Taunton Titans 34 Barnstaple 41

A crowd of 616 enjoyed a twelve try feast and it could have been more had the Titans not had two of their line crossings deemed to have been held up and another where a pass was interfered with when the defence was beaten.  As it is at the moment the Titans have the third highest points for in the league but only one team is below the Titans for points against.  

Taunton opened the scoring after just 5-minutes when a foray down the left wing resulted in Ben Heath going in for the try in the corner.  It was always going to be a difficult attempt at the conversion and the wind took the ball just wide.  The Titans were dominating possession and it seemed as though it would be just a matter of time before further scores were to be on the board. However, against the run of play and with Barnstaple having their first taste of a longer period of possession their wing Connor Swan went in for the try which was converted to give Barnstaple a two-point lead.  The Titans regained their composure and from a pick and drive Ollie Schuster-Wood showed his strength, power and pace to step out of the tackle, power through an attempted tackle and sprint 30 metres to outpace the defence to score the try. Tom converted and the Titans had a five-point lead.  Just two minutes later and “Man of the Match” Archie Spokes made the break and with a well-timed pass to Connor Banks in support the try was scored for Tom to convert and extend the lead to 12-points.  The Titans gave away a very soft penalty just before the half hour which was kicked to the corner.  Barnstaple won the lineout and mauled to the line for their hooker Stretch to score the try reducing the Titans lead.  Almost from the restart Barnstaple conceded the penalty which Tom put between the uprights to extend the Titans lead.  There was an extended stoppage for Andrew Humberstone who had received a very robust “dead leg” and had to leave the pitch.  From the re-start Barnstaple drove forward with several rucks Prop Forward Robinson was able to score the try which Sellick converted.  Just two minutes later and centre Jacob Murphy raced through the centre to score the try  which was converted and gave them a four-point halftime lead.  The Barnstaple coach said in his interview after the game that this was the turning point in the game as it gave the Barnstaple players a belief that they were able to beat the Titans.

Most teams in this league have a 4:1 split on the bench of four forwards and one back.  Most teams also use the bench to change their front row near to or just after halftime. The second half started with Oliver Jeffrey replacing Alex Spurdle and Isaac Dalton replacing Vaea Taione (Vis) in the front row.  From the re-start for the second half the Titans turned the ball over and freed “Toots” up the right wing who completely out paced the Barnstaple defence to score the try and restore the Titans lead.  During that attack Dan Martin took a nock and had to be replaced by Andrew Humberstone carrying the leg nock he had earlier.  Just a minute after that and Ollie Schuster-Wood had his foot stamped and this required him to leave the pitch.  This brought Vis back on a loose head prop.  The Titans still kept pressing and a very clever kick by Tom Putt allowed Jay Toogood to collect and race to the corner.  The Assistant referee concluded that he had made the touchdown before being bundled into touch and Jay had achieved a stunning Try. The conversion from the touchline into a swirling wind just dropped short but the Titans had extended their lead to eight points or two scores with20-minutes of the game left.  Joe Elsworth replaced Ben Rogers and Andy England replaced Alex Long in a tactical move.  Jo was fearless in his tackling around the fringes and prevented Barnstaple making any real progress.  Whilst the Titans were making progress so their penalties conceded count started to rise which frequently relieved their pressure on Barnstaple.  Connor Swan the Barnstaple wing then exploited a Titans error and raced away for the try which was converted to bring Barnstaple within just three points of the Titans.  Penalties conceded and kicks to touch withdriving mauls resulted in two more tries for Barnstaple giving them the lead.  Vis had done his best and credit must go to Alex Spurdle who came on the fill the loosehead prop position.  Still the Titans threatened the Barnstaple line and with just 5 minutes to go Andy England took a very nasty nock to the head and had to be replaced by Ben Rogers. With those injuries it left the Titans with no replacements but full credit must go to them all who raised their energy levels and fought right until that last minute for the equaliser.

Injuries are always a problem and the coaching team will be aware of the need for fit players for this coming Saturday’s game at Cinderford, where we hope as many of you as possible will travel to support the side.  There was some outstanding commitment from all of the players in a game which they could have won.

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