Disappointment as Titans just miss out

Titans agonisingly went down 17-16 at Goldington Road, having led 10-3 early on but once Bedford went ahead thanks to two tries there was no way back.

Said Burnell: "I thought we played well and was happy with the contribution made by the new boys.

"But I thought we did enough to win it and there is an element of disappointment. Our work ethic is certainly growing and that's a plus but it was a mixed bag to be honest."

In a game that was tight throughout, Will Robinson kicked Rotherham ahead with a penalty, only for Jake Sharp to level.

Titans went in front when they capitalised on a dreadful defensive error on the quarter hour. On the attack, the ball was forced loose on the home line and when Blues failed to clear Jack Hayes was quick to pounce. Robinson drilled a superb conversion.

But two tries inside five minutes proved decisive.

Ironically, it was a similar defensive blip  which led to the Blues' first score, Hayes being unable to mop up on a sweep through, and Dean Adamson touching down.

Sharp goaled and minutes later the hosts were ahead for the first time as Rotherham were caught napping at a lineout and hooker Jake Fields played a cheeky quick first man ball to Josh Buggea, collected the return and sped to the line, Sharp again converting.

Blues could have added another late in the opening half but after that there was little between the sides in a largely defensive stalemate.

The only points came from a Robinson penalty, although Will Goodwin went closes to scoring with a superb scything run through midfield before being hauled down just short.

Titans now face Doncaster this Saturday in the British and Irish Cup opener.

You can catch all the analysis from Bedford plus a preview of the Knights game in this week's Advertiser.