Leeds Carnegie 19 Rotherham Titans 10: Leeds defend their honour to thwart Titans in derby

Rotherham Titans have the slight edge in the Greene King IPA Championship table this morning but Leeds have the bragging rights for now.

As forgettable as this derby was, there are at least positives to take from the fact that the White Rose county’s two leading sides are heading in the right direction.

Leeds won thanks to the four penalties kicked by Alex Lozowski, who only took up rugby seriously four years ago when he was booted out of Chelsea’s football academy aged 16, but grows in maturity with each game.

Juan Pablo Socino, by contrast, missed four of his five kicks at goal in a first half dominated by Leeds’s scrum, as the Argentine failed to live up to his billing as the leading points scorer in the Championship.

When he switched to fly-half in the second half he added more zip to a Titans team that dominated the second period only to come up against a well-drilled wall of green shirts that only let them pass when a penalty try was awarded.

“Defensively we were strong,” said Carnegie head coach James Lowes.

“We had to be because we gifted too much ball to Rotherham, expecially in the second half.

“When their 12 (Socino) went to 10 they were very dangerous, but even then we defended very well on our goal-line.

“It was a real test of character. We’re still picking up the points and we’re headed in the right direction.”

Rotherham, likewise, are a team on the rise, but they fell short yesterday on the narrow margins.

For their young coach Lee Blackett – who felt a aggrieved at a perceived forward pass in the build-up to David Doherty’s first-half try – this defeat, though difficult to take for a proud Yorkshireman who served both clubs with disctinction, offered plenty of learning curves.

“It was just a frustrating game for us, it took us until just after half-time to finally get into our rhythm,” said Blackett, whose preparations were disrupted with both fly-half Dallan Murphy (hip) and lock Ben Thomas (groin) pulling out before kick-off.

“It was probably one of the toughest half-time team-talks I’ve given.

“Our defence looked good, but our attack never had the ball, so it was hard to really say much to the players other than let’s get the ball, keep hold of it, and just have a go.

“We were constructive at half-time because you couldn’t fault the effort. We were 16-3 down having not done much wrong, but not done anything right.”

Leeds’s dominant scrum and Socino’s inaccurate boot provided the narrative for the first 30 minutes, with the home set-piece winning three penalties and thevisiting fly-half missing 12 points from 15.

The game was in desperate need of a spark in open play and Leeds scrum-half Craig Hampson provided it, peeling off the back of a ruck and darting through an opening to create a two-on-one opportunity.

It looked a certain try but his pass to the left was spilled by Leeds captain Jacob Rowan.

Leeds got their try two minutes before the break after Rotherham had been pulled up for a forward pass on halfway.

Lozowski got Leeds moving as he burst through a couple of tackles on halfway.

Fred Burdon took over and his pass freed the fleet-footed Doherty to scamper over for the score, Lozowski converting.

Rotherham responded at the start of the second half, answering the call from head coach Blackett to increase the tempo.

A Sean Scanlon break took them into the Leeds half before Ali Birch dragged four players with him as he bulldozed his way into the 22.

The Titans should have had a try but for stout defending by Leeds, if illegal at times with Hampson sin-binned for a professional foul.

And then just as their patience was being tested, Dan White – starting his first game at scrum-half having joined Rotherham from Leeds – turned possession over with a wild pass out of the back of his hand.

That Rotherham got no points from their 10 minutes of territory, and Lozowski kicked a penalty from 45 metres to stretch the lead further on Leeds’ first attack, merely underlined the difference in ruthlessness.

Undeterred, Rotherham kept driving forward and they made the extra man count when a rolling maul forced referee Ross Campbell to award a penalty try; Socino no doubt grateful that the conversion was from in front of the sticks.

Titans built further pressure deep inside the home 22 but again Leeds proved resilient and Rotherham eventually knocked on – a crime they were frequently guilty of – through Birch.

After another defensive stand, when captain Rowan and Calum Green were to the fore, Glyn Hughes missed two kicks at goal for Carnegie that would have put an unfair gloss on the scoreline.

Leeds Carnegie: McColl, Goss, Lucock (Griffin 69), Burdon, Doherty, Lozowski,(Hughes 73) Hampson; Harris (Imiolek 64), Graham (Nilsen 57), Currie (Lockwood 48), Smith (Hannay 64), Green, Rowan, Walker (Doyle 49), Burrows.

Rotherham Titans: Scanlon, Keating, Roberts, Socino, Wilson (Broadley 59), Mulchrone, White (Gill 59); Gadd (Dias 71), Cruse, Quigley (Tampin 67), Maddison (Freeman 75), Sanderson, Rieder (Preece 51), Birch, To’oala (Pearce 40).

Referee: R Campbell (RFU).