Rotherham Titans went toe to toe with leaders Richmond in a pulsating battle, before a last gasp try from winger Chidera Obonna saw them go down 31-29 on a cool afternoon at The Athletic Ground.
In this nine try thriller Rotherham crossed the whitewash 4 times with Jamie Cooke grabbing a brace and Aidan Shortall and Charlie Capps grabbing one each: Lloyd Hayes added 9 points from the tee.
The game was a physical battle between two of the best sides in the division and at the end there was nothing to choose between them, although Richmond must now have positioned themselves as title favourites having also beaten Rams the week before.
Indeed, it was Richmond who started much the brighter racing into a 14-0 lead inside the opening 13 minutes, after converted scores from winger Chidera Obonna and number 8 Sam Pim.
However, Titans didn’t panic and soon reduced the arrears when winger Aidan Shortall received a pass from Rob Povey to score.
Rotherham signalled their intent shortly after when John Okafor made a nice break before finding Jamie Cooke who went in at the corner for an unconverted try.
In this humdinger of a match back came Richmond before the half hour to extend their lead through centre Sam Dardis who received an overhead miss-pass to score near the corner. The missed conversion from Callum Grieve made it a 7-point game.
It was now Rotherham who enjoyed some possession, and they made the most of it when a lovely chip over the top was collected by Charlie Capps who put Jamie Cooke in for his second try. Lloyd Hayes added the extras to level the score at 19 each.
In the final play of the half however Rotherham were stunned by scrum half Luc Jones who through a cheeky dummy before sneaking in to score a converted try to make it 26-19.
Rotherham regrouped at the break and came out for the second half composed as they went about their business.
Lloyd Hayes reduced Titans deficit with an early penalty before just after the hour mark loosehead prop Charlie Capps crashed over for a converted try to give Rotherham the lead for the first time.
Both sides continued to batter each other in this brutal National 1 encounter and as the game went deep into injury time it looked as if the South Yorkshire side would claim a famous win.
However, credit to Richmond, as in the final play they managed to work the ball wide to winger Chidera Obonna who raced in at the corner to seal the game and send the home side into raptures.
Although the result will disappoint Rotherham, they can be proud of the shift they put in and confident in the knowledge they can more than compete with the best sides in the division.
Speaking after the match Harvey Biljon reflected:
“What a game to be part of and what an opportunity to for us to learn. The players showed lots of character, we were 14-0 down and up until the final play we were leading by 3 points and it just showed how we stayed in it.
“I think through the adversity of losing players, losing our nine and losing a winger and having to adapt and problem solve out there; I think that is great for our players to go through and we will learn from that.”
Titans: Cooke (2T), Shortall (T), Capps (T), Hayes (3C, 1P)
Richmond: Obonna (2T), Pim (T), Dardis (T), Jones (T), Grieve (3C)
Yellow Card: Shortall & Bruzulier (Titans), McMillan (Richmond)
Attendance: 455
Referee: Alan Chandrachud
Assistant Referees: Jeff Highcock & Matthew Shepherd
Titans: 15 Rob Povey, 14 Aidan Shortall (Naylor 44), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Ronnie Du Randt, 10 Corben Ollivent (Maguire 61), 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps © (Kivalu 68), 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 53), 3 Alastair Donkor (Foster 40), 4 Zak Poole ©, 5 Curran Maguire (Gordon 44), 6 John Okafor, 7 Ellis Thomas, 8 Callum Bustin (Bergmanas 70).
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Andrew Foster, 19 Travis Gordon, 21 James Naylor.
Richmond: 15 Alex O’Meara, 14 Frank McMillan (Wills 65), 13 Sam Dardis, 12 Callum Grieve, 11 Chidera Obonna, 10 Lewis Dennett, 9 Luc Jones ©, 1 Theo Bevacqua, 2 Will Goffey (Torpey 59), 3 Jimmy Litchfield (Spring 59), 4 Jake Monson, 5 George Nugent (Wakeling 60), 6 Ethan Benson, 7 Lucas Schmid 8 Sam Pim.
Replacements: 16 Callum Torpey, 17 Luke Spring, 18 Henry Wills, 19 Miles Wakeling, 20 Rhett Butler.
Photo: Tim Anger