Sickener for Titans as late penalty costs them a draw

ROTHERHAM lost in sickening circumstances as Bedford fly-half Will Hooley struck a successful penalty to clinch the points in the last play.

The Titans, who scored two excellent tries by scrum-half Rhodri Davies and replacement winger Jake Henry in the second half, had recovered to 15-15 and seemed likely to earn a share of the points.

However, Rotherham were penalised in the second minute of injury time as Bedford’s pack were raiding the Titans line which gave Bedford, dominant and impressive in the opening half but mediocre later on, a final opportunity to win.

Hooley, who had already put over a conversion and a penalty, calmly added his third accurate kick to confirm Bedford’s seventh victory in the Championship, while otherham are left staring relegation in the face after their 15th defeat in 16 league games.

Bedford’s win was achieved despite losing player-coach Alex Rae to the sin-bin for foul play on 64 minutes.

Rae said: “We were fortunate to get the right result. Rotherham showed tremendous heart and fight and I almost feel sorry for them.

“We are disappointed we didn’t put the game away, but we dropped the ball uncharacteristically when we had scoring chances. We have to be much more clinical.”

Titans, outplayed in the first half as Bedford controlled ball and territory, conceded two tries as backs Elliot ClementsHill and Rich Lane completed slick moves to lead 15-0. However, they recovered and remarkably scored a thrilling try from Davies despite being down to 14 after a yellow card to centre Rory Jennings for foul play in the 45th minute.

A penalty by replacement Caolan Ryan following Rae’s yellow cut the gap to 15-10 and Rotherham, playing with ferocious commitment and by no means looking like a side that’s sliding to relegation, then scored a second exciting try thanks to Henry’s pace in the 72nd minute.

Transformed, Titans had the momentum, but their failure to clear the threat from Bedford’s forwards in the final minute proved fatal.

Rotherham coach Nick Rouse said: “Defensively we were outstanding and a draw would have been fair. Scoring that try a man down was really good, but I’m disappointed we didn’t exit properly at the end and then we gave the penalty away.”