Rotherham Titans we’re made to graft hard for their 26-10 win over a tenacious and resilient Harrogate outfit on a dark and wet afternoon at Rudding Lane.
Tries from Matt Minogue, Harry Newborn, Tom Lewis and in the eighth minute of injury time, Callum Bustin, ensured Roth returned home with a full allocation of points.
Following a prolific week of wet weather in North Yorkshire, the pitch was very much on the heavy side and both teams found it difficult to play much flowing rugby.
Nevertheless Rotherham settled into their task and looked threatening from the off. Unfortunately for them however a steady stream of errors prevented them from finishing off at critical moments.
Indeed it was the home side that kick-started the scoreboard on 9 minutes when scrum half Kit Keith knocked over a 3-pointer following an increasing number of penalties conceded by the Titans.
As the half hour mark approached and still trailing you could feel the frustration levels rising in the Titans camp.
However, the tension was somewhat lifted on 27 minutes when Matt Minogue was on hand to capitalise on a Harrogate error on the edge of their own 22. Minogue hacked on from a missed pass and charged through to dot down under the sticks; he then dusted himself down to knock over the extras.
Just before the break Roth doubled their tally when hooker Harry Newborn dotted down near the corner following a powerful drive from a line out. Minogue impressed with his conversion from out wide to send his side in at the break with a 14-3 lead.
Celebrating his birthday by scoring Titans third try was winger Tom Lewis.
Following some impressive work by the Roth pack play was taken deep inside the home 22, before scrum half Sam Boxhall collected and threw a long miss-pass to Lloyd Hayes who in turn drew the last defender before popping Lewis in for his try. Minogue narrowly missed the extras.
To their credit Harrogate never stopped in their efforts and on more than one occasion they caused Rotherham problems. Their work in particular at scrum time was impressive and they challenged Roth in that area like no other team this season.
Indeed the home side were rewarded for their endeavours on 53 minutes when hooker Steve Maycock scored following good work from his pack. Keith added the extras to reduce his side’s arrears to 19-10.
As the game went deep into injury time and with Harrogate closing in on the Titans line, not only did it look like Roth wouldn’t be getting a bonus point try, but if the hosts went over there was probably just enough time remaining to restart the game – and then who knows what!
However, brilliant work by Roth enabled them to turn over the ball and force a penalty. They then proceeded to take play deep into the Harrogate half, culminating with a line out 10 metres from the line.
From there and with the final play Rotherham worked the ball infield before finding number 8 Callum Bustin; he then showed terrific strength and determination to force his way over to secure the bonus point. Minogue tagged on the extras to finish things off.
Speaking immediately after the game Titans Adam Byron said:
“I think our first emotion having just come off the pitch is relief. Obviously we were dominant in terms of the score line and we were never in trouble of losing the game, but we really had to push right at the end to pick up the bonus point.
“I was frustrated some of the things we were trying to do didn’t come off as we’d liked and I was a bit frustrated with myself in terms of we’d prepared for perfect rugby in perfect conditions, when instead we need to be realistic of where we’re playing rugby at times and what the conditions are at this time of the year.
“Overall however I am just really proud of the boys; to actually get that turnover in extra time and then to make their way all the way down the field to get that bonus point try at the death.
“The lads had bucket loads of team spirit and endeavour today, the conditions were awful; it wasn’t a pleasant day to play rugby, the pitch was boggy due to all the rain they’ve had up here this week and for the lads to find that try at the end was very impressive, so a massive well done to them.
“You also have to acknowledge the Harrogate team, they worked really hard too, every time we tried to go around the corner often they were waiting for us. They defended really well and their set-piece was very solid. I was impressed by them and I think they will go on to beat some good sides here.”
Referee: George Jones
Attendance: 250
Yellow Card: Challinor (Titans)
Titans: Newborn (T), Lewis (T), Bustin (T), Minogue (T, 3C)
Harrogate: Maycock (T), Keith (C, P)
Titans: 15 Lloyd Hayes, 14 Tom Lewis, 13 Mat Clark (West 75), 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jamie Cooke, 10 Matt Minogue, 9 Sam Boxhall, 1 Alastair Donkor (Capps 58), 2 Harry Newborn (Bergmanas 50), 3 Rikki Stout (Quigley 58), 4 Matt Challinor, 5 Matt Smith, 6 Zak Poole (Capt.), 7 Keifer Laxton (Nwosu-Hope 50), 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Colin Quigley, 18 Charlie Capps, 19 Theo Nwosu-Hope, 20 Jonny West.
Harrogate: 15 Dom Tydeman (Cooke 75), 14 Harry Barnard, 13 Jordan Cummins, 12 Jack Kennell, 11 Will Yates, 10 Phil Wickham, 9 Kit Keith, 1 Jacob Percival, 2 Steve Maycock (Baxter 53), 3 Tom Baxter (Dennis 33), 4 Fraser Kitching (G. Coser 65), 5 Sam Brady (Capt.), 6 Will Seymour (Thompson 41), 7 Martin Dodds, 8 Jonny Coser.
Replacements: 16 Will Dennis, 17 Tom Shrimpton, 18 Guy Coser, 19 Dec Thompson, 20 Danny Cooke.
