Titans Vs OA's

vWhat an absorbing, pulsating game of National League rugby was put on display last Saturday afternoon when the Taunton Titans took on Old Albanian to eventually emerge the victors 38-36 and in so doing secure second place in League 2(South) (writes Dick Macey).

The weather forecasters had suggested the likelihood of a very wet afternoon but in the event the threatened deluge held off, the sun strained to present a faint smile and the pitch proved to be in fantastic condition, all factors which contributed to a fantastic afternoon of rugby football.

The Taunton faithful might argue that the Titans have a habit of sitting back and running their games to the wire before claiming the victory but in truth the score line fails to register the fact that much of the game was dominated by the home side but that was certainly not the case for the first quarter. OAs came out with all guns blazing and using their big forwards lay siege to the Titan’s line and it was only determined gritty defence that kept them at bay.   It was nonetheless inevitable that they would be the first to trouble the scoreboard and they eventually pushed the home side’s pack over the line under the posts for a converted to try to take a 0-7 lead.   This stirred the Titans into a positive reaction and they quickly retaliated with two tries through flanker Charlie Williams and the prolific try scoring prop, Isaac Dalton (his seventh of the season) with both being converted by Gary Kingdom.   The Titans then foolishly relaxed only to be rocked back to reality when they let the OAs in for their second converted try and the half closed out with score 14-14.

The Titans had clearly been given a sharp lecture in how to stay on the front foot during the interval because they sat upon their rivals in the second session and in the process scoring three tries through Jack Anott, debutant Tom Wyatt and Ollie Down, all converted by Kingdom and then a further unconverted contribution from Williams with only one converted try in response from the visitors.   Suddenly the score board showed the Titans leading 38-21 and you would have thought the job had been done but the OAs had other ideas and the visitors clawed their way back to the point that they scored a try in the corner in a mystifying 7th minute of injury time to be in with a shout of an unlikely draw. Their kicker, Joe Butler, who had kicked everything previously slid his kick wide and the referee closed the game with the home side nailing the bonus point win and the visitors claiming two bonus points and thus avoiding going home empty handed.

In truth the Titans would have felt they had been dealt with unjustly had the OA’s managed to squeak the draw but for all of their quality and attractive attacking flair they have got to tackle their propensity to allow their opponents back in the game – these two point victories are not good for this correspondent’s well-being.

This coming Saturday the Titans make the long road trip to Southend-on-Sea to tackle league newcomers Westcliff and the following week (25thOctober – Friday evening – kick off 7.45pm) they will be at home to near-neighbours Clifton.  

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