LUCTONIANS suffered their second defeat of the season as Taunton Titans used their superior nous against a miss-firing home outfit to gain a well-earned victory on the road.

Following a wet week in Herefordshire the pitch was remarkably in excellent condition thanks to superb work by the home teams ground staff.

And it was as early as the second minute that Lucs’ Jack Goodwin stole through the Titans defence, kicked a deft ball into the path of wing Charlie Grimes, for an early 5-0 lead, Owen Randell converting (7-0).

The home side kept early pressure on Titans and should probably have added to their lead, but the visitors defended superbly to deny Luc’s adding to their early score.

The Taunton side showed great resolve and started to gain a foothold in the game and they in turn spent several phases in Lucs’ red zone.

Tempers however were getting frayed, and after already being spoken too by the referee Titans prop Will Vaughan saw yellow for a blatant push right in front of the officials.

And this allowed the home side to increase their advantage, when for a driving maul and from close in Owien Harriot-Davis was over the whitewash to lead 12-0 the conversion being missed on 22 minutes.

But that was the end of the homes team’s contribution to the points for the day. Titans were resolute and grew into the game.

Momentum shifted when No9 Joe Snow kicked a superb 50-22 to put the away side deep in the home sides 22.

From the resulting line out Lucs were on the back foot and despite some excellent defence Titans No8 Ratu Vakalutukali dived over, with Louie Sinclair adding the extras to reduce the deficit to 12-7.

The excellent Charlie Wright then stepped up for visitors and kept them on the front foot for the balance of the half and it was no surprise when Rocky Prowse went over in the corner on 36 minutes, Sinclair again converting to give the away side a 12-14 advantage.

Lucs’ discipline slipped as they went into the second half and numerous penalties stymied the game with plenty of stoppages as well for injuries, the officials being kept busy with players coming on and leaving the field.

Brad Smith for the home side received a 10-minute break for a yellow card after 56 minutes for a deliberate knock-on, giving Sinclair the opportunity to stretch Titans lead from the resultant penalty (12-17).

Both sides had opportunities as the game ran its course and Titans prop Joe Atkins received a yellow for collapsing a maul.

But the home side failed to capitalise on the numbers advantage, and Titans kept their cool to finish the game with two additional penalties following ill-discipline from the home side, both from the boot of Sinclair in the last five minutes to put the game beyond the home side to cruise home 12-23.

Lucs need to turn their fortunes when they travel to Loughborough this Saturday for another tough fixture on the 4G surface.