SOMERSET VIKINGS 38-29 PLYMOUTH TITANS

 

Plymouth Titans attempt to retain their South West title ended with defeat in the Preliminary Final at the hands of the Somerset Vikings but despite the disappointing scoreline, the side can be proud of how they went down fighting.

 

The bumps and bruises of a hard summer of Rugby League finally caught up with the Titans, with a number of the side starting the game carrying injuries and the loss of influential loose forward Martin Browne with a broken foot ten minutes in made a difficult assignment against the Vikings just that little bit harder.

 

Lee Colton opened the scoring for the Titans but this was quickly cancelled out by a four pointer from John Gatford before Browne's enforced departure. A brace of Somerset scores from Mark Sergent extended the home side's lead and it looked as though the Plymouth sides journey would be in vain until prop Gavin Boak replied with two tries of his own, scored in typical style crashing over from close range with Matt Anstis's conversions tieing the scores at 16 all.

 

The play was end to end with chances at both goal lines as both sides revelled in the warm conditions, using the wide Hyde Park pitch to best advantage and it was the Titans who went into the dressing sheds ahead after Anstis potted a field goal shortly before the break to take a one point lead.

 

The second half proved forty minutes too far for the Green and Whites as they started to miss tackles and remarkably lost two scrums against the feed, a rarity in modern day Rugby League, as the injuries began to take their toll and the bigger Vikings side began to take advantage of the extra possession.

 

Chris Hurley re-established the Vikings the lead and winger Andrew Bellamy extended it to 26-17 with a touchdown out wide on the right, converted by Ben Hawkins but the Titans were still hanging in, the defensive efforts of man of the match Paul Ansell and Adam Wilkinson stemming the tide and half breaks from Kyle Browne, Ben Ashford and Mark Molyneux, playing his last game in a Titans jersey before his move to the Devon Sharks in 2009, keeping Grand Final hopes alive.

 

Anstis's tactical kicking was one of the best features of the Titans play and it was from one of his crossfield kicks that Browne scored, catching the high ball and touching down near the right hand corner flag. Anstis added the difficult conversion and they were back to just three points behind.

 

Simon Holmwood restored the Vikings lead but Anstis responded, converting his own try to make it 32-29 to the hosts and guaranteeing a grandstand finish for the Taunton crowd.

 

But the walking wounded just couldn't muster that final effort and Hawkins broke through the tired defence to touchdown under the posts and with the easy conversion gave the Vikings the game and a crack at the East Devon Eagles in Saturday's Grand Final at Exmouth.

 

Titans coach Rob Stockwell was disappointed but full of praise for his side for what they had achieved this summer. "Despite this loss, it has been a very successful season. We achieved some of the targets I had originally set at the start of the season, winning the Devon Cup and a high profile match at Plymouth Albion for instance. This season was always going to be tough after the results of last season, with all the other teams wanting to knock us from the top spot. It lived up to that expectation".

 

PLYMOUTH TITANS: Dave Hall, Ian Mc Cormack, Kyle Browne, Paul Ansell, Lee Colton, Matt Anstis, Ben Ashford, Adam Wilkinson, Billy Stockwell, Gav Boak, Paul Cioffi, Gaz Williams, Martin Browne, Declan Sexton, Dan Foster, Mark Molynuex, Martin Cooper.

 

Tries: Boak (2), Anstis, Kyle Browne, Colton

Goals: Anstis (4 + DG)