Burnell's praise for resilient Titans

At 16-9 down with ten minutes to play, it looked all over for Rotherham after a stodgy display.

Ten second half points for the Islanders looked to have done enough with the hosts having hardly breached the visiting 22 throughout the game.

It needed a couple of moments of magic from winger Ben Foley to turn the game on its head and, bearing in mind Richmond’s victory over London Scottish 24 hours earlier, the out-of-the-blue victory gave the Clifton Lane men valuable breathing space at the lower end of the table.

Foley’s first try came as Rotherham, for once, burst into Jersey territory as a penalty to touch was driven towards the line and then quick hands saw the ball spat across the filed for the winger to touch down with a flying dive in the corner. A great conversion from debutant Caolan Ryan levelled the scores.

And then, with a minute left, it was razor-sharp thinking that brought the winner. Joe Barker forced Jersey into a handling error, the ball dropped to Foley’s feet in midfield and he kicked on into empty space, winning the chase to tap over the line and slam down on the ball with Ryan again converting.

Said a relieved Burnell afterwards: “It didn’t look good for us at one stage but then Ben scored those two tries. It’s amazing how those boys just keep going right until the end and that was the key.”

You'll find all the analysis and reaction in Friday's Advertiser.