Rotherham Titans ran out 36-22 winners over a spirited Lymm outfit to maintain their push at the top end of the table on a damp afternoon at Crouchley Lane.
Titans outscored the hosts by 5 tries to 3, with Jack Bergmanas bagging a brace and one each coming for Jack Taylor, Harry Newborn and Callum Bustin; Lloyd Hayes added 11 points from the tee.
The win for Rotherham was tainted by what looked like a serious leg injury to second rower Matt Challinor inside the opening 10 minutes and the best wishes of everyone at Clifton Lane go out to him.
The match itself saw Titans dominate for large periods, with once again the pack laying a strong foundation, particularly so with regards to the scrum and maul.
However when Titans opened the scoring after 3 minutes it came through the backs. Lloyd Hayes made a nice break after some smart footwork saw him dart back inside; he then took play up to the 5 metre line before sending in Jack Taylor on the wing. Hayes converted nicely from out wide.
From the restart Lymm responded immediately to level matters when Paddy Jennings finished off some slick handling and Tom Shard converted.
Moments later Rotherham’s Matt Challinor suffered a terrible lower leg injury and the game was held up for 20 minutes whilst the medics, led by Titans David Swift and Chris Myers, treated Matt’s injury.
From the restart Rotherham went back in front when Jack Bergmanas dotted down from the tail of a driving maul.
Shard narrowed the gap with a penalty before Bergmanas grabbed his second try of the match with another dot down from the maul.
Before the half hour mark Rotherham secured the bonus point when flanker Harry Newborn grabbed his first try on his second appearance of the season. This came from a catch and drive close to the line.
Just before the break Titans extended the lead to 29-10 when Hayes knocked over a penalty.
Following the half time oranges Rotherham resumed their dominance and on 50 minutes put the game to bed when back rower Callum Bustin scored from a catch and drive. Hayes conversion made it 36-10.
To be fair Lymm they never stopped giving it a go and two tries late in the game from Andy Williams and Stephen Pilkington was fair reward for their efforts.
Rotherham will now dust themselves down, count up the injuries and switch focus to the next challenge which will come away to Huddersfield next Saturday.
Following the match Titans Harvey Biljon reflected:
“A five point win away from home - I’m very happy.
“In parts of the game I was really impressed with what our team was doing, with the way they controlled the pitch and territory and don’t underestimate those long defensive sets that we had to put in today, because Lymm were a team that kept on playing and playing and we had to stick with it.
“So I was really delighted with our defensive performance, even though we let in three scores.
“We’ve got to make mention about the adversity though the game. We lost one of our big players in Matt Challinor, after just 7 minutes and the team had to adapt and there was problem solving out there.
“When you lose somebody like Chall you might have some doubts about your maul functioning, but the maul functioned today.
“I think the backs in difficult conditions when they had the opportunities took them.
“We probably missed three opportunities from our set piece to score; we got held up twice and we were defending for our lives when we went down to 13 players at the end.
“To not allow them a bonus point at home and to look at our missed opportunities just shows how much more is still to come from this team.”
Referee: Jack Moorhouse
Attendance: 189
Yellow Card: Tanumi, Milner, Newborn (Titans), Beesley (Lymm)
Titans: Bergmanas (2T), Taylor (T), Newborn (T), Bustin (T), Hayes (4C, 1P)
Lymm: Jennings (T), Williams (T), Pilkington (T), Shard (2C, 1P)
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Tainne Finn, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Tomasi Tanumi, 11 Jack Taylor, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier (Metcalfe 22), 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 51), 3 Gareth Denman (Ward 59), 4 Matt Challinor (Bustin 8), 19 John Okafor, 7 Lewis Allan (Kay 55), 25 Harry Newborn, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.).
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 30 Reece Ward, 18 Rupert Kay, 28 Callum Bustin, 20 Will Metcalfe.
Lymm: 15 Jack Reynolds (Beesley 63), 14 Nathan Beesley (Williams 59), 13 Stephen Pilkington, 12 James Kimber, 11 Paddy Jennings, 10 Tom Shard, 9 Cal Morris, 16 Gav Woods (Higgins 51), 2 James Pitcher (Makin 40), 17 Matty Hand (Widdrington 40) (Hand 58), 4 James Yates (Capt.), 5 Ben Thompson, 6 Joe Johnson, 7 Harry Martin, 8 Rhys Lilly (Higginson 53).
Replacements: 1 Joe Higgins, 24 Jordan Widdrington, 18 Rob Makin, 19 Oli Higginson, 20 Andy Williams.
