Rotherham Titans managed to secure what could be a crucial bonus point for scoring four tries in their 42-24 defeat to high-flyers Chinnor at a windswept Clifton Lane.
In what turned out to be a barmy game of rugby, Titans new boy Tom Benjamin, in on loan from Nottingham, bagged a brace of tries, with scrum half Connor Dever and winger Ben Robbins also crossing the whitewash; Sam Hollingsworth added four points from the tee.
Winning the coin toss and electing to play with the high winds in the first half was always likely to prove critical, as a half time lead was virtually guaranteed.
So when Chinnor ‘took the wind’ in the first half and Titans suffered three yellow cards in the opening 40 minutes, there was little surprise to see the South Yorkshire go in at the break trailing 35-5.
The only bight moment for Rotherham in that first period came on the half hour mark when full back Tom Benjamin raced in down the right hand side to finish off nicely, after Tom Bullough made a break to send him in from 40 metres. Sam Hollingsworth’s effort from the tee in the difficult conditions missed its target.
The second half however would have given Rotherham some crumbs of comfort and not least because they won the half 19-7 and scored 3 further tries to secure a vital bonus point, but mainly because of the spirit and character they displayed which will give all at Clifton Lane hope that the great escape is still possible with 9 games remaining.
In essence Rotherham pretty much bossed the majority of the second half, but it took then until just before the hour mark until they added to their tally, but when they did, they scored 2 very nice tries in the space of three minutes.
First up was scrum half Connor Dever who collected from the base of a ruck and then looked to dummy, before racing through a gap to dot down from inside the 22. Then Dever was involved again shortly after, as he collected a loose ball and fed it out wide for winger Ben Robbins to race in to score.
The momentum was now truly with the home side and hopes of a miraculous comeback were just beginning to enter the consciousness, as what had been 35-5 was now 35-17.
However, within five minutes those hopes were dashed when replacement back rower Matt Marley barged over for Chinnor to wrap up the game.
Nonetheless Rotherham continued to battle forward and show tremendous resilience and character. This they were rewarded for at the death when Sam Hollingsworth made a half break before off-loading to Tom Benjamin on his shoulder, for the debutant to run in and score under the sticks and secure a well-deserved try bonus point for the home side.
Commenting afterwards Titans’ Martin Jenkinson said, “It’s a difficult one as we have to be careful in what we say; however, things happen in games and the opening sequence in the first 10 minutes was rugby as we don’t recognise it and lots of people have to take responsibility for that.
“The first half was the first half; what we have to take from the game is how our boys reacted at half time. At the break we could have completely capitulated and we could have completely downed tools, but we didn’t.
“We came out and we won the second half and we started to get some decisions and at the end to get a point against a top-end side could be crucial in saving us at the end of the season.
“In the huddle just now we have said to the boys that we need to take ownership of the first 40 minutes and not to look elsewhere to lay the blame; and we do take ownership of it.
“We have to take the positives from the game and we must stay positive in our approach and the second 40 minutes gave us plenty of reasons to do so.”
Referee: Harry Walbaum
Attendance: 464
Yellow Card: Benjamin (Titans), Preston-Routledge (Titans), Wilson (Titans)
Titans: Benjamin (2T), Dever (T), Robbins (T), Hollingsworth (2C)
Chinnor: Penalty Try, Worrall (2T), Selway (T), Goss (T), Marley (T), May (5C)
Titans: 15 Tom Benjamin, 14 Ben Robbins, 13 Jamie Cooke, 12 Tom Bullough, 11 Dan Leake (Dunne 46), 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 Connor Dever, 1 Harry Whitfield (Newborn 49), 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Will Dennis (Stout 60), 4 Dan Preston-Routledge (Ward 60), 5 Kieran Frost, 6 Lewis Wilson, 7 Zak Poole (Capt.), 8 Ben Waddington.
Replacements: 16 Harry Newborn, 17 Rikki Stout, 18 Elliott Ward, 19 Sam Boxhall, 20 Harry Dunne.
Chinnor: 15 Will Harries, 14 Kieran Goss, 13 Sam Yawayawa, 12 Jason Worrall (Capt.), 11 Josh Hodson (Watson 16) (Kirwan 65), 10 Laurence May, 9 Ed Hoadley (Watson71), 1 Josh Pieters (Fidler 40), 2 Nick Selway, 3 Jo Rees (McNulty 37), 4 Jack Ramshaw (Thomas 53), 5 Joe Dancer, 6 James Tyas, 7 Carl Kirwan (Marley 58), 8 Willie Ryan.
Replacements: 16 Tom Fidler, 17 Josh McNulty, 18 Ben Thomas, 19 Matt Marley, 20 Callum Watson.
