Newcastle put the seal on a miserable season for relegated Rotherham with a
narrow Zurich Premiership victory at the Don Valley Stadium.
The Titans hoped switching their final match of the season to the Sheffield
venue would have brought them a change of luck after 21 successive defeats, but
their latest loss means they are the only Premiership team ever to finish a
season without a win.
Rotherham pushed Newcastle to the wire and might have pinched it with more of
an attacking edge in the final stages. Their bonus point was only their third
league point of the season.
The Falcons laid the foundations for victory in a scrappy first half.
Rotherham had recovered from Dave Walder's early penalty to take the lead when
number eight Geraint Lewis and full-back Bernardo Stortoni combined to put the
supporting Mike Umaga over for a try which Phil Jones converted for a 7-3 lead.
Umaga turned villain 10 minutes later when his missed tackle let in full-back
Michael Stephenson for a converted try that edged the Falcons two points in
front.
And they extended their lead in first half injury time when a spell of intense
forward pressure ended with flanker Jon Dunbar being driven over under the
posts.
Jones replied with a penalty to keep the Titans within touching distance at
17-10 going into the second half, and they gave themselves a fighting chance
with a stirring opening 15 minutes after the restart.
First, Jones was on target with a penalty and then rocked Newcastle with a
rare piece of Premiership quality when he dummied inside to score and added the
conversion to slash Newcastle's lead to 20-17.
A towering penalty by Walder settled the Falcons' nerves and Titans' comeback
hopes were dealt a further blow when flanker Des Tuavii was sin-binned.
However, Newcastle failed to make the most of their extra man advantage and
Jones set up a grandstand finish with a 30 metre penalty to reduce the deficit
to three points with 10 minutes left.
The Falcons sensibly kept possession in the closing stages and added another
three points from Walder before weathering a late storm to hang on for victory.
The Titans deserved the standing ovation they received from the 5,000-plus
crowd at the final whistle.
Teams:
Rotherham: Stortoni, Elliott, Pritchard, Umaga, Keyter, Jones,
Easterby, Rawson, Long, Noon, Kenworthy, Gross, Tuiavii,
Spence, Lewis.
Replacements: Blackett for Keyter (79),
Harrison for Easterby (79), Bunting. for Rawson (61),
Johnson for Long (61), B. Volschenk for Kenworthy (57),
Greeff for Spence (65).
Not Used: Benson.
Sin Bin: Tuiavii (58).
Tries: Umaga, Jones.
Cons: Jones 2.
Pens: Jones 2.
Newcastle: Stephenson, May, Noon, Mayerhofler, Gollings,
Walder, Charlton, Peel, Isaacson, Hurter, Grimes, Hamilton,
Dunbar, Britz, Dowson.
Replacements: M. Wilkinson for Mayerhofler (46),
Grindal for Charlton (61), Ward for Peel (40),
Thompson for Isaacson (50).
Not Used: Parling, Buist, Lilley.
Tries: Stephenson, Dunbar.
Cons: Walder 2.
Pens: Walder 4.
Att: 5,203
Ref: Rob Debney (RFU).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook