TAUNTON Titans head coach Tony Yapp believes his side’s ability to shut out Bishops Stortford whilst down to 13 men was ‘a turning point’ in Saturday’s hard-fought 20-15 victory at Hyde Park.

Charlie Walker-Blair and Jack Claydon were both sin-binned in the second-half, but a resolute Titans defence ensured the visitors would not profit from their numerical advantage.

Yapp said: “After last week’s loss at Cambridge it was important for us to get back on track with a win and against a good Bishops Stortford team it was always going to be tough.

“However to a man all the players bought into the game plan and we managed to get ourselves back in the game and go on a claim that win.

“However if we were going to be critical we let in two soft tries in the first-half with missed tackles and we were at times second best.

“We addressed things at half-time and the players came out and put a few things into place and we looked at the end of the game the dominant team.

“The forwards were impressive and laid the foundation for the win with some great turnovers at crucial times, which was needed as we did put ourselves under pressure several times with dropped ball and wrong options taken at critical times of the game.

“I think the turning point in the game was when we went down to 14 and then 13 men and we didn’t concede any points.

“This just shows how hard the players are working for each other.

“There is a long way to go and a lot of us to work on in the next couple of weeks before our next league game but the players are hungry to get better which is always a pleasing sign from a coach’s point of view.”