Rotherham Titans had to work extremely hard to secure a 36-14 win over South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Tigers on a bright afternoon at Dore Moor.
Titans outscored the hosts by 4 tries to 2 with dot downs coming from Laurence Cowen-Leak, Callum Bustin, Jack Townend and Jack Taylor, with Lloyd Hayes adding 16 points from the tee.
The win puts Rotherham on the brink of promotion and a return to National One after three seasons in N2N.
Titans will become champions next Saturday if they beat Billingham at Greenwood Road – a game no one at Clifton Lane is taking for granted.
This game at Dore Moor proved to be every bit as challenging as expected, with the home side giving everything to stop the Clifton Lane side.
Rotherham however eventually got the upper hand, securing the bonus point try in the final play of the game.
Indeed it was Rotherham who started the brighter as they raced into an early lead when back rower Laurence Cowen-Leak scored in the corner after receiving a short pass from Harry Dunne.
Tigers came back strongly as they showed plenty of emotion and they took the lead when former Titan Josh Redfern powered over for Mark Ireland to convert.
The game was shaping up nicely and there was plenty of physicality on show as each side attempted to wrestle control.
Titans regained the lead on 25 minutes when number 8 Callum Bustin peeled off a maul to bulldoze his way over in the corner.
It looked as though Rotherham would go in at the break with the advantage; however in the fifth minutes of injury time Tigers worked the ball nicely through the backs for centre Sam Wager to dot down under the post. Ireland knocked over the extras to send the home side in 14-12 to the good.
Titans have often this season produced strong second half performances and this proved to be the case once again.
The league’s top point’s scorer, Lloyd Hayes, proved deadly with the boot as he slotted over four penalties as Rotherham slowly took charge of the game.
As the match entered the final 10 minutes Rotherham increased their advantage and effectively wrapped up the game when full back Jack Townend ran in for the third try, after good work in the build up from Will Milner. Hayes’ conversion made it 31-14.
In the final play the cherry was added when winger Jack Taylor went in at the corner after Cowen-Leak had made good ground to send him in.
The large contingent of Rotherham’s travelling support duly made the appropriate noise on full time.
The focus will now immediately shift to Saturday’s game at Billingham, where a win for Rotherham would see them gain their first promotion for 21 years.
Speaking afterwards Titans Harvey Biljon reflected:
"Sheffield Tigers came to play. They were fired up and they put in a hell of a performance.
"Beforehand we were calm but after the kick-off you could see the anxiety because the players knew how important the game was.
"Once we spoke at half time then we were in a position to change gear and let the game unfold and we fully deserved a bonus point win.
"Nothing changes for us. We've worked hard and we'll do so again and enjoy the trip to Billingham. This gives us something to go and play for on the last day and that's exciting."
Referee: Daniel Woods
Attendance: 510
Yellow Card: Hayes, Capps, Bustin (Titans), Redfern (Tigers)
Titans: Cowen-Leak (T), Bustin (T), Townend (T), Taylor (T), Hayes (4P, 2C)
Sheffield Tigers: Redfern (T), Wager (T), Ireland (2C)
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jack Taylor, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier (Metcalfe 74), 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Jack Bergmanas (Cole 59), 3 Gareth Denman (Ward 72), 4 Zak Poole (Capt.) (Kivalu 4), 19 John Okafor, 25 Rupert Kay (Payne 74), 7 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 30 Reece Ward, 23 Marcus Payne, 22 Will Metcalfe.
Sheffield Tigers: 15 Will Baker, 14 Jamie Broadley, 13 Barney Goatley, 12 Sam Wager (Manderfield 69), 11 James Norman, 10 Mark Ireland, 9 Ryan Holmes, 16 Nick Bingham (Garside 56), 2 Will Archer, 3 Karl Garside (Bennett 40) (Bingham 77), 4 Joe Fitzsimons, 5 Dom Santimaria (Hawksworth 56), 21 Connor Scott (Cartwright 45), 6 Liam Wallace (Monks 69), 8 Josh Redfern.
Replacements: 1 Will Bennett, 17 Harry Cartwright, 18 Dan Hawksworth, 19 Lee Monks, 20 Ben Manderfield.
Photo Credit: Gareth Lyons