Hull Ionians 24 v 49 Rotherham Titans

Hull Ionians 24 v 49 Rotherham Titans

Rotherham maintained their pursuit of Leeds Tykes with a professional and efficient performance over struggling Hull Ionians.
Ionians put recent problems behind them with a lively opening and surprised even themselves when they broke through the Titans defence to threaten the visitors line. Josh Britton was so startled to find himself in so much space he lost his footing, but he kept his head, and possession of the ball, to allow the move to continue and they were rewarded with a Lewis Minikin penalty, to put them in front in the opening minute.
Rotherham pulled themselves into the game with a period of route one possession, the pack driving forward towards the line, until Okafor was close enough to barge over under the posts. Hayes added the first of his seven conversions to give the visitors the lead.
Unsurprisingly, there was a contrast of playing styles; Ionians looked to move their limited supply of ball out wide when possible, whereas Titans chose a more direct approach to batter away, making the most of their size and bulk. This also meant we were denied any sign of the attacking threat offered by the running of former Ionians favourite, full-back Jack Townend.
As the half progressed Titans gradually squeezed the life out of the hosts; they pushed Ionians’ back into their 22 before capitalising on a scrum turn-over for Capps to be bundled over. It was the best part of twenty minutes since Rotherham had last broken Ionians resistance. This was mostly because of the determination in the defiance, but also due to a dogmatic adherence to what can only be imagined as championship consultations.
Ionians closed the half on the front foot and close to the Rotherham line. They had a couple of scrums 5m out, but couldn’t break through the disciplined Rotherham rear-guard. They came close to crossing in the corner but were denied by the illegal intervention of winger Jack Taylor, who was despatched to the bin. Mr Harris was (ill?) advised that although it was a deliberate knock-on Ionians didn’t necessarily have a scoring opportunity. Home opinions will obviously differ.
Despite occasional flashes of open play, mostly from the home side, there was little to warm the crowd until early in the second period when Titans bagged two quick tries.
The exotically named scrum-half, Jean- Baptiste Bruzulier, was on hand at the back of a rolling maul to sneak over down the blind side for try number three and Lloyd Hayes added to his successes from the tee with the bonus point try. It came courtesy of one of the home sides all too frequent errors, with George Mewburn attempting to break from the base of a scum close to the line, only to be dispossessed in the tackle. Rotherham pounced onto the loose ball and moved it smartly to Hayes who crashed over under the posts.
Ionians could have fallen further behind in the five-minute interval between the two tries but Okafor, who was the outstanding player on the pitch, lost control of the ball in the act of scoring.
There was a concern that it may become one way traffic, the like of which is only ever seen at Old Trafford as United fans head for the turnstiles, but Ionians drew a second wind and, despite conceding a sixth try on the hour, came back at the Titans and had a period in the visitors 22, admittedly without actually threatening the line.
With the game now beyond them Ionians introduced a trio of youngsters to the fray, bringing credence to the programme notes of head coach, Joe Makin.
From nothing Minikin scored a fine individual effort… Rotherham were penalised and Ionians kicked to touch. Titans disrupted the throw, a ploy they had success with all afternoon, but the ball came free and Minikin gathered and weaved his way through to the line.
It was almost immediately chalked off with Okafor grabbing his second try. He was gifted the chance due to some poor tackling, the new combatants quickly finding out that it isn’t Buccs rugby.
The final few minutes saw a flurry of scores, with Ionians claiming two tries in quick succession. Minikin again cut loose and drew his man before offloading to support. It didn’t find a pair of hands but Makin came galloping up and he gathered the loose ball and ran in under the posts.
Persistence, personified by Lucas Powell, brought a third try for the hosts. Titan’s Bruzulier was wiped out in a double hit and his clearance kick was charged down. The lanky Gascoigne grabbed hold of the ball and set off, arms and legs pumping, for all he was worth. He held off a tackle and was able to slip a pass out to Powell, up from blitzing the Titans scrum-half, and he dived over. Minikin’s goal brought the score back to 24 – 42 and put Ionians within sight of a bonus point, with five minutes remaining.
They couldn’t grasp the opportunity, though they gave it a go. It was Rotherham who completed the scoring, Kivalu claiming his second try as he finished off a well-executed counter attack against a tiring defence. The final score was 24 – 49.
The scoreline may bear a true reflection of the gulf between the two sides, who knows? Ionians spirited performance was worth a bonus point. There are obvious deficiencies in the squad, ones that not even eating pies will overcome, but it is what it is. It was a game between the haves and the have nots. Rotherham have a chance of promotion, Ionians have not.
It was good to see some of the promotion winning squad of the 2012/13 campaign in the club, invited by Joe Makin. It appeared to be mostly, if not exclusively, forwards who had answered the call ( I include Isaac and Ruggy in that number). We could do with some of them in the squad now, some of them are still young enough to be there. Fergie promised to be down training on Tuesday.