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.
Photo Credit: Rotherham Advertiser