Rotherham Titans 30 Plymouth Albion 25

Although Plymouth Albion were beaten by high flying Rotherham Titans, they left Clifton Lane with their heads held high as well as the losing bonus point.

After disappointing defeats to Doncaster Knights and Nottingham, Albion produced a much better performance and very nearly came away with what would have been a superb win.

A couple of defensive lapses and some harsh decisions from the officials helped Rotherham over the finishing line.

In the second half Albion were reduced to 13 by Premiership referee Tim Wigglesworth and it was the second card shown to replacement prop Tom Fidler that undid Albion.

Fidler was carded after Titans lock Perry Parker jumped onto his back at a line out before falling to the ground like an Italian footballer.

Albion head coach James Shanahan said, “That was a much better performance and I have told the boys that if we play like that we will a number of games this season.

“Saying that I was disappointed with the officials, particularly the assistant referees who wanted to get involved.

“A number of players had good games today. Lawrence Rayner is growing into the role, Marc Koteczky looked solid at full back, Sam Simmonds had a good debut and Ben Woods was outstanding.

“If we had had the losing bonus point taken away I would have been very disappointed.”

Read the rest of the match report here.