National 2 South

Rams 42, Taunton Titans 21

The score line doesn’t really represent the performance from the Titans, with every player producing a physical game, however if you gift the league leaders 19 points then no matter what the performance you are always going to struggle, writes Keith Brooking.

Taunton started the game brightly, taking the game to the Rams, and the home side didn’t touch the ball for the first five minutes.

With their attacking mindset, Taunton spotted an opportunity to attack but a stray pass in windy conditions was scooped up by the Rams and they scored in the corner through centre Andrew Humberstone.

Soon after, a couple of missed tackles allowed Rams winger Andy Denham to score under the posts.

Taunton skipper Lewis Webb forced his way over on the 20-minute mark and with Gary Kingdom adding the extras and the Titans were back within one score.

Again, the home side were the beneficiary of the Titans sloppiness when Ellis Jones went in under the posts when Taunton threw a pass in the wind and never went to hand.

Alex Seers converted and added a penalty at the end of the half to give the Rams a 22-7 lead.

The Titans needed to score first to have a chance to claw back the deficit but the hosts extended their lead with a try from number eight Jamie Gutteridge.

Seers converted and added the extras a few minutes later when the Titans were throwing the ball around on their own line before Humberstone collected to claim his second.

Taunton then had their best period when they really went at the Rams and scored two converted tries, one from Matt Jess and the other for Max Woodward with Kingdom converting both.

With the Titans in the ascendancy, a mistake at the kick off allowed the home side to extend their lead with a penalty before the Rams finished the game off with a try on the final whistle scored by Conor Corrigan after a deflection into his hands allowed to dot it down in the corner.

The pleasing thing from the Titans' coaches point of view is that the renowned pack of the Rams didn’t get any driving tries and the Taunton pack certainly matched them up front.

Sam Prior had a great game, carrying time and time again into the Rams defence along with Ben Oliphant-Thompson and Milo Reynolds and the rest of the pack, who all carried and tackled well.

They will always wonder what would have happened if they hadn’t gifted the soon to be league champions those points, but that’s sport and that’s the difference between league leaders and those aspiring to be.