Agony as Titans throw it all away

Lee Blackett
By Stefan Maslanyk
May 18 2005

THE TITANS ran out of steam and let Exeter steal the end of season encounter 33-41. The way in which Roth allowed their opponents to score 26 points towards the end of the game was alarming. Exeter showed brutally, as have Rotherham so often in the past, its forwards who win matches.

This result takes some believing.

Rotherham, who had scored four cracking tries, their highest tally for 6 games, astonishingly were leading comfortably 30-15 with just 21 minutes of normal time remaining and were on the point of clinching a famous win against the league's runners-up and perennial promotion hopefuls.

And yet – incredibly and dramatically – they threw it all away as Exeter fought back manfully to pull off a victory in an extraordinary game at Herringthorpe Stadium.

Seemingly dead and buried, Exeter roared back to rattle up 26 points in the last 21 minutes of the second half.

The Titan’s defence, so solid for the first hour, collapsed as Exeter, inspired by the introduction of the ex Gloucester and England lock David Sims, scored match winning tries on 59, 67, 79 and 84 minutes.

Before Exeter’s storming climax, Rotherham produced by far their best performance of recent weeks. Looking every inch a decent side, and not one which has managed to lose all but 4 games since Christmas, they led convincingly 23-15 at the break.

The Titan’s excellent first-half defensive work forced errors from Exeter and denied them time and territory. Sharp work from the home pack created quick ruck ball, the gain line was at Rotherham's mercy. Exeter's defence looked vulnerable under the high ball, David Strettle looking dangerous, yet Rotherham failed to capitalise in this area.

Classy tries on 5, 23 and 39 minutes by back rows Opeta Palepoi, Des Tuiavii and centre Peter Jorgensen with a conversion and 3 penalties from Jon Benson, showed clearly what Rotherham are capable of. They were steaming towards a victory when teenage prop, Brendan Lynch, fresh from the under 19’s World Cup in South Africa, stormed over the line on 44 minutes to score their fourth try, converted by Benson; a win should have been guaranteed.

But once again and for the seventh time this season, the Titans were out-muscled in the closing stages of a game.

Poor stamina and fitness combined with abysmal line-out displays has cost the Titans dearly this season leaving them in their lowest ever league finish outside the premiership. And this game typified their season.

The introduction of David Sims and fresh props mid way through the second half was the turning point of the game. They dominated Rotherham's tiring pack, which had hitherto more than matched their counterparts, and laid the platform for the visitor's six-try victory.

The Titans played with character and determination and showed their quality scoring four excellent tries. Roth's fans did not have long to wait for the first, scoring in the fifth minute from first phase when scrumhalf Haami made a sharp break from the base of a scrum. He got behind the defence and slipped the ball to ever present Lee Blackett who took it at pace into Exeter’s scrambling defence and set up a ruck; back row Palepoi picked up the ball before the cover arrived and strolled over in for his third try of the season.

The second try resulted from a high ball in open play which winger Michael Wood collected, he stepped the defence and fed the on-rushing Lee Blackett whose powerful run created an opening for flanker Des Tuiavii to go over in the 23rd minute.

A snappy attack from Roth’s pack just before the break created quick ruck ball, Haami fed Benson who put in Peter Jorgensen who ran a sublime line to go over near the posts to score his 10th try of the season.

The Titan’s final try, early in the second half, saw Brendan Lynch barging over from short range. He collected the ball in a pre-planned run-around move from a lineout 5 metres out hitting the defence with a fair head of steam, his momentum and some of his team-mates drove him over the line for his first try.

The Titans could not be faulted for their character, determination and commitment producing a number of notable performances on the day. Outstanding was man of the match Lee Blackett, his ability and pace on the gain line, especially in the first half, clearly demonstrated that he is a gem in the making.

He showed great commitment in both defence and attack and his ability to get behind the defence, at pace, and off-load caused havoc with Exeter’s defence directly leading to 2 tries.

Referee: Andrew Small (RFU)

Stefan’s Man of the Match: Lee Blackett

Roth Scorers: J.Benson (3P 2C), O.Palepoi (1T), D.Tuiavii (1T), P.Jorgensen (1T), B.Lynch (1T).

Rotherham Titans

15 Anthony Elliott; 14 David Strettle, 13 Peter Jorgensen, 12 Lee Blackett, 11 Michael Wood (Eaton 76), 10 Jon Benson, 9 Brendan Haami, 1 Brendan Lynch, 2 Richard Emms (Briggs 56), 3 Rod Latham (Boulton 40-73), 4 Jon Pendlebury, 5 Glen Kenworthy, 6 Des Tuiavii (Capt.) (Pike 52), 7 Jannie Bornman (Rice 55-57), 8 Opeta Palepoi

Exeter Scorers: G.Kingdom (1T 1P 4C), Rob Baxter (1T), Richard Baxter (1T), A.Murdoch (1T), M.Fatialofa (1T), A.Staniforth (1T)

Exeter Chiefs

15 Gary Kingdom; Craig Cooper, Mark Fatialofa (A.Fatialofa), Stephen Ward, Alistair Murdoch (G.Staniforth); Adam Staniforth, Thomas Hayden; Danny Porte (Ludington), Keith Brooking, George Davis (Miller), Chris Bentley (Ross) (Sims), Rob Baxter (Capt.), Tony Walker, Gary Willis, Richard Baxter.