Rotherham Titans seize control of National Two North title race as Leeds Tykes slip-up

Lancashire outfit Fylde beat the Tykes 18-15, leaving Rotherham just three points behind and with one more game to play

If the Titans beat Sheffield Tigers and Billingham, the title is theirs along with promotion back into National One.

Rotherham wasted no time in securing their 13th straight victory with second row John Okafor touching down after two minutes and centre Ritchie Hayes converting.

They were 22-3 ahead at half-time as full-back Jack Townend and prop Charlie Capps also scored tries, and Hayes kicked a penalty and conversion.

After the break second row Zak Poole and winger Jack Taylor raced in to extend their lead to 34-3 before Grasshoppers pulled back a try, but there was no stopping the Titans with Townend and sub Luke Cole adding further tries to make it 48-10.

Hayes converted his own try, Warwick Livingstone and No 8 Callum Bustin also scored late on.

Leeds found themselves 10-0 down after 13 minutes of their game at Fylde, and although wing forward Lucas Walsh pulled back a try which stand-off Seremaia Turagabeci converted, they were struggling in the face of some great defensive work from the hosts.

A second try for Fylde made it 15-7 and, and although centre Ben Dixon pulled back a try and Turagabeci added a penalty, it wasn’t enough for Leeds.

Otley enjoyed a big victory over Hull Ionians, winning 55-34 at Cross Green. Right winger Sam Taylor scored a hat-trick of tries for Otley, with scrum-half Rory Gaffney and full-back Ben Dinsdale both scoring twice while others came from centre Edward Crossland and sub Josh Sarsfield.

For Ionians right winger Sam Wilson scored two tries while No 8 George Mewburn, centre Josh Britton and Lewis Minikin added others

Sheffield ran out 39-14 over Hull as they returned to winning ways following the previous weekend’s loss to Ionians. Rob Fawdry, Jake Hicklin and Matt Adcock all raced in for first-half tries, while Reece Dean converted his own score for Ionians to narrow the gap to 17-7 at the break.

Hull closed the gap further with Bureta Faraimo scoring to make it 17-14, but Sheffield battled on with Will Smith, James Flint, Ben Whitney and Chris Hooper helping Sheffield to the win.

Wharfedale overwhelmed Huddersfield 40-17, with Josh Burridge opening the scoring. But Huddersfield hit back with Alex Nash scoring a try and Ed Barber slotting over a penalty.

But Wharfedale were soon in control and James Coulton got them back in front. But Huddersfield led narrowly at half-time following William Hammond’s try.

Robbie Davidson converted his own try early in the second half, and others followed from Simon Borrill, Tom Darwin and Davidson again who added the conversions to wrap up the win.

No 8 Tom Calladine, hooker Patrick License and a penalty try weren’t enough for Sheffield Tigers who lost out 36-27 at Tynedale.

In the Papa John’s Community Cup, York were 43-22 winners at Blackburn to make a great start to their Regional One Championship Pool One fixtures. In Pool Two, Heath also had a big win on the road, beating Bridgnorth 50-15.

England Women, captained by Scarborough’s Zoe Aldcroft, ran in eight tries as they thrashed Scotland 46-0 in their Guinness Women’s Six Nations clash in front of a record crowd at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh.

The Red Roses built on a fast start from tries through Amy Cokayne, who was later sent off, and Abby Dow to comfortably record a third straight tournament victory, stretching their overall winning run to 27 Six Nations matches.

Keighley-born back Ellie Kildunne scored two tries.