Taunton Titans v Rosslyn Park

Taunton Titans 40 Rosslyn Park 17

A bright sunny afternoon and a crowd of over 700 were extremely vociferous when the two teams ran out of the tunnel as two players facing each other were the top two try scorers in the league.  It was not to be either of these two players who brought the crowd to their feet after just 12-minutes but Ratu Vakalutukali (Toots) who went in for the try after some excellent build up play, a try which 18-years-old and “Man of the Match” Louie Sinclair converted.  This was the first of his 20-pointsfor the afternoon.  Up until this point Taunton had had majority of the play retaining the ball and not making mistakes.  It was however one of only two penalties given away by the Titans which allowed Rosslyn Park into their half and the ability to threaten the Titans line which was well resisted.  A huge turning point came on the 17-minutemark when the Titans front row assisted by the rest of the pack drove Rosslyn Park back at a scrum and won the penalty. Whilst they lost the ball at the lineout allowing Rosslyn Park to clear into the Titans half.  The Titans secured the ball and after a few phases of the pack driving, the ball came back to Louie who made a half break and finding Charlie Wright on his shoulder he passed, Charlie broke 3 tackles used his pace and left with just the full back to beat completely sent him the wrong way before scoring the try which when converted gave the Titans a 14-point lead. Rosslyn Park in defence of the Titans possession were giving away penalties but the Titans were not always able to win their own lineout so with good captaincy they opted to kick at goal with Louie extending the Titans lead to twenty points on 26 minutes.  With just 5minutes of the half-left Rosslyn Park showed how dangerous they could be with possession and were rewarded when their wing Charley Walker went in for a try, the conversion was missed but it now meant that Charlie Walker was one try in front of Noah and the top try scorer in the league. Taunton dominance was again rewarded when on the stroke of half-time Louie kicked another penalty leaving the score at the break Titans 23 Rosslyn Park 5.

Just 4 minutes of the second half and the league now had joint top try scorers again when Noah Fenton raced down his wing to score a try which Louis converted. Taunton continued to press and put together a 19-phase series of possession before Rosslyn Park gave away another penalty which Louis converted.  Some excellent probing by the three-quarter line saw Greg Kitson make the half break but with few options left he put in the deftest of grubber kicks for Noah to race on to and become the league’s leading try scorer with the fourth for the Titans and a try bonus point.  Louie converted and the Titans had 40-points on the board.  The altercation between the two scrum halves saw them both receive yellow cards with only 7 minutes left of the game. The nature of possession changed in the last seven minutes in which Rosslyn Park clawed back two tries one of which was by Charley Walker so Noah once again is sharing the spot for leading try scorer in the league.  The game finished with a resounding bonus point win for the Titans 40 points to 17.

We must give credit to the positivity of the whole team and to the Taunton faithful who continue to support in a positive way.  We must also make mention of our two 18-year-old stars. “Man of the Match” Louie Sinclair who controlled the game with great flare and maturity and Noah Fenton who was able to finish off some very good play by the rest of the team.  The forwards put in a tremendous display and were very well supported by the backs.  The next home game at Veritas Park is against Chinnor on 4^th November which will be demanding.  On the same day the Warriors will be playing against Chew Valley who are only one point behind them in the league at Veritas Park with a 2.30pm kick off so come early and walk down to the motorway pitch and show support for our Warriors.

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