Leeds Tykes had to settle for a losing bonus point on the opening day thanks to a late Taunton try which saw them leave for Somerset with the full five points.
The visitors started slowly and were reduced to 13 in the opening ten minutes. Freddie Fraser and Ratu Vakalutukali saw yellow for technical infringements.
Leeds made their numerical advantage count as Adam Brown crossed for the opening try, which Charlie Venables converted.
Ten minutes later, as the Titans were restored to 15, Venables rounded off a free-flowing move to put Leeds in control. The centre converted his own score.
Tykes’ discipline began to wane when flanker Will Smith was sin binned for an offence at the maul resulting in the referee awarding a penalty try.
Titans continued to press, and Charlie Wright crossed for their second. Jordan Gott converted to level at the break.
The visitors took the lead early int the second half as Brett Harvey benefitted from a rolling maul. Gott slotted the conversion.
Thomas Williams scored the try of the game from a training ground move. Quick ball allowed him to burst through a gap, arcing his run to score under the posts. Venables added the simple extras.
With the game tied, Venables nudged his side in front with a penalty from just outside the 22.
That seemed decisive until Taunton burst into life. Jacob Mounsey went to the bin for a deliberate knock on. The penalty went to touch and the hosts were unable to repel a final surge from replacement Connor Baker. Gott completed his faultless kicking record by adding a fine touchline conversion.
After the match, Jon Callard, Director of Rugby said: “After a promising preseason and the good work we put together we unravelled it for ourselves today. Discipline was an issue. We’ll address that and our defencing mauling. We played some nice football at times, which I am pleased about. The boys worked hard to the end. The good news is there are 25 games to go.”
Final score 24 – 28
(HT 14-14)
Our scorers
