Welsh 13-7 Titans

National Division 1

Saturday 3rd December

Old Deer Park

2:00pm Kick off

London Welsh 13

Titans 7

V

Earth Titans: 15 Whitehead, 14 Holtby, 13 Carter (L Strauss 48), 12, Blackett (Capt.), 11 Claasens, 10 WP Strauss, 9 Kirkwood (Jonker 57), 1 Golding (Carey 64), 2 Hanna (Conroy 64), 3 Rawson (Hopcroft 48), 4 Bornman, 5 McGowan, 6 Fourie , 7 Cochrane, 8 Donald.

Replacements: 16 Jonker, 17 L Strauss, 18 Conroy, 19 Pike, 20 Carey, 21 McComb 22 Hopcroft

London Welsh: 15. Swales 14. Greenwood 13. Bidwell 12. Hayward 11. Holgate 10. Meenan 9. Chiltern (Capt) 1. Millard 2. Ritchie 3. Marsters 4. Quigley 5. Brownrigg 6. Fitzgerald 7. Etheridge 8. Cox

Replacements: 16 Fahey 17 Tauialo 18 Pettemerides 19 Griffith 20 Shaw 21 Field 22 Oniyide-Frampton

Perhaps the result shouldn’t be that much of a surprise when you consider Rotherham’s recent performances. Bester himself has recently stated, “We haven’t played well for the last five or six games.” Maybe this result will be the much needed wake up call?”

After a scrappy opening it was Welsh’s fly half Mark Meenan who set them on their way in the 8^th minute. A well taken drop goal from around 30 metres put the hosts ahead. Meenan increased the lead to six just five minutes later with a penalty after Roth were caught off-side.

On 16 minutes Roth had the chance to reduce the arrears when Mike Whitehead stepped up to take a penalty on the Welsh 22, just fifteen metres to the left of the sticks. Unfortunately he pushed his effort to the right.

As the half wore on Roth continued to turn ball over, throw forward passes, knock on and kick away possession on a regular basis. It got worse for Roth on 23 minutes when Welsh centre Adam Bidwell charged down Mike Whitehead’s clearing kick in his own 22. Bidwell reacted quickly to collect and score under the posts for Meenan to convert and give the hosts a 13-0 lead.

As the game plodded slowly on, scoring opportunities were an expensive commodity that neither side could afford. The half finally ended without any further excitement.

Half Time: Welsh 13-0 Titans

The second half began as the first finished, with Roth making errors every time a promising period of play was about to envelop. On 50 minutes however Roth’s first serious assault on the Welsh line raised hopes of something better.

Good forward play smashed the Welsh back onto their own line, when the ball came out though it was a poor pass to Neil Hanna who knocked on with a try at his mercy.

Just after the hour mark Rotherham demonstrated the type of rugby they are capable of. WP Strauss fed a fine inside pass to Adam Hopcroft who crashed through the first tackle and made 25 metres up-field. From the breakdown quick ball found Neil Cochrane who quickly offloaded to Scott Donald, Donald cut back inside to score in the corner. Mike Whitehead’s conversion from touch was excellent and reduced the arrears to just 6 points.

Roth were now in the ascendancy but individual errors continued to plagued them, kicking out of hand being the biggest problem. As the match drew to a close and with Welsh conceding penalty after penalty Roth had chances to secure a win that in all honesty they wouldn’t have deserved.

But a combination of resolute Welsh defending and Roth’s continued error rate allied with poor discipline ensured the Welsh hung on for a well deserved victory.

Final Score: Welsh 13-7 Titans

Overall it was a very disappointing result and performance from Rotherham, but Andre Bester said afterwards, “Positives can be taken from the game, you learn far more from defeat than you do in victory!”

As Bester prepares for next season, he knows pretty much which players he wants to retain and those he doesn’t as he looks to build on a promising start. He said, “Games like these tell you a lot about players, particularly their mental approach!”

Maybe the result was not only a wake up call for the players, but also for the fans. Perhaps this young inexperienced team has over achieved so far this season and with it raised expectations beyond what is realistic.

One thing for certain however, this young squad are an honest bunch with lots of pride and they will give everything week in and week out for the club. I would imagine it will be a case of “Watch out Sedgley” next week at the Earth Arena.

• News Greg Mitchell is quitting rugby to concentrate on business back in Ireland.

Full post match comments to follow.

Bedford 20 – 26 Harlequins

Exeter 8 – 12 Otley

Pertemps Bees 22 – 22 Newbury

Sedgley Park 8 – 25 Plymouth Albion

Nottingham 12 – 0 Doncaster

Cornish Pirates 15 - 10 Coventry

National Division 1

Roth v Sedgley Park 10 December at Earth Arena.

kick off 2.00pm