Taunton Titans v Syston

From the kick off to start the game, the Titans showed their intent by getting to the ball for the arial exchange and winning it.  With the ball coming back to Tom Putt he accurately placed it in the corner for a lineout.  The Titans kept Syston pinned in this corner  and whilst the opposition tried to clear their lines after 5 minutes the Titans “turned the ball over and gained possession.  It was no surprise that within ten-minutes  that constant pressure rewarded Ewan Guy with the try which Tom Putt converted.  From the restart it was Syston who then put together a good series of possession moving the ball wide on every occasion and testing the Titans defence who held firm. On 22-minutes Syston when attacking dropped the ball and Tom Putt collected the ball and raced away to score the try which he converted.  Just five-minutes later Tom converted one of only three penalties conceded by Syston in the first half, to extend that lead.  Each side only conceded three penalties in that first half which caused great praise from the spectators who commented that the referee was the most un-obtrusive referee we have had, keeping the game moving and making the players the most important people on the field and not himself.  On 29-minutes we saw some absolute brilliance from Scott Gibson at scrum half who picked up from the base of the ruck on the halfway line, dummied to pass and sprinted through the gap at the base of the ruck drawing his man just outside the opposition22meter line and passing to Jay Toogood who scored the try.  Tom added the conversion.  From the re-start another piece of magic from Nick Mason who took the ball and went through the gap, on being stopped he was able to offload to Max Whitlock in support who drew his man before handing onto the pace of Oscar Kolowski to score the try which Tom Putt hit the post in trying to convert.  Syston were not giving up and with the Titans conceding a penalty Syston won the lineout and mauled to the line for their number eight Max Humphries to score the try which Finlay Nockles converted to leave the halftime score at Titans 29 Syston 7.

It was Syston who started off the second half brighter, retaining more possession and testing the Titans defence and with just eight minutes of the half gone their England Qualified wing Austin Neville scythed through the defence to score the try which was converted by Finlay Nockles  to double their core to 14-points.  Just 5-minutes later he did the same again and with the Nockles conversion Syston were within 8-pointsof the Titans lead.  Still Syston attacked but again from a dropped ball Oscar Kolowski was able to pick up the ball race clear before passing to Dan Martin to score the try which Tom Putt converted.  Tom steadied the nerves with20-minutes of the game left by kicking a penalty.  The Titans were retaining more possession with “man of the match” Tom Bradner still driving at the Syston defence and recycling good possession.  From this Dan Martin was able to go in for his second try of the game taking the Titans to over 40-points.  Tom Putt hit the post again in his conversion attempt.  The lineout had not been one of the Titans greatest achievements during the afternoon with Taine Benson a former Taunton Colt and Warriors player stealing a lot of the Titans ball.  But with just three-minutes of the game left Tom kicked a penalty to touch on the Syston 22metre line.  Jo Elsworth took the ball well and passed it back to Vaea Taione who had thrown in for Vaea (Elvis) to race clear up the touchline and score the try. Tom kicked the conversion to take the Titans points tally to over 50.  With the last move of the game the Titans conceded the penalty and Syston kicked to the corner winning the lineout and mauling over the line for Max Humphries to score their fourth try and his second for a well-deserved bonus point.

The Titans again showed their attacking ability in scoring seven tries but gave us all nerves in allowing the opposition to run them close after the break. But full marks must go to them for re-grouping and gaining the advantage.  Next week the Titans have the50-mile trip up the motorway to Brislington on the northern outskirts of Bristol, to play Old Reds where they will deal with the confines of a smaller pitch and the slope.  The Warriors are home to Gordon League from Gloucester so if you are not travelling up the motorway please come and support your Warriors who always play expansive exciting rugby.

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