Rotherham Titans dramatically snatched victory in the 8th minute of injury time, as fly half Morgan Bunting kept his nerve to slot over a penalty kick to seal a 20-19 win over Canterbury, on a cold afternoon at Clifton Lane.
Titans’ points came way of two tries from number 8 Anthony Maka and one from full back Sam Allan; whilst Morgan Bunting added 5 points from the tee.
The victory was a crucial one for the South Yorkshire side as they reduced their arrears in the relegation zone from 12 to 8 points at the half way point of the season.
Titans’ victory will have boosted confidence within the ranks and they will now travel to Sale FC this weekend looking to build on their success as they attempt to move closer to safety in National 1.
The game itself was an evenly balanced affair with both sides enjoying periods of dominance; although it took until the end of the first quarter for the scoreboard to click into life.
When it did however it was in Canterbury’s favour as the visitor’s second rower Alex Thompson used his strength and power to barge his way over the line following a series of pick and goes.
Titans soon responded to level matters though, as their own powerhouse Anthony Maka dotted down from the tail of a maul following a powerful drive from the pack.
Buoyed by this Rotherham found another level and looked sharp and threatening with ball in hand; their reward for their speed of play came just after the half hour mark when the ball was spread right for Sam Allan to join the line and dive over for Titans second try.
Canterbury had lots of possession towards the end of the half, but Titans line speed and determination in defence meant they would go in at the break 12-7 to the good.
Rotherham extended their advantage to 17-7 early in the second half when from a line out close to the line Anthony Maka peeled off the back of the drive to bulldoze his way over for his second try and Titans third.
Shortly after Titans almost had the bonus point try when Connor Field broke from inside his own half and made good ground before finding Connor Dever.
The scrum half chipped over the top of the onrushing defence, but disappointingly for Rotherham the ball just ran out of play before full back Sam Allan could touch it down,
Incredibly however, within 10 minutes of this Canterbury crossed the line twice to score through half back Dan Smart and a second try for Alex Thompson to give the visitors a surprising 19-17 edge.
Much of the final quarter was controlled by Canterbury, with Rotherham having to work their socks off to keep them out – but this they did.
As the game went deep into injury time and with the visitors pressing on the edge of Titans 22, Kieran Frost spotted the ball loose at the back of the ruck.
The tall second rower pounced quickly to collect and make his way downfield. The ensuing phases of play resulted in Rotherham being awarded a penalty in front of the sticks.
With the final kick of the match Morgan Bunting calmly slotted over to give his side a much needed victory.
Commenting post-game a relieved Martin Jenkinson explained, “Games turn on the bounce of the ball and seasons can turn on small margins and small issues, but today was all about the result first and foremost.
“The run we’ve been on hasn’t been great and confidence has been low, but all that really mattered today was to get the win and we didn’t care how we got it.
“When you are losing week on week and you’ve not got enough players to do what you want to do in training it’s hard.
“We’ve got that win now and we’ve crossed the line; now we’ve got to use the win as a springboard to get back up that table.
“They say losing is habitual but winning is habitual as well and hopefully we can now go on a run.
“Today, mercifully, at the end we got the kick to get the win. Up until the mid-point in the second half we were the better team and then it went from us.
“The TMO would say their first try was dropped over the line. Their second try was soft; we were setting up the ruck and they realised the ball was on the line and they scored.
“With those soft tries we could have given the game away; fortunately we clawed back into it and got the win.”
Referee: Tim Allatt
Attendance: 512
Yellow Card: Thompson (Canterbury), Bunting (Titans)
Titans: Maka (2T), Allan (T), Bunting (C, P)
Canterbury: Thompson (2T), Smart (T), Best (2C)
Titans: 15 Sam Allan (Field 78), 14 Dan Leake, 13 Connor Field (Cooke 72), 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Ben Robbins, 10 Morgan Bunting, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Toby Williams, 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Reece Ward (Nearchou 68), 4 Dan Preston-Routledge, 5 Will Hughes (Frost 40), 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Keifer Laxton (North 63), 8 Anthony Maka.
Replacements: 16 Zac Nearchou, 17 Will Dennis, 18 Kieran Frost, 19 Alfie North, 20 Jamie Cooke.
Canterbury: 15 Will Waddington, 14 Ricky Mackintosh (Capt.) (Corcoran 70), 13 Sam Sterling, 12 Tom Best, 11 Jonathan Murray, 10 Charlie Kingsman, 9 Dan Smart, 1 Jamie Dever, 2 Gene Syminton (King 35), 3 Alex Wake-Smith (Young 70), 4 Royce Cadman, 5 Alex Thompson, 6 Jamie Stephens, 7 Jack Rouse, 8 Tyler Oliver.
Replacements: 16 Dwayne Corcoran, 17 Tristan King, 18 Will Young, 19 Tom Williams, 20 Matt Corker.
