Burton Book Spot in Regional Finals

Burton under 17s v Dudley Kingswinford
Bowl semi-final Peel Croft 20th March 2011
Burton 17: Dudley Kingswinford 12

or

“Rugby is also a game of two halves”

After their charabanc trip to the seaside in the quarter finals, Burton were pleased to be at home and playing on Peel Croft in this semi-final clash against Dudley Kingswinford. From the first retrieval of the Dudley start on a dry and dusty pitch by prop Gibbons, it was clear that the Burton players had followed to the letter the minutiae of the pre-match preparation instructions issued by coach Drage at Thursday training.

The Burton scrum looked solid, winning against the head early on and the forwards were rucking well, although aggressive defence led to a penalty, fortunately pulled wide by Dudley. A Dudley attack was disrupted by backs Bird and Brown, combining to steal the ball. The visitors were penalised and with a tap penalty, Marcus Armitage made ground. Sam Halton playing flanker controlled the ball at the back of the maul and chose the moment to release it to fly-half Whitfield who dummied a pass to Joe Bird on his shoulder, but dropped his shoulders to go through the resultant gap to open the scoring. A difficult conversion was superbly converted by outside-centre Charles Popp.

Dudley came back, but with line-out secure and having the edge in all departments up-front Burton retained in control. Nevertheless Dudley were to show glimpses of the threat they would pose later in the match, but only solid defence, effective half-back combination and excellent clearance kicking kept them out.

During pressure on the left, hooker Chris Sammons showed his ability to multi-task by driving back his opposite number whilst simultaneously engaging him in conversation. Burton won a line-out as they were to consistently throughout the game. The ball came back to the fly-half who gave an inside pass which reached prop James Gibbons who dived over in the corner to add a second try.

The visitors broke the Burton defence and only a chase back and tackle by scrum-half Henry Andrew prevented a try. With play opening up, it was the turn of the home side to break as Whitfield saw a gap and accelerated through, offloading to Charles Popp and in turn to Eddie Runagle. They covered half the length of the pitch and the ball was re-circulated via Chris Brown and shipped to Tom Hunt, who dived into the corner for a third try in what was perhaps the best passage of attacking play the side has produced this season. As half-time came Burton felt secure with a lead of 17.0.

The second half saw the visitors revitalised as they stepped up the pressure. Nevertheless, the Burton defence held, and as matters became fractious one of the Dudley players was sin binned. Despite this, the Dudley pack began to gain the upper hand and Burton found themselves on the back foot. The home side became pinned in their 22 with only brief forays into the opponents half. The visitors eventually scored the inevitable try which was well converted, although Burton still seemed secure. However, within a few minutes Dudley countered as a Burton attack broke down. With a secure scrum on the try line the ball might have been cleared, but the relieving kick was well charged down. The try was not converted, but the match was back on at 17-12 to the home side.

With their confidence up, Dudley continued to press and looked likely to score. Eddie Runagle made a great man and ball tackle to defend on the left wing and as they spun the ball left looking for the overlap it was only awareness by Alistair Weedon waiting calmly on the corner post who prevented the try by ushering the winger to touch. The line-out was won and the kick down the line was collected by the forwards, who were able to stuff it up their jumper for the remaining few minutes to ensure a victory and a place in the final in a fortnight.

Finally, a mention for the officials who are to be complimented on a clear, professional performance which allowed the game to flow, thanks to the substitutes who did not get onto the field in what became a finely balanced match, and to the under-13 squad for their vocal support in the stand.

In summary, a good win and some of the best rugby the side had played all season on a busy week-end for some of the squad, and a pleasant end to this correspondent’s birthday celebrations (and some compensation for disappointment at not being 21, or even 51, again).

IGW
20.03.2011

Note: The players (or coaches, parents and siblings) are invited to submit a definition of the idiom “a game of two halves”. Winners will receive the satisfaction which comes from participation.