Last chance saloon looms for Titans
RUGBY UNION CHAMPIONSHIP THE SOUTH Yorkshire derby between the Knights and the Titans will have much more than local pride at stake when the teams run out at Castle Park on Sunday.
Rotherham's failure to gain even a solitary point from their clash with Moseley last weekend, left them six points adrift of the top eight with time running out in their bid to avoid the relegation play-offs.
And another blank weekend for Doncaster left them with much ground to make up in the same race. The Knights sit a further point behind Rotherham but they do have two games in hand.
With just four Championship fixtures remaining for Rotherham, Sunday's derby could easily prove to be the last chance saloon for the Titans, in their bid to reach the promotion play-offs rather than the far more gloomy option.
A mediocre performance at Clifton Lane saw the Titans finish up 7-19 losers against visiting Moseley. Coach Craig West made several changes to the side with son Jonathan in at stand-off while Andy Barnes started in the second row.
Moseley started strongly, though they didn't open their account until the 20th minute, when right winger Nathan Bressington touched down.
The conversion was missed, but that was forgotten eight minutes later, when left winger Justin Mensah-Coker added his name to the scoresheet with another try to put Moseley 10-0 ahead.
West's side dug deep for the rest of the first half and kept Moseley at bay, while they got their account off the mark in the final minute of the first period with right winger Jon Feeley touching down and stand-off Jonathan West adding the conversion.
However, hopes of victory were dealt a blow with tough Moseley defence coupled with Titans errors gave the visitors chance to edge away which they took with interest.
Fly-half Tristan Roberts made up for two missed conversions in the first half when he kicked a penalty on 50 minutes for Moseley, and further successful penalties on 67 and 77 minutes ensured they left Clifton Lane with the points.
Prop Ben Prescott admitted: "Each game for us now is massive, but we play best when under pressure. We are all hugely disappointed with this result.
"Moseley's tries came from our silly mistakes. It was just one of those days when it didn't happen for us.
"There's no reason why we can't survive. We did it last season."
Doncaster's clash at Birmingham and Solihull was called off with less than a hour before kick-off, their fifth postponement of the season so far.
A packed calendar until the end of the season has seen boss Lynn Howells suggest the Knights' British and Irish Cup clash with Birmingham count as a double header, despite being at Castle Park rather than Sharmans Cross Road.
Howells said: “I know the teams around us – such as Coventry, Rotherham, Plymouth and Moseley – probably wouldn't be too happy about it, as we'd have home advantage, but I don't know how we are going to fit the game in otherwise.
“And to be fair, I would have been very disappointed had we not won at Birmingham.”
The Knights have six league games remaining and seven points to make up on eighth placed Plymouth Albion.
Sunday’s derby clash is a 2pm kick-off at Castle Park.
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Weather for South Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
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