Titans Hold Off Caldy Fightback to Claim Friday Night Victory

Rotherham Titans made it three wins from their opening four matches in Elior Champ Rugby with an entertaining 41-26 victory over Caldy under the Friday night lights at Clifton Lane.

Titans produced an outstanding first-half display to establish a commanding 26-0 advantage at the break, but the visitors demonstrated their renowned second-half resilience to turn the contest into a tense and fiercely competitive encounter.

Ultimately, Rotherham’s ability to withstand the pressure and deliver crucial scores at key moments ensured they emerged with a deserved six-try victory over their Cheshire opponents.

The hosts could hardly have wished for a better start, with winger Jackson Barling crossing twice inside the opening 12 minutes to put Titans firmly in control.

Caldy showed plenty of enthusiasm and endeavour during the opening exchanges, looking to move the ball and test the Rotherham defence, but the home side were equal to the challenge. Titans defended with real discipline and determination, repeatedly snuffing out promising attacks before the visitors could turn possession into points.

With their defensive foundations firmly established, Rotherham continued to build their advantage. Loose-head prop Zac Nearchou powered his way over the try line after the half-hour mark, rewarding the home side’s forward effort and stretching the gap further.

Titans then delivered a fourth score just before the interval with an excellent piece of attacking play. Russell Bennett produced a beautifully judged chip ahead, and Ben Cambriani timed his run to perfection to collect the ball and finish smartly.

With the conversion added, Rotherham headed into the changing rooms with a formidable 26-0 lead and seemingly in complete control.

However, Caldy have developed a reputation for being particularly dangerous after the break, and they wasted little time in demonstrating why.

Number eight Callum Ridgeway crossed just four minutes into the second half to give the visitors renewed belief, and their hopes of mounting a comeback were strengthened further when centre Charlie Hyde touched down ten minutes later to make it 26-12.

Suddenly, the atmosphere under the Clifton Lane lights had changed. Caldy were enjoying sustained spells of pressure, and the tension around the ground was beginning to build as the visitors threatened to turn the contest on its head.

Rotherham needed a response, and fly-half Lloyd Hayes provided some much-needed breathing space by slotting a penalty to extend the advantage beyond two converted tries.

Caldy refused to go away, though, and continued to apply pressure before hooker Matt Gallagher crossed for a converted try to further reduce the deficit.

With the visitors threatening to make the closing stages uncomfortable, Titans produced the decisive moment just under ten minutes from time.

Rotherham’s powerful driving maul had been causing problems throughout the contest, and when Caldy brought it down close to their own line, the referee had little option but to award a penalty try. It was a crucial score that restored a healthy cushion and left the visitors needing a late surge to get back into contention.

There was still time for further drama at the death, with Hyde grabbing his second try of the evening for Caldy before Barling completed his hat-trick with the final score of an absorbing encounter.

The 41-26 success represented another significant step forward for newly promoted Rotherham, who have made an impressive start to life back in the Champ after their promotion from National One.

Three victories from four outings provide plenty of encouragement, particularly given the quality of the opposition and the demanding challenges that lie ahead.

There is little doubt the competition will become tougher as the season progresses, but if Titans continue to combine their defensive resilience, forward power and attacking skill with the same fighting spirit, they have every chance of troubling a few more established sides along the way.

Commenting after the game Titans Harvey Biljon said:

“I am tremendously proud of the group in what was greasy conditions on a Friday night and to score 41 points is exceptional.

“We know how tough a team Caldy are and having looked at the stats in our preparation we saw that Caldy score 70% of their tries in the final 20 minutes of games and they’ve finished strong all their games.

“Tonight you could see the impact of their bench and the experience that they could bring on. They’ve got players that have played 300-odd games for the club; so, they were definitely going to bring an injection.

“But for our players to go and pick up scores right up until minute 80 gave me signals that our players never give up. Our players have done that all season, and they did it again tonight. We are also fighting and battling, and we know how tough this league is.

“We spoke about starting fast and we spoke about executing skill and fair play to the players; I think our discipline was outstanding, just 2 penalties in the first 40 minutes and that led to us creating those opportunities.

“So overall we are very pleased; I think we are exceeding expectation, and the group is working hard. There’s a fair bit of adversity behind the scenes with injuries, but we’re rotating through the squad and giving players these opportunities and the players keep stepping up.”

Titans: Barling (3T), Nearchou (T), Cambriani (T), Penalty Try, Hayes (3C, 1P)

Caldy: Hyde (2T), Ridgway (T), Gallagher (T), Parkin (3C)

Yellow Card: Cambriani (Titans), Gerrard (Caldy)

Referee: Hamish Smales

Assistant Referees: Ben Wood & Kieron Henry

Titans: 15 Isaac Shaw, 14 Jackson Barling, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Mitchell Lacey-Babalola, 11 Ben Cambriani, 10 Russell Bennett (Threlfall 75), 9 JB Bruzulier (Nordli-Kelemeti 75), 1 Zac Nearchou (Foster 62), 2 Morgan Veness (Kotze 62), 3 Corrie Barrett (Bairstow 57), 4 Curran Maguire (Guthrie 57), 5 John Okafor, 6 Lekima Ravuvu (Stone 71), 7 Travis Gordon (Capt.), 8 Callum Bustin (Baldry 45).

Replacements: 16 Dewald Kotze, 17 Andrew Foster, 18 Tom Bairstow, 19 Louis Guthrie, 20 Harry Stone, 21 Jack Baldry, 22 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 23 Tom Threlfall.

Caldy: 15 Matthew Kilcourse (Oliver 62), 14 Rhys Tudor, 13 Charlie Hyde, 12 Connor Wilkinson, 11 William Robinson, 10 Ben Parkin, 9 Oliver Wynn (Thomas 53), 1 Monty Weatherby (McEachran 53), 2 Oliver Hearn (Gallagher 53), 3 Nathan Rushton (Sproston 53), 4 Martin Gerrard, 5 Tom Burrow (Harding 79), 6 Oliver Barker, 7 Tristan Woodman, 8 Callum Ridgway (Dickinson 67).

Replacements: 16 Matt Gallagher, 17 Ralph McEachran, 18 Joe Sproston, 19 Harry Harding, 20 JJ Dickinson, 21 Nye Thomas, 22 Harry Oliver, 23 Seb Krippner.