Rotherham Titans 19 Bedford Blues 16: Socino repeats late heroics as Titans take notable scalp

The 22-year-old from Buenos Aires killed Bristol a week ago at the Memorial Stadium where a last-minute conversion seized the points for his new club on the opening day of the season.

Yesterday, in the sunshine at Clifton Lane, Socino repeated his opportunism, arguably in a more theatrical and remarkable style during the seventh minute of added time.

The Argentine's superb try and conversion not only meant that he had scored all his team's points on his home debut, but far more significantly that Rotherham's start to their Championship campaign had begun with successive wins under the inspiring direction of coach Andre Bester.

Socino's brilliance on 87 minutes as Rotherham tried desperately hard to overcome a 16-12 deficit followed a lineout won by the Titans.

Initially, Rotherham moved the attack to the left and then switched it to the blindside as Socino changed direction. Spotting that Bedford had foolishly left the touchline unguarded, Socino shot forward down the channel and sprinted in behind the posts to touch down for a thrilling try and with it Rotherham's second consecutive victory.

None in the crowd of approaching 2,000 at Clifton Lane could quite believe Socino's try – certainly not Bedford who controlled the first half and led by four points until the Argentinean's intervention.

"When I got the ball I just ran and ran and kept going. The try line was there and my try looked easy but it wasn't," explained Rotherham's new hero who was playing for the little known club of Tonmawr in South Wales last season.

"It was a tough game, but we fought every minute and we were lucky. However after Christmas, you are going to see a stronger team because Rotherham will have improved," added Socino who has been capped by Argentina at U20 level and considering his natural ability, once he has matured will surely possess the potential to play for his country's full international side.

Small and solidly built, Socino also contributed as at Bristol, with his goalkicking.

His four penalties on 40, 46, 53 and 65 minutes maintain Rotherham's competitive position in a game where they made too many handling errors, gave away too many penalties and failed until the exciting climax, to take their scoring opportunities. Indeed, in the 67th minute, Socino proved he was fallable by missing a straight-forward penalty that should have cut Bedford's lead to only one point.

Considering that Bester put out a team which contained 12 new signings, Rotherham's successful start to the season is astonishing, but as the South African pointed out: "We are currently poor at managing games, but once we learn to do that we will become special. Rotherham are an immensely young side and the young players get hyped up before a game, and it takes a few months to build a side."

A harsh taskmaster who will not accept second best, Bester acknowledges that several aspects of Rotherham's game need to improve – not least the lineout which handed over too much ball to Bedford.

The visitors deservedly led 13-6 at the interval, but failed utterly in the second half to build on the tries scored by scrum-half Darryl Veenendaal after 16 minutes.

The three penalties by full-back James Pritchard established a measure of control as Rotherham's errors prevented them playing with authority on their first appearance at home.

However, as the second half unfolded, Rotherham's team spirit and more vigorous form by the pack hinted that fortunes would change.

Nevertheless, until Socino's superb try, Rotherham struggled to exploit Bedford's caution, and on four occasions in the second half they threw away carelessly from which they could have scored.

The whistle-happy referee blew against Rotherham on 70, 73, 75 and 83 minutes when their pack were close to smashing Bedford's line. These mistakes, self- inflicted largely, need to be put right and surely will given Bester's commitment.

Rotherham face yet another tough challenge at Worcester this coming weekend and while it would be a major surprise if Bester's new squad were to overturn the side that was relegated from the Premiership last season, the wins against Bristol and now Bedford have ignited confidence in the side and a competitive performance will be delivered.

Rotherham: Welding, Swatkins, Hepworth, Socino, Rhodes, Hodgson (Paul, 60), Bedford, Steenkamp (Quigley, 56), Loney, R O'Donnell (A O'Donnell, 58), Harris (Dickinson, 22), Sandford (McGowan, 42), Burrows, Baines, Kettle.

Bedford: Pritchard, Taylor, Burke (Short, 55), Bedford, Dodge, Dorrian, Veenendaal (Walshe, 55), Ovens, Richmond, Seal (Boulton, 50), Howard (Tomes, 55), Tupai, Rae (Gillanders, 64), Harding, Wray.

Referee: T Wigglesworth (RFU).