Rotherham Titans put in an outstanding display to beat a talented Fylde outfit 32-27 on a bright afternoon at The Woodlands.
Titans outscored their hosts by 4 tries to 3 with Charlie Capps, John Okafor, JB Bruzulier and Luke Cole all dotting down, with Lloyd Hayes adding 12 points from the tee.
The bonus point victory keeps Rotherham in the hunt at the top of the table, as they continue their pursuit of leaders Leeds Tykes.
However, this game was not a straightforward one and as expected beforehand Fylde pushed Rotherham all the way to the final whistle.
Indeed, had the hosts been more clinical inside the opening 20 minutes they could have raced into a healthy lead.
However, a combination of good defence by Roth, a bit of luck and a deficiency of accuracy from the hosts meant the scoreboard remained tight throughout.
Lloyd Hayes opened the scoring after 3 minutes with a penalty before Fylde’s loosehead prop Corey Bowker showed good pace for a front row forward to gallop home from outside the 22 for a converted try.
Not to be outdone Titans loosehead prop Charlie Capps got in on the act just 3 minutes later when a nice offload from tighthead prop Reece Ward sent him in from 15 metres. Lloyd Hayes added the extras from in front of the sticks.
Despite the home side having the better of things it was Rotherham who scored next to extend their lead.
A dropped ball from Fylde just inside the Rotherham 22 was collected by second rower John Okafor. The big man opened his legs and galloped almost 80 metres with half the Fylde team trying to chase him down, before he dotted down next to the posts in front of the clubhouse. Hayes’ extras extended Roth’s lead to 17-7.
Unfortunately for the South Yorkshire side they suffered two yellow cards inside the final 10 minutes of the half.
During that spell Fylde exploited their numerical advantage by scoring a converted try through centre Scott Rawlings after a good break from second rower Tom Burrows and two penalties from Greg Smith to send them in at the break leading 20-17.
Rotherham improved in the second half and began to exert some control as they stepped up their intensity.
Lloyd Hayes levelled matters on 46 minutes with a penalty before shortly after Rotherham regained the lead when scrum half JB Bruzulier showed great desire to get over in the corner following a great offload from Harry Dunne. Hayes impressively nailed the touchline conversion.
Just before the hour mark Roth secured the bonus point when hooker Luke Cole dotted down from the tail of a powerful driving maul. The conversion was missed but Roth held a comfortable 32-20 advantage.
However, a Fylde try with 3 minutes remaining from Tane Bentley, converted by Smith set up a nervy finish.
Nevertheless Rotherham held firm to see out the game and secure an important win against a good side.
Speaking after the match Titans Gaz Lewis reflected:
“We’re delighted with the result because Fylde could have been out of sight in the opening 20 minutes. We got the bounce of the ball and they didn’t manage to capitalise on the opportunities they created.
“In the second half the lads put in a superb performance and so to come away with a five point win at a very difficult place is pleasing.
“We suffered a lot of disruption coming into the game; not being able to train on Thursday due to the snow didn’t help and maybe that was a reason why we were a little slow out of the blocks today.
“There was more disruption when we lost out Captain Zak Poole inside the first 30 minutes, but full credit to the boys, they put in a huge shift and worked their socks off for the win.
“We spoke at half time about how to manage the difficult moments in the game and I think in the second half we saw some real character and great leadership.
“Charlie Capps did a superb job leading the team after we lost Zak, Matt Smith really stepped up in the line out, I thought he was first class and JB made a huge impact coming off the bench; his experience really told as he managed key areas and gave us some good field position.
“So whilst it was a great team performance, there were some outstanding individual performances too.
“I think what turned it in the end was we were able to get some important field position which allowed us to go to work and build our maul. That’s our super-power and when we worked our way into the right areas we were able to utilise that strength.
“We’ll enjoy this result and then quickly switch our focus to Sheffield next week because that is a huge game, they are having a great season and there’s a bit of added interest with the former Rotherham links at the club.”
Referee: George Ounsley
Attendance: 495
Yellow Card: Payne, Townend (Titans)
Titans: Capps (T), Okafor (T), Bruzulier (T), Cole (T), Hayes (2P, 3C)
Fylde: Bowker (T), Rawlings (T), Bentley (T), Smith (2P, 3C)
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jack Taylor (Bruzulier 40), 10 Will Milner, 9 Will Metcalfe, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 62), 30 Reece Ward (Kivalu 27), 19 John Okafor, 5 Matt Smith, 7 Marcus Payne (Kay 64), 25 Harry Newborn, 8 Zak Poole (Capt.) (Bustin 27).
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 18 Rupert Kay, 28 Callum Bustin, 20 JB Bruzulier.
Fylde: 15 Jordan Dorrington, 14 Adam Lanigan (Reader 57), 13 Sam Stott, 12 Scott Rawlings (Forster 41), 11 Ben Turner, 10 Greg Smith, 9 Will Wootton, 1 Corey Bowker (Brookes 77), 2 Ben Gregory (Capt.), 24 Peter Altham, 4 Oli Parkinson, 5 Tom Burrows, 6 Matt Ashcroft, 7 Tane Bentley (Parker 66), 8 Toby Harrison (Bentley 76).
Replacements: 16 Alex Brookes, 17 Sam Parker, 18 Tye Raymont, 22 Freddie Reader, 19 Tom Forster.
