Roth Scrum
Bedford 24 - 16 Titans
Roth Scrum
By Roth Admin
October 10 2005
Rotherham Earth Titans will rue poor decision making and individual errors as they reflect on their 24-16 defeat at Bedford. The game was theirs for the taking, particularly after a superb first half effort. But their inability to make use of the slope in the 2nd half ultimately cost them dearly.
Roth Scrum
October 10 2005
Rotherham Earth Titans will rue poor decision making and individual errors as they reflect on their 24-16 defeat at Bedford. The game was theirs for the taking, particularly after a superb first half effort. But their inability to make use of the slope in the 2nd half ultimately cost them dearly.
Poor kicking out of hand and at the posts, coupled with individual errors knocking on at crucial times, certainly denied the visitors at least a bonus point and possibly the 4 points that victory would have brought.
However it’s not all doom and gloom. Although Rotherham freely admits they didn’t play well, there were still positives to be taken away. To play badly away, against one of the top sides in the division – with 8 first team players out injured – and to push them so close can only be encouraging for the rest of the season.
The commitment shown throughout was heroic, the tackling was tenacious and the ruck and maul situations were, for most of the game dominated by the Titans, causing Bedford time after time to turn ball over.
The backs proved yet again, when given ball in good situations they are as exciting and dangerous as any in the division. David Strettle has gas to burn and young Gareth Brear is looking increasingly comfortable playing at this level.
Bedford started the brighter as you would expect playing down the hill and after just 3 minutes got the scoreboard moving with a Mark Harris penalty.
On ten minutes Rotherham made their first serious foray into Bedford’s half. From a scrum on halfway the ball was fed to Carter who made good ground before finding Strettle. Strettle’s pace saw him slice through the cover defence before being halted just 5 metres short of the try line.
Five minutes later and Roth were level, Whitehead converted a penalty after Bedford infringed at a ruck
Rotherham were unlucky on 18 minutes as Bedford made a break on halfway. Hepher’s pass to Harris was a forward one which the Italian referee Damasco missed. Harris made the most of his good fortune and raced on to find Kendall who was tackled just short of the line, but centre Tom Luke was on hand to collect and go over for the first try of the game. Harris missed the touchline conversion.
On 26 minutes Rotherham scored the try of the season so far! Deep in Titans 22 a big tackle from McGowan turned over Bedford ball. From there the ball arrived with Strettle and off he went on one of his trademark elusive and speedy runs. Strettle found Carter who laid off to Joe Bedford who had Gareth Brear on hand to beat the full back and go over under the sticks. Mike Whitehead converted to give Roth a 10-8 lead.
From the restart Roth made a bit of a mess and gave the initiative back to Bedford by conceding a penalty. The reliable Harris converted to give the hosts a slim advantage.
On 31 minutes Roth were awarded their own penalty. Surprisingly Whitehead missed, what was for him a regulation kick. Further bad news followed a minute later! Hendrie Fourie who had been outstanding had to leave the field through injury.
Into first half stoppage time saw Rotherham hooker Nigel Conroy sent to the bin for killing the ball under strong Bedford pressure. However Roth weathered the storm and went in at the break trailing by a solitary point.
Rotherham must have been confident of causing an upset knowing the slope was in their favour 2nd half. Just 6 minutes in and Roth were awarded a penalty in front of the posts, around 35 metres out. Yet again inexplicably Whitehead pushed the ball right of the sticks.
Lee Blackett atoned 3 minutes later with a well executed drop goal from around 25 metres to put Roth back ahead. But yet again from the restart Roth made a mess and conceded another easy penalty for Harris to convert.
Back came Roth once again and on 56 minutes gained a penalty of their own after some good forward pressure. This time Whitehead made no mistake and nudged the visitors 16-14 ahead.
On the hour mark Bedford were awarded a scrum on Roth’s 22. The scrum quickly became a maul and Bedford drove in from there to score their 2nd try which Harris converted. Afterwards doubt was raised as to whether the ball had been grounded and to which one of the officials had awarded the try – as both the referee and touch judge both denied doing so!
Ten minutes from time and with Bedford in the ascendancy Roth conceded another penalty for Harris to convert and deny the visitors a bonus point.
Late on Strettle intercepted a pass which would have seen him score a try under the posts to reduce the arrears to a single point. However referee Damasco called play back for a Bedford advantage. This infuriated the Rotherham players as they claimed the referee had called “Advantage over” a few seconds before!
Final Score: Bedford Blues 24 – 16 Earth Titans
Roth Admin MOTM: David Strettle
Earth Titans:
15 Anthony Carter, 14 Dave Strettle, 13 Lodewyk Strauss (Mitchell 73), 12 Lee Blackett (Capt.), 11 Gareth Brear, 10 Mike Whitehead, 9 Joe Bedford, 1 Jon Golding (Carey 69), 2 Nigel Conroy, 3 John Rawson (Hopcroft 69), 4 Louis McGowan (Walton 75), 5 Gareth McComb, 6 Hendré Fourie (Wade 32), 7 Neil Cochrane (Hanna 65), 8 Scott Donald.
Replacements:
16 Michael Kirkwood, 17 Greg Mitchell, 18 Neil Hanna, 19 Jarleth Carey, 20 Adam Hopcroft, 21 Rob Walton, 22 Ben Wade.
Bedford Blues:
15. Mark Harris 14. James Hinkins 13. Tom Luke 12. Matt Allen 11. Paul Kendall 10. Ali Hepher 9. Alex Page 8. Shaun Brady 7. Sacha Harding 6. Nic Strauss 5. Arthur Brenton 4. Jon Phillips 3. Soane Tonga'Uhia 2. Chris Johnson 1. Matt Volland
Replacements:
16. Joe Ross 17. John Brooks 18. Marc Comb 19. Junior Paramore 20. Chris Rainbow 21. Dom Malone 22. Ollie Montgomery
Scorers: Roth – Brear T, Whitehead 1C2P, Blackett DG. Bedford – Luke T, Page T, Harris 1C4P.
Attendance: 2,287
Referee: Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Other Weekend Results:
Cornish Pirates 29 – 20 Nottingham
Newbury 38 – 14 Sedgley Park
Coventry 18 – 36 Harlequins
Doncaster 14 – 9 Plymouth Albion
Exeter 38 – 22 Pertemps Bees
London Welsh 24 – 28 Otley
However it’s not all doom and gloom. Although Rotherham freely admits they didn’t play well, there were still positives to be taken away. To play badly away, against one of the top sides in the division – with 8 first team players out injured – and to push them so close can only be encouraging for the rest of the season.
The commitment shown throughout was heroic, the tackling was tenacious and the ruck and maul situations were, for most of the game dominated by the Titans, causing Bedford time after time to turn ball over.
The backs proved yet again, when given ball in good situations they are as exciting and dangerous as any in the division. David Strettle has gas to burn and young Gareth Brear is looking increasingly comfortable playing at this level.
Bedford started the brighter as you would expect playing down the hill and after just 3 minutes got the scoreboard moving with a Mark Harris penalty.
On ten minutes Rotherham made their first serious foray into Bedford’s half. From a scrum on halfway the ball was fed to Carter who made good ground before finding Strettle. Strettle’s pace saw him slice through the cover defence before being halted just 5 metres short of the try line.
Five minutes later and Roth were level, Whitehead converted a penalty after Bedford infringed at a ruck
Rotherham were unlucky on 18 minutes as Bedford made a break on halfway. Hepher’s pass to Harris was a forward one which the Italian referee Damasco missed. Harris made the most of his good fortune and raced on to find Kendall who was tackled just short of the line, but centre Tom Luke was on hand to collect and go over for the first try of the game. Harris missed the touchline conversion.
On 26 minutes Rotherham scored the try of the season so far! Deep in Titans 22 a big tackle from McGowan turned over Bedford ball. From there the ball arrived with Strettle and off he went on one of his trademark elusive and speedy runs. Strettle found Carter who laid off to Joe Bedford who had Gareth Brear on hand to beat the full back and go over under the sticks. Mike Whitehead converted to give Roth a 10-8 lead.
From the restart Roth made a bit of a mess and gave the initiative back to Bedford by conceding a penalty. The reliable Harris converted to give the hosts a slim advantage.
On 31 minutes Roth were awarded their own penalty. Surprisingly Whitehead missed, what was for him a regulation kick. Further bad news followed a minute later! Hendrie Fourie who had been outstanding had to leave the field through injury.
Into first half stoppage time saw Rotherham hooker Nigel Conroy sent to the bin for killing the ball under strong Bedford pressure. However Roth weathered the storm and went in at the break trailing by a solitary point.
Rotherham must have been confident of causing an upset knowing the slope was in their favour 2nd half. Just 6 minutes in and Roth were awarded a penalty in front of the posts, around 35 metres out. Yet again inexplicably Whitehead pushed the ball right of the sticks.
Lee Blackett atoned 3 minutes later with a well executed drop goal from around 25 metres to put Roth back ahead. But yet again from the restart Roth made a mess and conceded another easy penalty for Harris to convert.
Back came Roth once again and on 56 minutes gained a penalty of their own after some good forward pressure. This time Whitehead made no mistake and nudged the visitors 16-14 ahead.
On the hour mark Bedford were awarded a scrum on Roth’s 22. The scrum quickly became a maul and Bedford drove in from there to score their 2nd try which Harris converted. Afterwards doubt was raised as to whether the ball had been grounded and to which one of the officials had awarded the try – as both the referee and touch judge both denied doing so!
Ten minutes from time and with Bedford in the ascendancy Roth conceded another penalty for Harris to convert and deny the visitors a bonus point.
Late on Strettle intercepted a pass which would have seen him score a try under the posts to reduce the arrears to a single point. However referee Damasco called play back for a Bedford advantage. This infuriated the Rotherham players as they claimed the referee had called “Advantage over” a few seconds before!
Final Score: Bedford Blues 24 – 16 Earth Titans
Roth Admin MOTM: David Strettle
Earth Titans:
15 Anthony Carter, 14 Dave Strettle, 13 Lodewyk Strauss (Mitchell 73), 12 Lee Blackett (Capt.), 11 Gareth Brear, 10 Mike Whitehead, 9 Joe Bedford, 1 Jon Golding (Carey 69), 2 Nigel Conroy, 3 John Rawson (Hopcroft 69), 4 Louis McGowan (Walton 75), 5 Gareth McComb, 6 Hendré Fourie (Wade 32), 7 Neil Cochrane (Hanna 65), 8 Scott Donald.
Replacements:
16 Michael Kirkwood, 17 Greg Mitchell, 18 Neil Hanna, 19 Jarleth Carey, 20 Adam Hopcroft, 21 Rob Walton, 22 Ben Wade.
Bedford Blues:
15. Mark Harris 14. James Hinkins 13. Tom Luke 12. Matt Allen 11. Paul Kendall 10. Ali Hepher 9. Alex Page 8. Shaun Brady 7. Sacha Harding 6. Nic Strauss 5. Arthur Brenton 4. Jon Phillips 3. Soane Tonga'Uhia 2. Chris Johnson 1. Matt Volland
Replacements:
16. Joe Ross 17. John Brooks 18. Marc Comb 19. Junior Paramore 20. Chris Rainbow 21. Dom Malone 22. Ollie Montgomery
Scorers: Roth – Brear T, Whitehead 1C2P, Blackett DG. Bedford – Luke T, Page T, Harris 1C4P.
Attendance: 2,287
Referee: Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Other Weekend Results:
Cornish Pirates 29 – 20 Nottingham
Newbury 38 – 14 Sedgley Park
Coventry 18 – 36 Harlequins
Doncaster 14 – 9 Plymouth Albion
Exeter 38 – 22 Pertemps Bees
London Welsh 24 – 28 Otley
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