Titans disappointment after Scottish defeat

TITANS coach Andre Bester has promised that his side will bounce back after yestrday's disaapointing Championship opener at London Scottish.

Bester's side face relegated Leeds in Sunday's Yorkshire derby at Clifton Lane, having spent the week working out what went wrong at Scottish.

In what was always going to be a prickly opener, they went down 16-11 against the newly-promoted Exiles despite having looked in control midway through the second half.

By then, Titans had hit back from a 6-0 deficit - two James Bown penalties - with a try from Cliffie Hodgson plus a penalty and a drop goal from Garry Law to lead 11-6.

But when skipper for the day Sean Dougall was yellow-carded for tripping on the hour it proved a major turning point. Scottish pumped up their game, scored a crucial try  from Olly Grant and then scored the winning points from Brown's conversion and a subsequent penalty.

Said Bester: "There were good points but it was disappointing to lose. We have plenty to work on and we'll make sure we are up to speed by the time Leeds come here."