BLUES: Rotherham 19 Bedford 16
A toothless second half show from Bedford saw them squander a seven point lead as they suffered injury-time heartbreak at Clifton Lane.
A toothless second half show from Bedford saw them squander a seven point lead as they suffered injury-time heartbreak at Clifton Lane.
The Blues made a dream start as they raced into a 13-0 lead thanks to Daryl Veenendaal's try and five points from the boot of James Pritchard.
However, Bedford wilted in the heat and fell away completely in a second half dominated by the Titans. And the paid the ultimate price in the sixth minute of stoppage time when Rotherham's Argentinean import, Juan Socino, skipped through to score under the post.
In fact he scored all 19 of the home side's points as the Blues slipped to an immensely frustrating first defeat of the season.
Unchanged Blues named a strong line-up for this encounter against Rotherham who had scored a fantastic opening day 26-24 victory at Bristol.
The Titans named 12 new signings in their starting XV and they presented Bedford with the ideal chance to open the scoring on three minutes, but Pritchard's kick from close to the halfway drifted just wide.
However, he made no mistake when presented with a similar opportunity on nine minutes, with his kick this time drifting in between the sticks.
The fleet-footed Jonny Hepworth opened up Bedford's backline on 14 minutes, but lost the ball in the tackle.
The Blues' response was swift though as they touched down their first try of the day from a flowing counter-attack. Duncan Taylor and Ollie Dodge both made yards and Veenendaal spied the gap and darted through unopposed to score under the posts.
In complete control, the Blues stretched their lead with another Pritchard penalty on 20 minutes as they raced into a 13-0 lead.
A terrible lineout from the Titans should have handed the Blues their second try on 22 minutes.
Simple passing down the line saw Veenendaal feed Myles Dorrian and he stepped inside to cut through the Rotherham defence before putting a pass on the plate for Tom Bedford, who fumbled with the line begging.
On his home debut Argentinean centre Socino then passed up a very kickable chance on the half-hour mark, his effort fading just wide.
The visitors were forced to defend desperately at the end of the first half with referee Tim Wigglesworth threatening to send a Bedford player to the bin if they impeded again after Rob O'Donnell spilled the ball on the line on 39 minutes.
Curiously Rotherham chose to kick when their penalty arrived, with Socino nailing his effort.
And deep into first half injury time the Argentinean kicked a second penalty to narrow the gap to just seven points.
Titans continued the second where they left off the first and, after constant pressure, Socino nailed his third kick of the game on 53 minutes.
Bedford responded with some sustained pressure and restored their seven-point lead with Pritchard's third penalty of the day.
Titans response was immediate with another Socino penalty, but he then missed an easy kick that would have narrowed the difference to a point.
Socino and Richard Welding led a great Rotherham break late in the second half that ended in penalty for the Blues, only for referee Tim Wigglesworth to reverse his decision and sin-bin Ollie Dodge.
That handed the advantage fully to the Titans, who had dominated the second half, and some farcical refereeing followed as penalties went one way and then the other as the last 10 minutes died a slow death.
The Titans turned the screw in the closing stages but, despite some brave defence, Rotherham stole victory in the sixth minute of injury time. Having won a lineout the Titans seemed to be going nowhere but a jinking run from Socino saw him scythe through Bedford's tired defence to touch down for the winning score.
He then converted his own score as Bedford were made to learn a bitter lesson.
Rotherham Titans: Nico Steenkamp (Colin Quigley 62), Alex Loney, Rob O'Donnell (Anton O'Donnell 62), Ben Harris (Sam Dickinson 26), James Sandford (Louis McGowan 46), Ryan Burrows, Dan Baines, Adam Kettle, Joe Bedord (C), Cliffie Hodgson (Henry Paul 20-33, 65), Matt Rhodes, Juan Socino, Jonny Hepworth, Pete Swatkins, Richard Welding. Substitutes not used: David McGregor, Tyle Stimpson. T: Socino. P: Socino 4. C: Socino.
Bedford Blues: Laurence Ovens, Dan Richmond (Joe Clark 68), Dan Seal (Phil Boulton 54), Mike Howard, (Sean Tomes 59) Paul Tupai, Alex Rae (Gregor Gillanders 68), Sacha Harding, Jackson Wray, Darryl Veenendaal (Nick Walshe 59), Myles Dorrian, Duncan Taylor, Tom Bedford, Brendan Burke (James Short 59), Ollie Dodge, James Pritchard (C). Substitutes not used: Owen Farrell. T: Veenendaal. P: Pritchard. C: Pritchard 3.
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth
Touch Judges: Andrew Taylorson & Barry Dolby
Attendance: 1,921.
Sin-binned: Dodge 73.
T&C MoM: Jacksom Wray - to the fore throughout for the Blues.
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Weather for Bedford
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North west
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