National Division 1

7th October 2006

Sharmans Cross Road

3.00pm

Bees 6

Titans 31

Earth Titans

15 Brendan Burke, 14 Brian Touhy, 13 Tom Allen, 12 Bernard Hennessey (Jon Buchanan 76), 11 Andrew Turnbull, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Joe Bedford; 1 Sam Walsh (Michael McComish 60), 2 Nigel Conroy, 3 Adam Hopcroft, 4 Louis McGowan, 5 Henry Head, 6 Hendre Fourie (Steve Croall 81), 7 Neil Cochrane (Capt), 8 Jannie Bornman.

Replacements: 16 Steve Croall, 17 Michael McComish, 18 Gareth McComb, 19 Jonny Larbey, 20 Geoff Griffiths, 21 Jon Buchanan, 22 Jamie Blackwood.

Bees

15 Matt Nuthall, 14 Brodie Henderson, 13 Adam Billig, 12 Tristan Davies, 11 Kyle Palm, 10 Rod Petty, 9 Reece Spee, 1 Matt Long, 2 Matt Miles, 3 Hotili Asi, 4 Mark Gabey (captain), 5 Alex Davidson, 6 Leo Halavatau, 7 Akapusi Qera, 8 Will Matthews.

Replacements:  16 Mark Cornwell, 17 Emyr Lewis, 18 Stewart Pearl, 19 Dean Miller, 20 Mike Baxter, 21 Simon Martin, 22 Jon Higgins.

Bees were seen beforehand as a potential banana skin, however they were never allowed to express themselves as Roth dominated all aspects of the contest. Particularly pleasing for Roth was the improvement in their line out, it was virtually perfect all match.

Post game a controlled Andre Bester showing little emotion said, “It was our best performance of the season so far, but we won’t get carried away by it. We’ve worked very hard on our mistakes and our attitude. We’ve had a big problem with our aggression and patience so far this year and we’ve addressed that. We will work harder next week to make sure we keep on improving.”

In a scrappy opening fifteen minutes in which Bees should have scored a try, the main action was Roth lock Louis McGowan receiving a yellow card for a high tackle. From the resulting penalty Bees full back Matt Nutthal nudged the hosts into the lead.

However virtually from the restart, Roth kicker Gareth Steenson leveled matters with a straight forward penalty of his own. Roth now began to find their feet and function as an effective unit.

On 25 minutes Roth won a scrum 10 metres out and in front of the Bees posts. The 7 men Roth pack pushed and bullied their counterparts backwards and before Neil Cochrane had the chance to touch down, Bees fly half Rod Petty came from no-where to get involved in the scrum.

Petty received a yellow card for his troubles and the referee awarded Roth their 4^th penalty try of the season. Steenson made the easy conversion in front of the sticks.

Seven minutes before the break, the ever effective Jannie Bornman made a useful midfield break and found Hendre Fourie. Fourie shared an interchange of passes on the right flank with Louis McGowan before crashing through to score next to the corner flag. Steenson made the difficult conversion.

Half Time: Bees 6-17 Rotherham

Bees started the second half much brighter and put Roth under pressure with a succession of penalties. However the hosts were unable to breach the Roth try line and ended up settling for 3 points from the boot of Nutthal.

Two minutes later though Roth bounced back. Fourie was quickest to react to a loose ball and secured possession for Roth. The ball came out, and Tuohy and Bedford were involved before finding Andrew Turnbull on the right flank. Turnbull displayed excellent speed before touching down in the corner. Once again Steenson made a fantastic conversion from the touchline.

Roth went in search of the 4^th try which would secure the bonus point. And although Roth was still on top, the game entered a scrappy period with both sides making a number of mistakes.

Finally, five minutes before the end Roth clinched the bonus point which their performance truly deserved. Once again Fourie was at the start of the move when he anticipated a Bees pass and made an interception.

Off Fourie galloped and made a good 25 metres before finding support from the improving Michael McComish. McComish jinked inside and fed the inspirational Bornman who ran in from 30 metres to score under the posts for a fine try. Steenson made the conversion for a perfect five out of five to follow his six out of six last week against Waterloo.

Final Score: Bees 6-31 Rotherham

Roth captain Neil Cochrane who was very effective after a three week break with a shoulder injury, said after the game, “I thought it was a brilliant performance today and our defence was phenomenal. The front five were outstanding; they were the backbone of the team. They really carried us and they dominated the line out and scrums. I thought Gareth Steenson’s kicking was awesome, he’s real quality. And it was a good all round team performance as well.”

Attendance: 700

Other Weekend Results

Sat 7 October 06

Coventry 20-27 London Welsh

Doncaster 23-29 Cornish Pirates

Exeter 18-14 Plymouth Albion

Newbury 19-18 Nottingham

Otley 16-13 Moseley

Waterloo 13-42 Bedford

Sun 8 October 06

Leeds v Sedgley Park

National Division 1

Rotherham v Nottingham - 14 October, at the Earth Arena.

kick off 3.00pm