Henley Hawks swoop in to win

As Storm Callum blew over the Commsplus Stadium it was Henley Hawks that swooped in and took away the points.The score line was tight but it was the visitors that were the better team throughout and were unfortunate not to have sealed the win earlier in the game.

The Titans on their own pitch are normally a tough side to beat, full of energy, physical in defence and sharp in attack but they were a shadow of that team that is normally on display with an extremely lack lustre performance.

It was Henley that got on the score sheet first with a try from centre Xavier Andre after exploiting some weak Titans defence down the short side. Fly half Roddy Giles, who controlled the game well, kicked the conversion before Gary Kingdom kicked a penalty to close the gap.

With the half time score 3 – 7 the home side would have been told a few home truths from the coaches and they responded well and took the lead after a well taken try by Toby East. Back came the Hawks and reclaimed the lead with a try from flanker Marcus Lowe, Giles converted once again.

The home side never really looked like creating any chances and looked as blunt in attack as they did sloppy in defence and had to rely on individuals to ignite anything. One of these individuals Ratu Vakalutukali tried his hardest all game and managed to power over to score. This brought the score to 13 -14 with just over 10 minutes to go. Taunton then started to come alive but too often the wrong option was taken or the pass was forced and with no bite in their attack Henley could clear any chance of a threat.

In fact it was Henley that managed to put pressure on the Titans and cleverly wore the clock down and managed to kick a penalty on the final whistle for the well-deserved win.

With the Titans looking to push on this season, something will need to change if they want to be in the mix come the latter part of the season as performances like this one would see them finish around mid table, if they were lucky! With the Taunton Warriors putting in performances week in week out, there could be some changes in the coming weeks and players with energy and ambition could be given their opportunity.