Leeds Carnegie 28 Rotherham Titans 3

The pitch was beautifully prepared. The team were confident, fit, and raring to go. With plenty of sensible clothing I removed myself from the cosy fireside-like comfort of the Supporters Club Lounge at 2.45pm, (where Bath were looking comfortable against Leicester on the big telly) to the sub-zero starkness of the newly upholstered South Stand.

As one who regularly drums I was impressed by the acoustics afforded the old place by the metal sheathing over the old rubble-concrete steps, and with a newly acquired surefootedness I made my way to the appropriate step, just on the ten-metre line at the Carnegie Stand End.

The place looked surprisingly busy given the proximity to the end of the holidays and the plummeting temperature, but I suppose this is made up by the proximity of the opposition's home town. Yes, we were in for our second Yorkshire derby in as many weeks, facing the once mighty Rotherham.

And, as far as the match was concerned, that's perhaps as big a compliment as I feel able to give – once mighty. Rotherham had clearly made up their mind that they weren't able to win the match by playing rugby, and so spent a full eighty minutes doing what they could to stop anyone else doing so either.

Don't get me wrong, there's a good deal of credit due to the pink and blue boys, they defended well against Leeds and regularly put them off their stroke, but the difference in class was there to see, and the Carnegie players did very well to manage their discipline.

The first try came with one of several assaults on the Rotherham line, and it was deftness of touch that made the breakthrough, with several short offloads to keep the ball alive and to keep the defence guessing. Rhys Oakley it was who gave the scoring pass to Mike MacDonald to go over from short range. In the first of a flawless exhibition of kicking, Jason Strange got the extras to make it 7-0.

Rotherham continued to make Leeds work for their advantage, and it wasn't for another 20 minutes that another score came along – with some dogged attack through the channels that was continually brought up just short of the line, it was left to Callum Clark to take the initiative and drive through under the posts, again from short range.

With what was really the only serious attacking opportunity from Rotherham they attempted to batter the Leeds line, but the sturdy defence was resolute and gradually inched the attack backwards. Realising there was no way through the Titans' fly-half took the sensible option and laid in a regulation 30-yard drop goal to bring the score to 14-3. With that, all hope for anything else from Rotherham died, and, although not firing on all cylinders, Leeds saw their opposition's hearts sink and looked to their own laurels.

Another brief incursion into Leeds territory resulted in the binning of Rhys Oakley – quite what for I'm personally not sure, but the Yorkshire Post reports it as having been for a deliberate knock-on. With what should have been a straightforward penalty kick missed – cries of "you're a gentleman!" from the cammo-clad, dayglo-topped loudmouth in the South Stand – Leeds were back in possession.

Throughout this time there were any number of scrums, none of which were steady or allowed to progress through to their logical conclusion. More knowledgeable folk than I say that Leeds had the Roth front row on a plate, but the ref. was not managing the situation well. All I can say from my own experience is that when the scrummage signal was made, we all settled in to watch them set and reset at least four times, every time.

With the second-half by now underway, and with Oakley still serving a few minutes of his time, Jon Goodridge received an untidy clearance kick deep in his own half and – against all advice from junior level coaches around the ground – proceeded to run diagonally and forward, breezing past any number of defenders, before the desperate last man caught him a few yards short of the line. With the offloading game to the forefront, Phil Nilsen was on hand to tidy up and give a beautiful lay-off to Leigh Hinton to go over in the far corner. Once again Jason Strange made short work of the extras to make it 21-3.

What should have been a rapidly fading Rotherham side were still defending manfully until one of their own got his ten minute marching orders for persistent infringements. Seconds later Scott Barrow crashed through the central defence for the bonus point try, and Jase made the maths easy with the conversion to take it to 28-3.

Leeds were looking to open the floodgates, but couldn't quite make it happen. One of the talking points of the game, aside from the scores, was the attempted tackle on Thomas A'Biggs by the looming Rotherham No. 8. Having seen wee Tom clotheslined so often in the past (and once or twice in this very match), it was a matter of some glee that Biggs crunched off the attempted tackle leaving the defender flat out on the ground. Cheers of schadenfreude from the South Stand were perhaps too slow to turn to applause of sympathy when it was clear that the man was concussed and had to be helped from the field. Nonetheless to see Biggsy break clear is always a sight to behold, and I can't admonish the partisan crowd too much for seeing him making a getaway.

Towards the end of the game it appeared as if Leeds were forcing the passes and Andy Key is on records as having said that it wasn't the most level-headed of performances in that regard. A number of other pundits, professional and extremely amateur alike, have also said what a so-so performance this was, and that Leeds have a way to go if they are to be serious about cutting it in the Premiership. While I can see what they mean, I came away from the ground having been entertained, and having seen a good deal of good rugby – certainly it was remarked on more than one occasion how much the handling has improved, and I had the distinct feeling that there was perhaps another gear to go up into if they had absolutely needed to. With the game won, the bonus point secured, why stress yourself out?