Rotherham Titans continued their fine run of form with a narrow but fully deserved 15-12 win over a resolute Blackheath side on a wet and windy afternoon at Clifton Lane.
With the game going into the final play Rotherham worked the ball infield, allowing fly half Corben Ollivent to seal the match in dramatic fashion with a drop goal.
The thrilling finale sent the faithful in the Shed into raptures because they knew a very good side had just been beaten.
The game was always going to be an attritional affair due to the weather, particularly with gusts of wind reaching 50 mph at times. Nevertheless, both sides gave their all right up to the end in a brutally physical battle.
It was the visitors who took the lead inside the opening 15 minutes when a high clearance kick from Blackheath was gathered and quickly recycled along the backline for Jake Lloyd to finish off in the corner for an unconverted try.
Despite this setback Rotherham remained calm and started to build some pressure as they enjoyed the lion’s share of territory and possession.
The pressure eventually told and lead to a fine try when following some heavy work from the pack the ball was flung out to the backs, with the final pass from Ronnie Du Randt finding winger Aidan Shortall who dived over in the corner to level the score.
The momentum Rotherham enjoyed towards the end of the first half carried into the second half and this resulted in another try when on 47 minutes JB Bruzulier showed great awareness to dive over from the base of a ruck. Lloyd Hayes converted from in front to make it 12-5.
Blackheath are a quality side and a response was inevitable. Twelve minutes from time following some good work by their pack, the ball was quickly spun out wide for Jake Lloyd to dot down for his second try. Incredibly Tom Ffitch nailed the conversion with an outstanding kick to level the game once again.
As the match went deep into injury time it looked as if the teams would share the spoils.
However, with one final huge effort Rotherham manoeuvred the ball downfield and ultimately into a position where Corben Ollivent was able to calmly slot over the dramatic drop goal winner.
The hard-earned victory keeps Rotherham in third spot, six-points behind league leaders and next opponents Richmond. So, the focus will immediately shift towards what will be Titans toughest test to date.
Commenting after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:
“I think you had two very committed teams out there today, both teams will feel that and they’ll be some sore bodies tomorrow and on Monday, because it was pretty physical.
“I was pleased with the way we went about our business, although Blackheath deserved their first score, but the score we took in that top left-hand corner, to push the pass in these conditions was brave and we executed the skill, so I was really proud that we took that score.
“We knew it was going to be tough; we built into the game which was good and it was good to get ahead and we built some momentum. But we had one or two things just not go our way and I think the momentum swung back to Blackheath and they took a score and took a kick in crazy conditions and then it came down to those last few minutes.
“The territory told and we had two chances to win the game; we had a shot to take at goal from a previous penalty, but we took it with a drop goal.
“What pleased me was we found a way to go and get a result.”
Titans: Shortall (T), Bruzulier (T), Hayes (1C), Ollivent (1DG)
Blackheath: (Lloyd (2T), Ffitch (1C)
Yellow Card: None
Attendance: 250
Referee: Ben Wood
Assistant Referees: Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts & Matt Daubney
Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Tomasi Tanumi (Naylor 37) (Tanumi 43), 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Aidan Shortall, 10 Corben Ollivent, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps © (Kivalu 70), 2 Luke Cole, 3 Andrew Foster, 4 Frankie Gascoigne (Bergmanas 70), 5 Curran Maguire, 6 John Okafor, 7 Zak Poole © (Thomas 40), 27 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Jack Bergmanas, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Alastair Donkor, 28 Ellis Thomas, 21 James Naylor.
Blackheath: 15 Jake Hennessey, 14 Jake Lloyd, 13 Leo Fielding, 12 Markus Burcham, 11 Matt Armstrong (Hirskyj-Douglas 56), 10 Oli Burgess (Ffitch 49), 9 Jordan Burns, 1 Archie Holland, 2 Billy Harding (Witchell 74), 3 Andrew Boye (Marsh 56), 4 Finlay O’Sullivan (Cavubati 53), 5 Mike Etete, 6 Josh Smart, 7 Noah Sloot 8 Tom Baldwin ©.
Replacements: 16 Alex Witchell, 17 Rory Marsh, 22 Tex Cavubati, 19 Tom Ffitch, 20 Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas.
