Taunton Titans 37 Cinderford 31

As Cinderford ran out of the tunnel the crowd of 1393 gave polite applause but with the appearance of the Titans the roar of appreciation must have been heard throughout the whole of Taunton, it was deafening.  The Titans responded accordingly and from the kick off really pressed the Cinderford line.  Good defence by Cinderford kept the Titans out and mistakes by the Titans allowed Cinderford to clear their lines.  6-minutes and Cinderford giveaway a penalty on their 10-metre line. Up stepped “Man of the Match” Louis Sinclair to convert the penalty taking the Titans into a three-point lead.  Back came the Titans attacking the Cinderford half and having most of the possession it was a real shock when Cinderford centre Max Knight burst through the centre, shrugging off the Titans defence and handing on to brother Tom Knight to score a try which was converted to give Cinderford the lead.  Just three-minutes later and Max Knight exposed the Titans defence again passing on for Cinderford winger Sam Smith to finish the move for their second converted try and an11-point lead.  The Titans did not capitulate and were rewarded with a try by Will Vaughan to which Louis added the extras.  Cinderford were winning more possession and from a rolling maul scored another try to give them a nine-point cushion.  36-minutes and Oscar Stewart showed his outstanding ability.  Tackling his opposite wing he was back on his feet trying to win the ball which his opposite man held on to and Oscar won the penalty which Louis duly converted.  Just a 6-point deficit for Titans now.  With the whistle about to go for the end of the first half the Titans went on the attack with Franki Diaz-Dart coming into the line and scoring under the posts. Louis added the conversion, and the Titans had a halftime one-point lead.

There was a piece of real magic to start the second half with Oscar Stewart fielding the ball in his own22.  Several side steps took him to halfway, two broken tackles took him clear, and his electric pace took him the rest of the way for what must be the most exciting try from any winger this year.  Louis converted again and the Titans have an eight-point lead.  10-minutes later after some well controlled possession from the Titans one of our most outstanding young players for the year Sam Leworthy, scored a well-deserved try which again Louis converted giving the Titans a try bonus point. A further ten-minutes and Louis slotted over his third penalty of the game, giving him a total of 17-points. The game seemed comfortably won but a real effort by Cinderford earned them two tries in the last 5-minutes to give them a try bonus point as well as a losing bonus point.

The players commented afterwards on the lift they had from the crowd so if we can bottle that and they take it to Blackheath then we have a result.  With a performance like this the team can beat anyone and everyone in this league and we must show our appreciation for this. Whilst Louis got the man of the match award, it was Toots who received the Ollie Massingham player of the season award, voted for by all of the loyal supporters we have had follow the Titans all season.  Our thanks go to these supporters and of course to our dedicated players who have served us well all season.  We must also never forget those who work behind the scenes with these players. The Warriors have had an outstanding physiotherapist go with them each week and the Titans have had Molly who patches them up and keeps them all going.  Nicky Massingham works so hard for these players but the person who takes the most abuse but without whom the system would fail is Steve Frost and I know all of the players and backroom staff appreciate the amount of dedication and hard work he puts into the whole Titans set up.