Bedford Blues 24 Rotherham Titans 32: Convincing victory sets Titans up for possible Cup derby

One thing that is certain from next Monday’s draw is that the Titans will be away during the first weekend in April and it is possible their next opponents in the knock-out stages will be Leeds Carnegie, Cornish Pirates or Bristol.

The prospect of another Yorkshire derby at Headingley is an exciting proposition, but of more immediate concern to Rotherham is this Saturday’s Championship clash in Jersey.

Having now won eight games in succession in both league and Cup, the Titans’ priority is to maintain their momentum, but they suffered a blow at Goldington Road where influential forward Laurence Pearce injured a knee.

The powerful Pearce will miss the next two weeks at least but, thankfully from his and the team’s point of view, his injury does not seem as serious as first thought when he limped off after 20 minutes.

Rotherham, finishing top of Pool 3 with five wins from six, scored four tries through Pearce, fly-half Dallan Murphy, winger James Broadley and replacement scrum-half Charlie Mulchrone.

Periodically, though, they were too careless, particularly in defence, and coach Lee Blackett was concerned that Bedford also scored four tries in an entertaining match whose outcome was determined by two late penalties on 73 and 80 minutes by Titans centre Juan Pablo Socino.

Rotherham’s first victory at Goldington Road for seven seasons and their third against Bedford this season has put them in a strong position mentally for the return Championship game at the end of March.

By then,Blackett will be hoping that his squad will be well on their way to consolidating a place in the top four. On current form, the Titans are a team to be feared in both competitions as forwards and backs combine successfully.

Bedford Blues: Le Bourgeois (Burke 19), Tapley, Hircock, Atkinson, Edwards, Sharp, Peck (Veenendaal 68), Steenkamp (Cooper 64), Spurling, Boulton (Paz 55), Sheriff, Jubb, Gillander, Harding (Harris 68), Barrell (Armes 7/ (Gulliver 41).

Rotherham Titans: Keating, Broadley, Hayes, Socino, Wilson, Murphy, White (Mulchrone 53), Hislop (Williams 53), Cruse(Thomas-Brown 64), Tampin(Quigley 53), Williamson, Sanderson, Pearce (Rieder 19), Birch, To’oala (Sowrey 55).

Referee: B Whitehouse (WRU).