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#Post#: 12512--------------------------------------------------
Titans Grab Yorkshire Bragging Rights In Big Win Over Tykes
DIR By: MG_3
Date: September 13, 2025, 12:51 pm
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Rotherham Titans continued their fine early season form with a
stunning 52-12 win over Yorkshire rivals Leeds Tykes on a bright
afternoon at Clifton Lane.
Both sides gave everything in a pulsating National 1 derby clash
that was full of skill, intensity and physicality.
However, it was the South Yorkshire outfit that eventually
overpowered the visitors to run in 8 tries to 2 and maintain
their perfect start to the season.
The first half in particular was a keenly fought affair that saw
Rotherham take an early lead through fly half Rob Povey after he
showed good awareness to squeeze over after 4 just minutes.
Leeds however were up for the battle as they looked to match
Rotherham’s physicality and they showed ambition with ball in
hand. This in turn led to them nudging ahead on 16 minutes when
winger Sam Taylor rounded the Titans defence for a converted
try.
Rotherham responded quickly to reestablish their advantage with
first hooker Morgan Veness dotting down from the tail of a
powerful maul, followed by second rower Curran Maguire being on
hand to go over after some fine work by Rob Povey.
The first half played out with no further scores, but it wasn’t
for the lack of effort from two sides looking to dominate
whenever possible.
After the interval Rotherham ramped up the intensity which
resulted in a dominant display that saw them score a further 5
tries.
John Okafor was on hand to make the most of an interception from
a back-peddling Leeds scrum on 44 minutes.
Centre Lloyd Hayes was next on the scoresheet when he
unexpectedly sniped over from the base of a ruck!
Replacement hooker Luke Cole scored Titans sixth try when he
dabbed down from the tail of another powerful drive.
Rotherham’s penultimate try was a lovely one; second rower
Curran Maguire threw a long pass infield to full back Isaac
Shaw, who proceeded to glide through the Leeds defence from 40
metres out to score near the corner.
The eighth and final try for Rotherham came from turnover ball
on their own 22. The ball arrived with Will Metcalfe who showed
great pace to gallop 80 metres downfield to score under the
posts.
Although Leeds scored a consolation try in injury time with the
last play from skipper Adam Brown, it didn’t take the shine off
what was an outstanding display from the hosts.
The Titans must be pleased with their start to the new season
having won both games with bonus points and scoring 14 tries.
They will now refocus on their preparation ahead of their next
task away to league newcomers Clifton next week at Station Road.
Speaking after the game Titans Harvey Biljon reflected:
“Never underestimate a Yorkshire derby; you look at the
scoreline but don’t underestimate how much that would have taken
out of our players.
“I’m impressed with the way the players trained this week and
with the way they stayed focused though the game. It was a
testament to our whole squad; we had a few changes from last
week and I’m really pleased to come away with the win.
“There’s a couple of areas that stand out for me; I think the
way we are defending is an area where we can take some
confidence.
“There’s a real shared responsibility across the forwards and
backs that’s coming through in how we play and in the first
half, we only got into their tryline area 6 times, but we came
away with 3 scores. We also felt we needed to address our
discipline, because that was inviting pressure and to be fair, I
thought Leeds played well in the first half.
“In the second half I think our territory and possession told,
which meant they had to probably change what they were trying to
achieve, and we were able to take advantage of any unforced
errors.
“However, we’ll not get too caught up in that because we are
going to have another big challenge next week at Clifton.”
𝘛𝘐𝘛𝘈𝘕𝘚
𝘚𝘊𝘖𝘙𝘌𝘚:
Povey (T), Veness (T), Maguire (T), Okafor (T), Cole (T), Shaw
(T), Metcalfe (T), Hayes (T, 6C)
𝘓𝘌𝘌𝘋𝘚
𝘛𝘠𝘒𝘌𝘚
𝘚𝘊𝘖𝘙𝘌𝘚:
Taylor (T), Brown (T), Crossland (2C)
𝘠𝘌𝘓𝘓𝘖𝘞
𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘋: None
𝘈𝘛𝘛𝘌𝘕𝘋𝘈𝘕𝘊𝘌:
250
𝘙𝘌𝘍𝘌𝘙𝘌𝘌:
Ben Simpson
𝘈𝘚𝘚𝘐𝘚𝘛𝘈𝘕𝘛
𝘙𝘌𝘍𝘌𝘙𝘌𝘌𝘚:
Ian Farrell & Brendan Fitzmaurice
𝘛𝘐𝘛𝘈𝘕𝘚
𝘟𝘝:
15 - Isaac Shaw,
14 - Jackson Barling,
13 - Lloyd Hayes,
12 - Travis Gordon,
11 - Mitchell Lacey-Babalola,
10 - Rob Povey,
9 - JB Bruzulier,
1 - Alastair Donkor,
2 - Morgan Veness,
3 - Andrew Foster,
4 - Frankie Gascoigne,
5 - Curran Maguire,
6 - John Okafor,
7 - Harry Newborn (Capt.),
8 - Callum Bustin.
𝘛𝘐𝘛𝘈𝘕𝘚
𝘙𝘌𝘗𝘓𝘈𝘊𝘌𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘚:
16 - Luke Cole,
17 - Zach Toerien,
18 - Xavier Valentine,
19 - Fraser Hastie,
20 - Will Metcalfe.
𝘓𝘌𝘌𝘋𝘚
𝘛𝘠𝘒𝘌𝘚
𝘟𝘝:
15 - Charlie Venables,
14 - Will Yates,
13 - Ben Dixon,
12 - Tom Wiliams,
11 - Sam Taylor,
10 - Eddie Crossland,
9 - Ewan Laughton,
1 - Toby Williams,
2 - Adam Brown (Capt.),
3 - Will Dennis,
4 - Louis Guthrie,
5 - Tom Collins,
6 - Lucas Walsh,
7 - Connor Walker,
8 - Jonny Teague.
𝘓𝘌𝘌𝘋𝘚
𝘛𝘠𝘒𝘌𝘚
𝘙𝘌𝘗𝘓𝘈𝘊𝘌𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘚:
16 - Alex Pleasants,
17 - Jordan Cordice,
18 - Will Smith,
19 - Eddie Brown,
20 - Henry Macnab.
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