AFTER Taunton Titans put on a powerful display in their 27-13 defeat of Clifton last Saturday, coach Chris Brown has praised the performance of his forwards in particular.

Brown said: “The match on Saturday was a cracker and very pleasing for coaches, players and spectators alike.

“The intensity and power of the set piece and collision area was excellent and this formed part of the recipe for success on the day.

“I’m very pleased that they were accurate in what they did.

“We knew Clifton would be a stern challenge, but the focus for us was in having a collective effort to ensure that we met the standards we set for ourselves.

“After shipping a lot of points the previous week against Bishops Stortford I felt we really need to up the ante, and the front five in particular I felt certainly did that against Clifton.

“I was happy with the set piece, yes, but more so with the overall level of hard work shown by the players that meant they could be accurate in execution.”

The Titans’ final try against Clifton was the result of a forwards catch and drive started nearly 30 metres away from the visitor’s try line.

Brown added: “I was pleased with the discipline shown in that instance. You don’t expect to score from that distance but we knew what we wanted to do, and looked to control the ball.

“As we got momentum we were technically very strong and because of that we got just reward.

“In part it’s a testament to our fitness levels that we can do so late in a match in order to ensure victory.

“In fact, in the last ten minutes our defence was perhaps what pleased me most as we could have let them back into it, but we were hard-nosed and tenacious and didn’t let them score.”