Bishop’s Stortford lose 71-12 at new National 1 leaders Rotherham Titans

Bishop’s Stortford conceded 11 tries as they suffered a 71-12 defeat at Rotherham Titans in National 1 on Saturday (September 27).

It was a third straight loss for the visitors while the hosts, who leapfrogged Plymouth Albion to go top of the table on points difference, have won four out of four.

Ninth-placed Stortford are back at Silver Leys this Saturday (October 4) for a home game against Sedgley Park, who are one place above them.

For the second week in a row, Stortford were made to struggle for any worthwhile possession by a powerful opposition pack and were seven points behind after four minutes. Penalised at their own scrum, they managed to withstand an initial drive in the forwards, but, despite strong tackling, the home side were not to be denied and forced their way over for a try under the posts.

The deficit was doubled 10 minutes later when more forward pressure was exploited by Rotherham’s backs and they touched down out wide - proving that the side is not a one-trick, forward-orientated pony.

They were now rampant and went 21 points up after forceful interplay between forwards and backs, with their fourth, bonus-point try coming before the half hour after a clever offload out of a tackle by their full-back.

Stortford fought back and were rewarded with a try just before half time when Chris Bolton rounded off a brief period of pressure by taking a quick tap from a close-range penalty to dash over close to the posts, giving himself an easy conversion.

Unfortunately for the visitors, there was just enough time before the break for Rotherham to add an unconverted try from another attacking lineout, resulting from a Stortford penalty.

The home side picked up where they had left off after the break and soon clocked up 40 points with a well-worked try from a big 50-22 kick.

Rotherham were now on the rampage, with backs and forwards running their constant supply of front-foot possession aggressively, and had two more converted tries under their belts with barely 10 minutes of the second half gone.

Stortford came again, but crucial turnovers and clinical finishing by Rotherham produced two more tries from swift counter-attacks, the second being run in off a loose pass on the home side’s own five-metre line.

The visitors were, not surprisingly, now tottering and conceded an 11th try on 70 minutes from a short attacking lineout throw to a player peeling round the front of the line, who went over untouched.

To their great credit, Stortford fought back again and were rewarded with a second try when quick hands down the backs gave Jake Morris the glimpse of the line he needed to go in for a try in the corner.

The visitors ended the game on the front foot, showing considerable spirit in extreme adversity against a side which, on this form, will be strong promotion contenders.

Meanwhile, forward Harrison Langworthy, who made 68 appearances for Stortford, has left the club to take on a new challenge in Italy.

Stortford: Hayes, Mills, A Johal, Pope, Morris, Keylock, Bolton; Smith, Clarke, Peck, Kiff, Jones, Rhydderch-Roberts, Rayment, Rogers. Replacements: Bell, Meechan, Ducci, Cole, Stewart-Harris.