Key sacked after Titans crash to 12th league defeat
ROTHERHAM parted company with head coach Andy Key after this defeat to Doncaster with Titans now a massive 19 points behind n the fight for Championship survival.
Assistant coach Nic Rouse will take temporary charge of the team that has lost all 12 of their league games.
Key, who had been at Clifton Lane only since the spring, told the players after this latest loss that he was leaving, but would not talk publicly about his dismissal.
Rotherham now seem to be preparing for National One, but in the first half of this Christmas derby they performed like a Championship side.
In fact, they led 16-14 at half-time after a try by centre Drew Cheshire and three well struck penalties from fly-half Caolan Ryan.
Indeed, after 10 minutes of the second half, Rotherham led 19-17 as Ryan added another penalty, but Doncaster, recovering from a mediocre first half effort, raised their performance substantially as they dominated territory and possession.
Rotherham declined quickly as Doncaster’s power and pack gained control to score two second half tries to top up the earlier efforts of centre Will Owen, exRotherham, and hooker Ben Hunter.
Scrum half Michael Heaney darted over on 55 minutes and then, right at the end, Doncaster earned a bonus point when another former Titan, winger Curtis Wilson, touched down for the fourth.
Doncaster’s win signified a return to form as this was the first league victory since the end of September. It owed much to the accurate goal kicking of fly-half Simon Humberstone, who produced a match-winning display of 16 points: two conversions and, more importantly, four second half penalties.
Humberstone’s penalties punished Rotherham mistakes and prevented them making progress on a promising first half in which they competed aggressively and were the stronger side.
So it is a happy Christmas for Doncaster coach Clive Griffiths, who said: “Everyone deserves massive accolades. We looked a very formidable pack and we showed shades of our old form.
“This result prepared us well for the next derby against Yorkshire Carnegie at Castle Park on Friday.”