Burton Out Papa John's Community Cup

Burton made the long trip to Wirral for a “winner takes all game” in the Papa John’s Community Cup Regional 1 Plate Pool 2 and just missed out on a semi final clash with Stockport next week despite an impressive recovery in the second half, having trailed 31-14 at the interval. How they will be rueing a very sluggish start which saw them concede 17 points in the first 7 minutes. Several injuries and unavailability, particularly in the backs, left Burton with an inexperienced line up and an even more inexperienced bench. Coach Harry Titley made a rare appearance at fly-half.
The long coach journey appeared to have taken its toll on the Burton team as the home side set up a driving maul soon after the kick off, from which they were able to score the opening try of the game without a meaningful tackle bring inflicted with barely a minute on the clock. A successful conversion was added, and Burton were 7 points down very early on. Wirral 7-0 Burton.
It got worse for Burton after a brief spell of possession was overturned and Wirral were soon further ahead after Burton were penalised in front of the posts and the attempted kick at goal was successful after 4 minutes. Wirral 10-0 Burton. A slightly longer spell of possession for Burton saw them make their way into the Wirral “22” but an attempted kick to the corner was charged down and the Wirral scrum half was first to react, racing away unopposed to score a second try after 7 minutes. A simple conversion in front of the posts extended the home side’s lead to 17points and Burton were facing a really embarrassing afternoon. Wirral 17-0 Burton.
With the breeze in their favour Wirral were quick to kick the ball deep into the Burton half and make them play out from there. Burton did that pretty well to be fair but some poor clearance kicks undid some of the steady progress they had made, and they were not able to threaten the home try line. This seemed to spur on the home side, and they were soon putting the pressure on Burton’s line again, so much so that it was almost inevitable that they would add to their score, which they did after 17 minutes. A very good conversion from the touchline secure a further 7 points and things were looking dire for the visitors. Wirral 24-0 Burton.
From the re-start Burton showed their first glimpse of quality as John Kirwan caught the kick-off but was bundled into touch on the home “22” on the left. Wirral won the lineout and cleared via a Burton body for another lineout on their 10-metre line. Not before time it was pleasing to see that Burton started to compete defensively and stemmed the flow of Wirral attacks. Scrum half Connor Hutchinson was forced to leave the pitch with an injury and Cyrus Griffiths was asked to take his place, with Charles Austin taking his position on the wing. Despite the change in personnel Burton were gradually growing into the game and enjoyed their best spell of the half so far.
A break from Tristan DeJager, who until now had seen very little of the ball, drew a high tackle from the home defence. Burton kicked to touch and despite the throw going astray they retained possession and set up a driving maul. With the ball won again Burton elected to chip over the defensive line and Will Derry collected the ball and scored to the left of the posts. Dom Phillips added the conversion and Burton recorded their first points of the game after 26 minutes. Wirral 24-7 Burton. For the first time in the game Burton now looked much more alert and hungrier to score more points. To the delight of the large number of travelling supporters Burton continued to put pressure on their hosts.
This pressure brought its rewards when good work at a breakdown by Derry drew another penalty and Griffiths kicked well to set up a lineout just outside the home “22” on the left. The lineout was won and several phases later Burton moved the ball wide to the right where Tristan DeJaeger scored a try with about 7 minutes to go before the break. Phillips added a very difficult conversion with a beautifully struck kick. Wirral 24-14 Burton. The home team responded almost immediately with their own spell of possession from which they forced their way over for their bonus point try and conversion to restore their 17-point lead 5 minutes before the break. Wirral 31-14 Burton.
Burton responded and forced their way up deep into the home “22” where their dominance in the scrum was causing lots of problems. Unfortunately for Burton the home team were very fortunate not to get penalised for several instances of foul play near to their own line and they managed to keep a now rampaging Burton from adding to their score before the half-time whistle blew.
Burton started the second half much better than they had the first and the alarm bells were ringing in the ears of Wirral, but the visitors were frustrated by a couple of strange penalties against them which stopped them from really turning the screw on a now quite anxious looking home team. However, it was the home team who scored the first points of the half after just over 10 minutes wide on the right. The conversion thumped against the post and stayed out, but Wirral were now 22 points ahead although 2 of their players were injured in the process of scoring that try. Wirral 36-14 Burton.
Feeling rather aggrieved by this Burton began to ask questions of their hosts as they enjoyed much more of the ball for the next few minutes. Even so Wirral still managed to return to the Burton half after repelling the Burton threat. A long kick from Burton then saw another controversial point in the game. DeJager chased the kick through and would have got to the ball first had he not been blatantly obstructed by a covering defender. Although Burton were awarded a penalty no other punishment was forthcoming from the referee surprisingly. Burton failed to capitalise on this good position and Wirral regained possession and slowly made their way back into the Burton danger zone.
Fortunately Burton were able to hold up the home attack but only temporarily as Wirral put together several phases and scored another unconverted try on the right almost mid-way through the half. Wirral 41-14 Burton. The visitors now threw caution to the wind and began to thoroughly dominate the game and it was no surprise when they scored their 3rd try of the match with Derry touching down after 27 minutes. Phillips added the conversion and Burton were well and truly back in the game. Wirral 41-21 Burton.
Just 3 minutes later came the individual try of the game when DeJager collected the ball in his own half and began a scintillating run for the line leaving defenders in his wake as he scored under the posts after 30 minutes. Phillips added another conversion to his personal tally and the visitors’ supporters had real hope of a possible wonderful turnaround. Wirral 41-28 Burton. Wirral looked very nervous all of a sudden as well as very tired. Burton had by now used all of their replacements in an effort to turn the screw even more. Despite their inexperience there were some very impressive performances and congratulations should go to them all. On this evidence Burton has some exciting talent in their ranks for future years to come.
Wirral were defending with great passion and Burton had to work very hard to find gaps or weaknesses as they mounted wave after wave of attacks. This they did eventually as captain Will Hopwood was the recipient of a wonderful offload and went over for Burton’s 5th try with 4 minutes remaining. Phillips added the conversion and Burton were now within 6 points of their hosts. Wirral 41-35 Burton. Wirral finally mustered one final effort to ensure Burton could not score again. Their desperate attempts to stop Burton resulted in an ever-increasing penalty count which allowed Burton to get into the danger zone for one last time and it seemed inevitable that Burton would succeed.
Unfortunately time was their enemy at this stage and a turnover of possession signalled the end of the game and the end of Burton’s Papa John’s Community cup campaign this season. Despite their disappointment everyone at Burton wishes Wirral well in their semi-final against Stockport next week.