National Division 1

13th January 2007

Blundellsands

Waterloo 14

Titans 29

Earth Titans

15 Brendan Burke, 14 Jon Feeley (Steenson 53), 13 Showan Smith, 12 Shane Stewart, 11 Brian Tuohy, 10 Mike Whitehead, 9 Joe Bedford (Capt) (Kirkwood 71), 1 Sam Walsh (Carey 53), 2 Nigel Conroy (Hanna 66-71 Blood), 3 Adam Hopcroft (Croall 75), 4 Gareth McComb, 5 Louie McGowan, 6 Hendre Fourie (Cochrane 59), 7 Barry Jacobsz, 8 Jannie Bornman (Hennessey 72).

Replacements: 16 Steve Croall, 17 Jarleth Carey, 18 Neil Hanna, 19 Neil Cochrane, 20 Gareth Steenson, 21 Bernard Hennessey, 22 Michael Kirkwood.

Waterloo

15 Stephen Nutt, 14 Daniel Loader, 13 Peter Murchie, 12 Freeman Payne, 11 Neil Kerfoot, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Chad Erskine, 1 Martin O'Keefe, 2 Chris Tyms, 3 Ben Prescott, 4 Rob O’Donnell, 5 Glen Townson, 6 Chris Plantchant, 7 Simon Cross, R McKay.

Replacements:  16, Alex Davies, 17 John Broxson, 18 Jon Hopgood, 19 Dan Smith, 20 Njike Tchakoute, 21 Peter Ince, 22 Dan Palmer.

On an afternoon where surprising results occurred in the division, it goes to show at this stage of the season, all what really matters is the result and not necessary the performance.

Post game Head Coach Andre Bester said, “I expected more from us in the second half, but we over-elaborated at times and some players chose the wrong options. There were many factors why we didn’t perform as well as we are capable of, the pitch played its part, the wind was very strong out there and we played with training balls – not match balls.

“We made too many unforced errors, but this week we could only train once and that had a big impact on our performance today. It makes it difficult for the players to get focused for matches like these.”

But Bester went on to highlight what is important, adding, “Five points is important – nothing else is important. I’ve said many times already, you can’t win this division before the New Year, but you can loose it. This side of the New Year is where you go and win it!

“But we have to take everything in context; Pirates came up here and lost to them. They went to Exeter and beat Exeter and they’ve brought in three very good players in Simon Cross, Ander Monro and Ben Prescott.”

Bester summed up and praised the effort put in by his players, “We didn’t play well, we were a little bit lethargic, maybe our attitude wasn’t great, but I can’t fault the players for effort.”

The players indeed were a little lethargic at times and no more so than after just three minutes when a loose pass went astray and Waterloo wing Dan Loader collected and raced 60 metres to score. Ander Monro converted neatly in the blustery conditions.

Roth found it difficult to settle and to construct any phases; their passing was hurried and littered with errors. Eventually on 20 minutes however, Mike Whitehead slipped a nice inside pass to Shane Stewart. Stewart showed excellent strength to crash through the gain line and make 25 metres before off-loading to Brian Tuohy who raced home to touch down near the corner for an unconverted try.

Titans error count continued to climb, this time sloppiness lead to a Waterloo line out just 5 metres from the Roth line. Surprisingly for Roth, the catch and drive that followed resulted in home lock Rob O’Donnell touching down quite easily. Once again Monro slotted over an impressive conversion.

Five minutes before the break and Roth showed they too can score from catch and drives when Barry Jacobsz emerged from the bottom of the maul with ball in hand. Whitehead made the neat conversion to leave the visitors trailing by two.

Deep into first half injury time Roth won a scrum around 30 metres out. Jannie Bornman flicked from the base to Joe Bedford, the ball then went through Whitehead and Smith before arriving with Stewart who raced home from 20 metres to score. The conversion was missed and the half finished with Roth holding a narrow 17-14 advantage.

Just eight minutes into the second half and Roth scored their 9^th penalty try of the season after Waterloo persistently infringed at a Roth 5 metre scrum. Whitehead converted from in front.

Roth now had the momentum and the hosts found it almost impossible to get out of their own half. It was only a matter of time before Roth scored again and on the hour mark Showan Smith popped up to score near the corner after more impressive work from the Roth pack. Whitehead missed the difficult conversion.

One expected the flood gates to open now and perhaps Roth would go through the fifty barrier. However, there was to be no further scores. Roth totally dominated both territory and possession, but somehow failed to add to their tally.

As the game went into injury time, Waterloo – to their credit – mounted a late rally and had a five minute period of pressure in the Rotherham half. Ultimately it proved no more than a statement of pride and Roth deservedly took the points back across the Pennines into Yorkshire.

Final Score: Waterloo 14-29 Rotherham

As Doncaster and Plymouth slipped up, Rotherham’s five point win moved them to the top of the league, although Leeds should go back top after their game on Sunday at home to Nottingham.

It does highlight though what has been said many times recently, it’s now all about the result and not the performance. Sure it’s better to win playing a wide, fast expansive game, but at this time of the year on the heavy pitches that are everywhere at the moment, it’s just not possible.

And if Roth continues to collect the wins, then quite frankly – who cares!

Attendance: 456

Other Weekend Results

Sat 13 January 07

Coventry 16-11 Plymouth Albion
Doncaster 20-20 London Welsh
Exeter 35-10 Bedford
Newbury 15-20 Cornish Pirates
Otley 14-25 Sedgley Park
Pertemps Bees 36-25 Moseley
 

Sun 14 January 07

Leeds v Nottingham

EDF National Trophy - Round 4

Bedford v Rotherham - 20 January at Goldington Road.

kick off 3.00pm