Top spot for Rotherham Titans trumps all for points machine Lloyd Hayes

Lloyd Hayes is at the top of National One points scorers chart again after topping his division’s stats in each of the last three seasons.

But as Titans prepare for an away trip to Rams tomorrow, the most satisfying result of the 114 points he has scored from hand and foot has been helping his team to the top of the table.

"I seem to be striking the ball alright this season,” said Hayes. “It’s great to be up there (in the points charts) and it would be nice to keep that position as long as I can but what matters to me is staying up there as a team. That would be the biggest achievement.

"I am lucky we are scoring some good tries. I’m there to kick the points but it’s a squad effort. It wouldn’t be anything without the team scoring the tries they’re scoring.”

Hayes and Rotherham go back a long way.

His time at Clifton Lane spans a period of 12 years – interrupted by a spell at Doncaster Knights – and he has seen lots of players come and go.

So how does the current team, shaped by canny coach Harvey Biljon and his colleagues, compare to one of the past he played in?

"It’s younger,” said Lloyd, who is now the senior stateman of the side at the age of 34.

“Obviously Harvey has got a good eye for spotting talent. There’s a lot of potential in there and we seem to be gelling pretty well.

"The thing is, we’ve lost a lot of the old boys from last year so I’ve gone from ‘mid-table’ (age wise) to being the old boy of the team now. They made me all too aware of that on day one of pre-season!”

Hayes and his team-mates need to atone for a single-point defeat at Plymouth last time out when they head down to Rams for a 3pm kick-off.

It’s tight at the top, with only five points separating Rotherham from Sale FC, in fifth. Rams are sixth after some patchy form.

“They've not had the best start but they’ve been a very good outfit over the years and you can’t underestimate them,” said Hayes.

"We went there last year and they beat us but if we play how we know we can then I think it is going to be a good game and there’s a win there to be taken. We just have to be clinical with what we do.”

He added: "We had a dream start to the season and then the games have got a bit tricky recently. We had the close loss at Plymouth and other results have proven anyone can beat anyone, such as Bishop’s Stortford beating Rosslyn.

"With us and Rosslyn losing last time out, it has tightened up at the top. It’s really exciting and that’s what you want from the league.”

Back in the Rotherham squad is Rob Povey, fresh from international duty with Canada.