National Division 1

9th December 2006

Cross Green

Kick Off 2.00pm

Otley 3

Titans 47

V

Earth Titans: 15 Mike Whitehead, 14 Brian Tuohy, 13 Shane Stewart (Allen 55), 12 Bernard Hennessey, 11 Jon Feeley, 10 Gareth Steenson (Blackwood 70), 9 Joe Bedford (Capt), 1 Stuart Corsar (Carey 44), 2 Nigel Conroy (Hanna 74), 3 Adam Hopcroft (Croall 60), 4 Jannie Bornman (Lund 57), 5 Louie McGowan, 6 Hendre Fourie (Cochrane 55), 7 Barry Jacobsz, 8 Mike McComish.

Replacements: 16 Steve Croall, 17 Jarleth Carey, 18 Neil Hanna, 19 Erik Lund, 20 Neil Cochrane, 21 Tom Allen, 22 Jamie Blackwood.

Otley: 15 Monks, 14 Andre, 13 Pattison, 12 Cooper, 11 Smith, 10 Pike, 9 Brown, 1 Turner, 2 Steele, 3 Barretto, 4 Parr, 5 Whitehead, 6 Back, 7 Hyde, 8 Stockdale.

Replacements: 16 Livesey, 17 Sayers, 18 Tiffany, 19 Chivers, 20 Edwards, 21 Henry, 22 Howell.

Afterwards Rotherham Head Coach Andre Bester said, “Otley played very well in the first half and Dan Hyde got amongst us the whole time. He didn’t allow us any quick ball, they had a rushed defence trying to put us on the back foot and they threw everything at us. But in the end they ran out of steam.

“The second half we just started playing the way that we can; get possession and keep possession and whenever the opportunity arrives - counter-attack.

“It is frustrating watching from a distance and not being able to communicate with the players, at certain stages I wanted to rip one or two of their heads off! We were trying to be too fancy in the first half, the tries were there to be scored, but we were just absolutely messing around. But yes it’s nice to win and even nicer that they didn’t score a try.”

In an error strewn first half it was the hosts who scored first with a neatly taken penalty from scrum half Andy Brown, after Roth had been penalised for being off-side.

Rotherham kicking up the hill had more than their fair share of possession and territory. However when try scoring opportunities arrived, a combination of tenacious Otley defending and poor Rotherham execution cost the visitors points.

Just before the half hour mark though, Roth did manage to get on the scoreboard courtesy of yet another penalty try. Otley had repeatedly infringed at a five metre Rotherham scrum and referee Ashley Rowden had little alternative. Steenson converted from in front.

For all Roth’s huff and puff in the remainder of the first half, no further scores were added. Titans on loan loose head prop Stuart Corsar did however manage to get to the half time oranges first, after being yellow carded for slowing down the host’s ball.

There was mutterings within the home crowd at half time that another Otley upset was on the cards. Yet how were they or anyone else expected to anticipate what was about to happen in the second half.

Try number two for Roth came on 53 minutes when a fine, long, miss-pass from Steenson arrived with Tuohy, who once again showed good pace to touch down in the corner. The conversion from the touchline was superbly dispatched by Gareth Steenson.

Within three minutes try number three was notched up for Roth. This time stand-in skipper Joe Bedford was on the end of a fine team move, which saw the ball go through multiple hands before arriving with the skipper for a converted try. It has to be acknowledged that Joe Bedford is among many at Roth who are having an outstanding season.

For the second time in three weeks the game went to uncontested scrums, this usually removes a major weapon from the Rotherham armoury. However Roth’s next try came from a scrum just 10 metres from the Otley line. Joe Bedford picked up from the base and showed good vision, pace and strength to snipe up the blind side to score the bonus-point try. Steenson just missed with his conversion attempt.

Rotherham was now rampant and ten minutes from time Tom Allen picked a fine line to cut through the ever-disheartened Otley defence. Three minutes from time Mike McComish secured himself another Roth try, after an impressive 15 metre driving maul from the visiting pack. And deep into injury time Tom Allen fed a neat pass to Bernard Hennessey who found a big enough gap in the home defence to touch down near the posts.

The latter two conversions were taken by Mike Whitehead after Gareth Steenson had to leave the field through injury. And with that the ref blew to save the hosts from further punishment.

Final Score: Otley 3-47 Rotherham

A special mention must be made for Mike Whitehead, as he put in a marvellous display, undoubtedly his finest for Roth in the number 15 shirt. He deservedly won the man of the match award and afterwards Bester said of him, “Mike is a fine rugby player and he played well today. There’s a lot of pressure on everyone to play well because we have a lot of competition for places, but it’s difficult to make changes when people play like that.”

Mike’s own assessment of his game was, “It was probably my best game at 15, although maybe not the first twenty. The last hour went well and we got things going. I’m getting a lot more confident there, I know the position and I feel a lot more comfortable where I’m standing. Hopefully I’ll get better there each and every week.”

Other Nat 1 fixtures this weekend

Leeds Tykes 27-10 Pertemps Bees
 

National Division 1

Roth v Exeter 16 December at the Earth Arena

kick off 2.00pm

*PICTURES COURTESY OF RICHKID