National 2 South
Clifton 33, Taunton Titans 43

TAUNTON Titans were thankful for a blistering start to their match at local rivals Clifton, as they eventually claimed a ninth successive win by 10 points.

Aron Struminski has made an outstanding start to the season, and the Titans winger put his side ahead inside the first five minutes here, collecting Toby East's fine pass and powering from his own half to score an unconverted try.

And five minutes after that it was 12-0, as Nick Mason set up Tom Popham to go over, with Gary Kingdom converting.

Kingdom then added a third try himself, and the visitors were 17-0 up inside 20 minutes.

Clifton hit back with a converted try of their own, but Taunton soon restored their 17-point buffer, as a driving maul allowed Sam Prior to score the bonus-point try, with Kingdom adding the extras.

Again the hosts narrowed the gap, with an interception try, but again the Titans opened it out again, as Mason made the half-time score 29-12 to the away side.

The first points of the second half went to Clifton, courtesy of a converted try, but Ollie Rice crossed and Kingdom converted to keep the visitors in control.

The match continued to fluctuate between 10 and 17-point gaps, as the home side's bonus-point try was followed by Brett Harvey responding in kind, this time East converting.

The final try of the see-saw encounter went to Clifton, but the Titans saw out the remaining couple of minutes to come away with maximum points, ensuring they stay at the top of the table - one point ahead of Chinnor.

Next up for the Titans is a home match with eighth-placed Henley Hawks, next Saturday (ko 3pm).

Taunton Titans: Connor Baker, Alex Spurdle, Isaac Dalton, Stu Persey, Blake Lugg, Brett Harvey, Ratu Vakalutukali, Sam Prior, Lewis Webb, Toby East, Tom Popham, Nick Mason, Freddie Fraser, Aron Struminski, Gary Kingdom.
Replacements: Chris Francis, Charlie Tribble, Andy England, Andrew Hamilton, Connor Banks.