National 2 South

Taunton Titans 13, Henley Hawks 17

TAUNTON Titans were given a lesson in incisiveness by Henley Hawks as the hosts slipped to a narrow defeat at Hyde Park.

The Titans dominated possession and territory throughout but were frustrated by a Hawks side who soaked up pressure admirably and made their own scoring opportunities count to ensure they left the Commsplus Stadium victorious for the second season in succession.

READ MORE: As it happened - Titans slide to first home defeat of season

The early stages set the tone for what was to come. Taunton began on the front foot in strong winds, putting together countless phases without managing to collect any points, only for the Hawks to hit them with a sucker punch by scoring from their first attack.

Xavier Andre was the man to profit, sprinting in under the posts after good work from George Wood and Sam Lunnon down the right - Roddy Giles converted with ease.

Taunton thought they had hit back instantly when Gary Kingdom went over in the corner, but the cheers from the home faithful were short lived as the referee pulled play back having spotted a forward pass earlier in the move.

Kingdom belatedly got the hosts on the scoreboard with a penalty on 23 minutes, though these proved to be the final points of the half as Taunton huffed and puffed without success. 

The visitors were notably sharper at the breakdown, recycling possession with an urgency which contrasted with some of Taunton's pedestrian work in attack.

The Titans were also let down by occasional handling errors, be it knock-ons or passes going astray, as the Hawks took a 7-3 lead into the break.

Taunton continued to hammer away at the Hawks door upon the restart and eventually got their reward when inside centre Toby East collected Ratu Vakalutukali's pass and charged over from five yards out.

Kingdom was uncharacteristically lax with the gettable conversion, which struck the outside of the post, and Taunton then shot themselves in the foot by immediately surrendering their hard-earned lead.

Hawks flanker Marcus Lowe darted in from the left touchline to wrong-foot Kingdom en route to the line - Giles converted to put his side 14-8 ahead.

Vakalutukali reduced the arrears, sprinting over from 10 yards out after sustained pressure on the visitors' line, but Kingdom missed the chance to edge the Titans ahead by dragging his conversion attempt wide.

The hosts trailed 14-13 going into the final 10 minutes but there was no grand finale. The Hawks defended stoutly and kept the ball deep in Titans territory to see out a fine win, the margin of which was stretched to four points on the final whistle as Giles slotted over a penalty.

Taunton drop to third after their second defeat of the season - they will look to bounce back at Old Albanians next week.

Taunton Titans: Connor Baker, Alex Spurdle, Sonny Haines; Milo Reynolds, Stu Persey; Ben Oliphant-Thompson, Ratu Vakalutukali, Sam Prior; Lewis Webb, Sam Brown, Toby East, Nick Mason; Ollie Rice, Noah Sixton, Gary Kingdom

Replacements; Sam Williams, Alfie Petch, Barrie-John Chapman, Jarrard Hayler, Oli Toomey

Henley Hawks: Bradley Cook, Thomas Emery, David Manning; David Hyde, Jacob Albion; Sam Lunnon, Marcus Lowe, Alex Bradley; Leo Webb, Roddy Giles, Xavier Andre, Ryan O'Neill; Sam Portland, George Wood, Jack Robinson

Replacements: George Primmett, Andrew Hobbs, Adam Neal, Thomas Hall, Ross Macdougall