Rotherham Titans had to work their socks off to beat a physical Birmingham Mosely outfit 28-27 on a bright, sunny afternoon at Clifton Lane.
Titans had to overcome a big, powerful Moseley side head-on to earn the right to win this attritional clash, as each side crossed the whitewash three times.
Rotherham’s dot downs came via a brace from number 8 Callum Bustin and one for winger Calum Barrett, with Lloyd Hayes adding 13 points from the tee.
This hard-fought but well-deserved win helps keep the South Yorkshire side hot on the heels of leaders Richmond and despite the bonus point not being collected, Titans are only 3 points behind in second spot.
Nonetheless, inside the opening half hour it looked as though the home side would secure the extra point as they raced into a 19-3 lead following 3 quick tries.
Callum Bustin got the scoreboard moving early when he crashed over following a catch and drive close to the line.
Soon after Titans had their second score when following a good break by prop forward Charlie Capps, the ball was flung out wide by JB Bruzulier to Jamie Cooke, who in turn found Travis Gordon and he drew the last man before sending in winger Calum Barrett for a nice try in the corner.
Scrum half Jack Jolly got the visitors on the board with a penalty before Callum Bustin popped up again, this time in ‘Plants Corner’, to finish off from a catch and drive.
If the Clifton Lane faithful thought this was going to be a walk in the park from here on in, then they would’ve been badly mistaken.
In the final ten minutes of the first half Moseley demonstrated once again they are a side that just never gives up or goes away, and to prove it they ran in two converted tries through Aquile Smith and Will Safe.
The tries sandwiched a Lloyd Hayes penalty and Rotherham went in at the break holding a narrow 22-17 lead.
Ten minutes after the interval Moseley took the lead for the first time when a kick from inside their own half bounced kindly for centre Ollie Allsopp, who juggled to gain control, before racing through to score in the corner under pressure.
The conversion from near the touch line was impressively nailed by Jack Jolly to give his side a slender 24-22 lead.
The game became tense and edgy as both sides looked to gain the advantage.
The lead switched repeatedly as first Hayes bagged a penalty, then Jolly and then Hayes again.
With 20 minutes to go Rotherham enjoyed the lion’s share of territory and possession and went in search of securing the win and bonus point.
Indeed, inside the final five minutes they had good opportunities to do so as they camped on the line, but credit to Moseley, their determined defensive efforts managed to keep the Titans out.
Nevertheless, the win was an important one and now Rotherham will look to rest a few bumps and bruises before embarking on the longest trip of the year to Plymouth Albion.
Reflecting after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:
“That was a heck of a squad performance; don’t underestimate the adversity that we are going through with injuries and people having to play out of position.
“However, for about 25 minutes of the game we looked on fire, but what was unusual for us is we went off task; and when we did Moseley got into the game and that’s what happens when you come up against good teams.
“Give Moseley credit, they stayed in the battle and that’s what it’s going to be like for us, there’s not going to be any easy games, and we’ll have to continue to push in terms of our performance.
“I said to the players before the game we would need to stay in every moment, and you could see today that we probably missed a couple of those moments.
“But it’s a win and we are delighted with that and we’ll try to keep it going.”
Titans: Bustin (2T), Barrett (T), Hayes (2C, 3P)
Birmingham Moseley: Aquile Smith (T), Safe (T), Allsopp (T), Jolly (3C, 2P)
Yellow Card: None
Attendance: 250
Referee: Ben Rayner
Assistant Referees: Matt Daubney & Jason Garrick
Titans: 15 Ronnie Du Randt, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Jamie Cooke, 11 Calum Barrett, 10 Rob Povey, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps ©, 2 Loma Kivalu (Logavatu 47), 3 Andrew Foster, 4 Zak Poole ©, 5 Harry Gilson-Fox, 6 Travis Gordon, 7 Harry Newborn, 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Oliver Fretwell, 17 Zach Toerien, 18 Eoin Harrison, 19 Joji Logavatu, 20 James Naylor.
Birmingham Moseley: 15 Freddie Painter, 14 Dan Brough, 13 Aquile Smith, 12 Ollie Allsopp, 11 Tuoyo Egodo, 10 Tighe Maxwell-Whiteley (Taylor 70), 9 Jack Jolly ©, 1 Ethan Priest (McNulty 16) (Priest 21), 2 Ryan Roach (Pogson 79), 3 David Langly (McNulty 53), 4 Harry Barnes, 5 Harry Butler (Smith 69), 6 Will Safe, 7 Morgan Dawes, 8 Adam Peters.
Replacements: 16 Ben Pogson, 17 Josh McNulty, 18 Fin Smith, 19 Santiago Edwards, 20 Tommy Taylor.
Photo: Gareth Siddons