Rotherham's hopes of landing a first Zurich Premiership win were scuppered as
Leeds took the honours in a gritty Yorkshire derby.
Fly-half Gordon Ross stole the show by scoring 24 points, with two of the
Tykes' four tries, four conversions and two penalties.
The Titans had gone into the match hopeful of landing their first top-flight
win in 19 attempts but came up against a Leeds side with superior power, pace
and attacking options.
Ross was the creator supreme, kicking superbly from hand and dictating all the
visitors' best work from outside-half.
A scrappy opening quarter ended with Leeds 6-0 ahead from two penalties by
Ross, before the match burst into life with two tries in four minutes.
First, Rotherham hit back to lead when South African lock Corniel van Zyl
broke through a flurry of would-be tacklers to touch down, and fly-half Phil
Jones converted to nudge the hosts a point ahead.
But the advantage lasted barely three minutes as Ross picked his way through
shambolic Rotherham defence to score a try which he converted for 13-7.
Titans centre Mike Umaga and Leeds number eight Colm Rigney were both
sin-binned for an off-the-ball incident as tempers boiled over.
Then Leeds turned the screw further when the lively Ross found time and space
to put Argentinian wing Diego Albanese in at the corner for his first
Premiership try of the season, before adding the extras to open up a 13-point
lead.
Jones kept Rotherham in it with a towering penalty from just inside his own
half and raised home hopes with another three-pointer early in the second half.
But Leeds' superior cutting edge up front was illustrated by their third try
in the 56th minute.
Ross was again the creator with a quick break 30 metres out and back row Matt
Salter was up in support to take the pass and put hooker Rob Rawlinson in under
the posts for a crucial try.
That score visibly knocked the stuffing out of Rotherham and left them facing
a mountainous task to pull back a 27-13 deficit in the final quarter.
With the Titans fading badly, Ross sealed his man of the match award when
stretching over the line for the visitors' fifth try six minutes from time.
Back row Bloues Volschenk barged over for a consolation try, converted by
Jones, but it was too little too late to save the match.
Teams:
Rotherham: Stortoni, Elliott, Pritchard, Umaga, Wood, Jones,
Easterby, Olkers, Long, Noon, Gross, van Zyl, Tuiavii,
McLeod-Henderson, Lewis.
Replacements: Harrison for Stortoni (80),
Blackett for Elliott (28), Benson for Umaga (56),
Lloyd for Olkers (71), Johnson for Long (66),
Volschenk for van Zyl (56), Spence for Lewis (66).
Tries: van Zyl, Volschenk.
Cons: Jones 2.
Pens: Jones 2.
Sin Bin: Noon (16), Umaga (28).
Leeds: Cardey, Rees, Davies, Snyman, Albanese, Ross, Dickens,
Powell, Rawlinson, Kerr, Murphy, Palmer, Salter, Ponton, Rigney.
Replacements: Hodge for Davies (56), Walker for Dickens (80),
Regan for Rawlinson (71), Morgan for Murphy (76),
Popham for Salter (25).
Not Used: Holt, Clayton.
Tries: Ross 2, Albanese, Rawlinson.
Cons: Ross 4.
Pens: Ross 2.
Sin Bin: Rigney (28).
Att: 2,750
Ref: Roy Maybank (RFU).
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