spence, 10 Will Hunt (Swarbrick 57), 9 Harry Moulding (Capt.) (Squirrell 75), 1 Oga Mabaya (Orry 66), 2 Chris Taylor, 3 Olli Trippier, 4 Will Riley (Jones 75), 5 Ally Murray, 6 Ben Dorrington (Thompson 77), 7 Josh Longson, 8 Scott Richardson.

Replacements: 16 Harry Thompson, 17 George Orry, 18 Josh Jones, 19 Jake Squirrell, 20 Harry Swarbrick.  

Titans 26 Chester 21

Rotherham Titans were made to graft hard for their 26-21 victory over a very resilient Chester side on a cool afternoon at Clifton Lane.

Both sides scored 2 tries apiece, with Roth’s two coming from prop Danny Rylance and winger Ollie Parker on debut. Lloyd Hayes added 16 points from the tee to give the South Yorkshire side a deserved and much-needed win.

On paper going into the game it looked like the teams were evenly matched and a close game was on the cards; and that’s just how it turned out, with the result not settled until referee Dave Charlton blew his final whistle.

Roth started brightly and got the scoreboard moving on 4 minutes when Lloyd Hayes slotted over a 3-pointer.

However, Chester soon bounced back on 7 minutes and following a powerful drive down the right hand side the ball was spread quickly across the field, before centre James Hampson sent in prop forward Tom Furnival in the left hand corner. Liam Reeve nailed a superb conversion from the touchline.

Chester continued to have the better of things as their pack at this stage matched the Titans and their backs looked lively and dangerous when in possession; and when Liam Reeve extended their advantage on 22 minutes with a penalty, it was no more than the visitors deserved.

Rotherham however showed lots of heart and commitment and just before the half hour mark they were rewarded for their endeavours when prop Danny Rylance crashed over from the tail of a maul. Hayes impressed with his conversion from out wide to level the scores at 10 apiece.

Rotherham were now in the ascendancy and enjoying passages of play which could have resulted in further tries as they got close to the line on several occasions. However, Chester defended manfully and the teams went in at the break all square.

This time it was Chester who started the half brighter and inside 10 minutes Liam Reeve tagged over two further penalties to make it 16-10 to the visitors.

Lloyd Hayes narrowed the deficit shortly after with his own 3-pointer before Roth took the lead for the first time since the 7th minute when on debut, winger Ollie Parker raced down the left wing to score in the corner, following a nice short pass from Jack Taylor which drew the defender.

With just over 10 minutes remaining Hayes extended Roth’s advantage to 7 points with a penalty, but again Chester bounced back when they scored a second try through George Baxter, following a series of pick and goes on the Titans line. Surprisingly Reeve missed the extras to leave his side trailing by 2 points.

Five minutes from time Hayes slotted his fourth penalty of the match and Rotherham managed the game out well to see them secure an important win.

Speaking afterwards on the pitch forwards coach Matt Smith said:

“The most important thing for us today on the back of a couple of losses was simply to get the win. Everyone knows nothing beats getting the win.

“We had to work hard for it, we had a couple of opportunities that went begging, but that can happen when a team is struggling with confidence. That win will help to give the lads belief and hopefully going forward we can build on that.

“You will always give away some penalties in a game, but I don’t think we had too many silly ones and I thought our discipline was a lot better too.

“Once again it’s a work in progress and we saw lots of good things out there from the lads and that’s what we’re going to focus on and build on.

“We know we beat a good team in Chester, but as I’ve said before, I really don’t think there’s a bad team in the league and on any given day anyone can beat anyone.

“It was nice to be at home in front of our own supporters, who follow us all over the country, to give them the win, because it’s as big for them as it is for the squad.”

Referee: Dave Charlton

Attendance: 250

Yellow Card: None

Titans: Rylance (T), Parker (T), Hayes (4P, 2C)

Chester: Furnival (T), Baxter (T), Reeve (3P, 1C)

Titans: 15 Sam Veall, 14 Fraser Jones, 13 Jack Taylor (Ollivent 59), 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Ollie Parker, 10 Lloyd Hayes, 9 Kai Ramrattan (Boxhall 40), 1 Charlie Capps (Denman 30) (Capps 52), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Danny Rylance, 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Lewis Allan, 6 Marcus Payne (Inman 70), 7 Rupert Kay (Nwosu-Hope 46), 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).  

Replacements: 16 Louis Inman, 17 Gareth Denman, 18 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 19 Corben Ollivent, 20 Sam Boxhall.

Chester: 15 Sean Green, 14 Iwan Phillips, 13 James Hampson, 12 Jorge Lewtas, 11 Harrison Vare, 10 Liam Reeve, 9 Tom Holloway (Wynn 50), 1 Josh Woods (Croft 60), 2 Scott Robson (Williams 60), 3 Tom Furnival, 4 Mike Byrne (Baxter 59), 5 Jonny Charmley, 6 Harry Wilkinson (Capt.), 7 Kyle Joseph, 8 Luke Cox.

Replacements: 18 Wade Williams, 17 Alick Croft, 20 George Baxter, 21 Sean Callander, 22 Oliver Wynn.