Rotherham Titans ran out 28-13 winners against top-of-the-table Fylde in atrocious wet and windy conditions at Clifton Lane.
The win leaves Rotherham still unbeaten after 5 games, after two tries from back rower Callum Bustin and one from tighthead prop Rikki Stout proved to be the crucial scores against a very dangerous outfit from the North West.
The first half saw Rotherham enjoy the majority of territory and possession. However, following a 2nd minute successful penalty from Jonny West, the South Yorkshire side were unable to convert that pressure into further points.
Indeed, credit has to be given to Fylde for their resilience in defence, after they manfully repelled the Titans on several occasions close to their own line. Their willingness to lay their bodies on the line was commendable and on 20 minutes, although against the run of play, they scored an outstanding try.
Full back Tom Carleton collected a clearance kick inside his own 22 and displayed smart footwork and a turn of foot to evade the several defenders as he took the ball deep inside Titans half. Two quick passes later and winger Henry Hadfield glided in to dot down under the sticks. Greg Smith had the formality of tagging on the extras to give his side a 7-3 lead.
Although disappointed to concede such a long-range try, Rotherham continued to force the game with their powerful play, both in the tight and in the loose. This in turn led to another penalty shortly before the break which West nailed to send Roth in at the break trailing by a solitary point.
Despite the second period being predominantly controlled by Roth, it was Fylde who scored next on 47 minutes when Smith extended his side’s advantage to 10-6 with a penalty kick.
Just four minutes later however Titans regained a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, when from a catch and drive close to the line, number 8 Callum Bustin dotted down after a terrific drive from the pack. West impressed from out wide with his conversion to make it 16-10.
With just over 10 minutes to go Smith put over a long-range penalty against the wind to reduce his side’s arrears to 16-13 and to potentially set up a nervy finish to the game.
However, five minutes later the game was effectively sealed when tighthead prop Rikki Stout touched down following another powerful drive from the home pack.
With the final play of the game in injury time, Callum Bustin scored an outstanding individual try when he collected from over 25 metres out to crash his way through the Fylde defence to put the icing on the top of a fine performance in difficult conditions. Jonny West conversion meant Rotherham replaced Fylde at the top-of-the-table after 5 games.
Speaking on the pitch afterwards Steve Salvin said:
“It was an immensely satisfying victory; to win 28-13 on a pretty grim day weather wise was a good outcome. The big thing for us to take away is to see 20 lads put that amount of effort into the game; that was just outstanding. I am so proud of them and I’ve just told them to go and enjoy it because they fully deserve it.
“The positive thing is, and I don’t think anyone in the ground today would disagree, we can still get better. But the thing I will give the lads credit for is effort and I would give them 10 out of 10 for that.
“This game away from home on a dry day against Fylde is a different game. Their game is expansive and high tempo, so today’s conditions wouldn’t have really suited them; but we still had to go out there and do a job against a side that came here full of confidence having put 80 points on a side last week.
“We felt in the first half we ground them down a little bit and then the dam sort of broke in the final 20 minutes and we were able to get a couple of tries and as a group we are delighted to get the win.”
Referee: Owen Taylor
Attendance: 517
Yellow Card: Tucker (Titans)
Titans: Bustin (2T), Stout (T), West (2C, 3P)
Fylde: Hadfield (T), Smith (1C, 2P)
Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 George Tucker (Lewis 63), 13 Mat Clark, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Jonny West, 9 Sam Pocklington, 1 Charlie Capps (Pleasants 60), 2 Harry Newborn (Entressengle 78), 3 Colin Quigley (Stout 33), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Harry Williams (Nwosu-Hope 47), 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 23 Francis Entressengle, 17 Alex Pleasants, 18 Rikki Stout, 19 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 20 Tom Lewis.
Fylde: 15 Tom Carleton, 14 Henry Hadfield (Jordan 75), 13 Tom Forster, 12 Scott Rawlings, 11 Tom Grimes, 10 Greg Smith, 9 Adam Lanigan, 1 Zack Barrow, 16 Ben Gregory (Capt.), 3 Matt Ashcroft (Bowker 36) (Ashcroft 75), 4 Olli Parkinson, 5 Matt Garrod (Bentley 62), 6 Marcus Blake, 7 Phill Mills, 8 Harlan Corrie.
Replacements: 17 Sam Kyle-Clay, 18 Corey Bowker, 19 Tane Bentley, 2 Ben O’Ryan, 20 Scott Jordan.
Photo courtesy of Steve Mettam