Titans Taught a Lesson by TJ's

Tonbridge Juddians taught Taunton a thing or two in attacking rugby and taking your opportunities as they ran out convincing winners out scoring the Titans 7 tries to 2.

It was the home side that came flying out the blocks and scored after 3 minutes with a clever cross field kick, that with some great off loads ended up under the posts. Taunton found themselves under their own posts again 5 minutes later after some poor Titans defence and again some great passing in the tackle by TJ’s, which they did well all day, allowed them to open up a 14 point lead before Taunton got a penalty kicked by Gary Kingdom.

Both teams then looked quite even before the home side took control and never looked back. Tonbridge’s fly half Will Robinson had a great game and along with his half back partner Charlie Edwards controlled the game throughout and on the 25 minute mark converted his own try before the Titans got their first try of the game through a driving maul which was claimed by hooker Chris Francis. A 21 – 10 half time deficit wouldn’t have been too bad for the Titans but another lapse in defence and Tonbridge went over for their bonus point try before the half time whistle.

Taunton needed to come out in the second half with a new attitude and they did just that, Tonbridge kicked a penalty through Robinson before Ollie Rice went over out wide after the home side stopped playing after they thought there was an advantage to go back to, Rice pounced on the loose ball and dotted it down over the line in a sheepish style but the referee gave the try. Kingdom converted to make the score 29 – 17 with 35 minutes to go. After this the game was all Tonbridge as they scored 3 minutes later and ran in a two further tries without reply to record and emphatic win and claim the well deserved 5 points.

After the game TJ's said that was the best they had played all season, which seems to be the case for a lot of the teams the Titans face at the moment. Tonbridge showed the Titans the difference in attacking with purpose and ferocity and not just going through the motions. Yes the hosts off loads all came off but you have to be in those positions in the first place for them to happen and come off something the TJ support runners did well all day. When you are near the top of the league teams will always raise their game and be up for the challenge, the difficulty is when you are the team who people want to take on and judge themselves against you have to be at your best every game. Unfortunately for the Titans they haven't been anywhere near that, hence why they have now lost 3 in a row and find themselves slipping down the table from 2nd to 6th in just a few weeks.

The pressure doesn't end for the Titans with a local derby against Old Redcliffians this coming weekend and they will be sensing a weakness within the Taunton camp and hoping to make if 4 losses in a row and move closer to safety. With the half way point of the season fast approaching the Titans will need to change their fortunes if they want to start moving back up the table rather than down.

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