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Titans fixture wrangle after victory bonus
Birmingham & Solihull 0 Rotherham Titans 29
Having defeated one side from the Midlands and in the process achieving a maximum of five points, Rotherham must now concentrate on planning to beat Nottingham, a much stronger team in the Championship this coming weekend.
However, the timing of the fixture is a major problem and it looks as if the RFU at Twickenham will be asked to mediate and make a decision within the next couple of days.
The game was originally scheduled for this Sunday at Meadow Lane, but Notts County's match has since been switched to the same day because it is being televised.
Nottingham Rugby Club have offered instead to play Rotherham this coming Friday evening at Meadow Lane, but that suggestion has been rejected by the Titans, and as Notts County are refusing to let the rugby club play the fixture on Saturday in case the surface is damaged, deadlock has set in.
One way out of the mess would be to move the game to Clifton Lane on Saturday and then play the return match at Meadow Lane towards the end of the season.
A solution must be found because fixtures have to be fulfilled, but the disagreement has upset Rotherham's training programme.
The Titans, who scored four tries against Bees, earned their second league win.
Tries on 14, 61, 79 and 81 minutes by Tinus du Plessis and Brad Hunt and then from replacements Matt Challinor and Matt Farmer showed Roth's potential, but their power was slow to emerge and often the side lacked ruthlessness.
The Birmingham club are in total disarray currently; the financial crisis indicates that they may collapse soon and having lost 10 senior players, Roth faced a weakened team.
Bees showed a fighting spirit throughout but Rotherham came good in the end and the try which produced the bonus point was outstanding.
Centre Andrew Henderson started the move deep inside his 22. His break up field was continued by forward James Craig, who had a fine game, and then Michael Whitehead, on his return from injury, carried on the counter attack.
With the Bees defence split wide open, Farmer, out on the wing, sprinted to the line in the 81st minute not only for his first try since joining from Italian club L'Aquila, but more importantly, his score guaranteed five points.
It appears that the first team squad has been strengthened by the signing of Bees prop Craig Voisey; confirmation of his recruitment and that of Ben Jenkins, the former Doncaster front row forward, is expected soon.
Rotherham Titans: Whitehead, Wackett, Hunt, Buckley, Hender son, West, Rhodes, Quigley, Batty, Prescott, Dickinson, Craig, Barnes, Du Plessis, Swindall. Reps: Kilbane, Hayter, O'Donnell, Challinor, Conroy, Farmer, Chivers.
Scorers: Tries - Du Plessis, Hunt, Challinor, Farmer; conversions - West 3; penalty -West.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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