By Roth Admin
December 4 2004

Rotherham Titans put on a solid display to beat a game Henley at Clifton Lane by 27 points to 7. After some recent disappointing results that must have affected the Titans confidence, Rotherham got back on track by securing the victory with some outstanding tries from their backs. Rotherham started the better and after just five minutes got the scoreboard ticking. From a breakdown on the Rotherham right Brendan Haami’s sharp pass found Eaton who in turn found Blackett – Blackett then fed Anthony Elliott who at pace cut through the Henley defence to score in the corner for an unconverted try.

Midway through the half Rotherham extended their lead. From line out ball on the Rotherham right the ball was spread along the line to Strettle who made a good break – from the recycled ball Tom Eaton saw a gap in the Henley defence and as quick as you like sniped through and raced around the defence to score under the posts. Eaton converted his own try.

Rotherham dominated the remainder of the first half but some resolute defending from the visitors kept them at bay.

Half Time: Rotherham 12 Henley 0

Rotherham started the second period well but again some resilient defending from Henley made sure nothing came of it. It was then Henley’s turn to exert some offensive pressure and for ten to fifteen minutes it appeared as though they could get a foothold on the game. Tom Eaton relieved the pressure on 67 minutes with a penalty after Henley had repeatedly infringed in the loose.

As the game entered the last five, it appeared as if Roth would have to settle for a 4 point win. Then Brendan Haami threw a long deep pass to Anthony Elliott who made 30 metres before chipping over the top for flying winger David Strettle to collect in his stride and score in the corner for an unconverted try.

Just four minutes later Roth’s pack secured phase after phase and sucked in the Henley defence. When the ball came out to Tom Eaton, he received a pre-planned call from Strettle wide out on his own on the right flank. Eaton made the cross-field kick with precision and allowed Strettle to collect unchallenged and to score Roth’s bonus try under the posts. Eaton made the conversion.

The only disappointment of the day was two minutes into injury time when the visitor’s hooker Jonny Barrett stole over for a consolation try which was converted by Barry Reeves.

Full Time: Rotherham 27 Henley 7


There were plenty of positives for Roth to take from the game. There was another outstanding display from the pack. There were excellent contributions from Strettle, Elliott and Blackett and the new half back pairing of Eaton and Haami was the highlight of the day.

Afterwards Roth’s Tom Eaton reflected on his first start at fly half. “I’ve got to be satisfied really – I was a little bit nervous to be honest. In the last couple of days I’ve been really thankful for all the support I’ve had from around the club – everyone’s been wishing me good luck.

If I’m a little bit hard on myself – which I’ve got to be – my kicking could have been better. I’m looking to make improvements because I’ve got some stiff competition with Ramiro. I just want to work as hard as I can and improve those areas of my game.”

On Rotherham’s 4th try, Strettle’s 2nd try from Eaton’s cross-field kick, Tom added, “I thought it was on and I looked at Strett and Strett thought exactly the same. We’ve done it before a few times coming up through the 21’s. I think Lee Blackett will be disappointed because usually I kick them for him. But yeah it was a great call from Strett, he put himself in a great position and all I had to do was kick him the ball.

My aim is now to make it difficult for Ramiro to get his shirt back. I’ve always been disappointed when I’ve not been picked, I’ve had to be patient and at times it’s been frustrating. I’ve just got to work hard because Pez is a world class player.”

On his partnership with Brendan Haami Tom said, “He’s obviously a great player! He’s the sort of guy whenever I didn’t want the ball he didn’t give it to me and whenever I did, he gave it to me. He just really took the pressure of me, which is what I needed. I was really glad that I had that experience in front of me today. He’s a top bloke and Jake will have his work cut out when he gets back.”



Next up is the away trip to Exeter! Always a difficult place to go, but if Rotherham can build on this solid foundation they can give the West Countrymen a good run for their money.


Roth Admin Man of the Match: Tom Eaton – Excellent first start at fly half. It just makes you wonder what would have happened at Penzance had Tom been on the bench.


Rotherham Titans:

15 Anthony Elliott, 14 Michael Wood, 13 Peter Jorgensen (Keyter 69), 12 Lee Blackett, 11 David Strettle, 10 Tom Eaton, 9 Brendan Haami, 1 Jon Golding (Latham 80), 2 Neil Briggs (Emms 59), 3 John Rawson (Noon 59), 4 Opeta Palepoi (Pendlebury 62), 5 Glen Kenworthy, 6 Des Tuiavii, 7 Craig Short (C), 8 Jannie Bornman (Schmid 69).

Replacements.
16 Richard Emms, 17 Rod Latham, 18 Colin Noon, 19 Jonathan Pendlebury, 20 Mike Schmid, 21 Mark Sweeney, 22 Jason Keyter

Henley Hawks:
15 Rob Laird. 14 Ken Ejikeme, 13 Mike Tamati, 12 Ric Van Zyl, 11 Pete Davies, 10 Barry Reeves, 9 Dan Smaje, 1 Sam Johnstone (C), 2 Jonny Barrett, 3 Adam Hopcroft, 4 James Winterbottom, 5 Steve Green, 6 Jeff Atkinson, 7 Adam Holloway, 8 Tu Tamarua,

Replacements.
16 Rowan Fuller, 17 Rudi Brits, 18 James Astbury, 19 James Jones, 20 Shane McLoughlin, 21 Dave Tibbott, 22 Mathew Robinson