There were a number of changes to the starting line up for Burton after the dismal display at Lichfield last week which allowed Lichfield to leapfrog Nuneaton at the bottom of the league. Adam McClean started at fly-half, George Abel in the centre and Cyrus Griffiths at full-back, whilst Chaz Bunting started in his preferred position of scrum half. Tommy Collingwood, James Davies and Matt Tivey started in the front row and with the return of John Kirwan at lock much more stability was provided in the set scrum. So for the second week running Burton’s opposition were bottom of the table. Unfortunately, also for the second week running Burton were on the wrong end of the result and their season has fizzled out somewhat disappointingly.
Nuneaton kicked off the first half but the ball did not reach the required 10 metres and Burton opted for a scrum on the half-way line. This first scrum indicated that both packs were evenly matched as it remained very static. Nevertheless Burton won the scrum and were first to put together several phases of possession as they made their way into the Nuneaton half. However this was ended by the referee who quickly penalised Burton for holding on in the tackle. Over the next few minutes, Burton were guilty of several minor offences which allowed the home team to get back to the half-way line without much effort. It got worse for Burton as a missed tackle on the right presented Nuneaton with an easy first try of the game under the posts after 6 minutes. A successful conversion meant Burton trailed by 7 points having had the lions’ share of possession in the game so far. Burton 0-7 Nuneaton.
McClean caught Nuneaton napping with a grubber kick which he collected himself and Nuneaton were penalised for not rolling away. The Burton pack executed a great catch and drive from the resulting line-out but were unable to convert this into points as Nuneaton were once again penalised, this time for offside. A second good catch and drive then delivered Burton’s first try of the game with Tommy Collingwood touching down in the right-hand corner after almost 11 minutes. The conversion proved too difficult as Bunting’s effort just missed to the left. Burton 5-7 Nuneaton.
Shortly after the re-start Burton turned over the ball but then kicked away possession, allowing Nuneaton to clear easily. Despite having the upper hand in terms of possession and territory Burton were struggling to make any real headway into the Nuneaton danger zone as handling errors or poor decision making blunted their normal sharpness in attack. Nuneaton added to their lead following a clearance kick which was not dealt with by Burton who were beaten to the loose ball giving the home side a second very easy score after 16 minutes. Another successful conversion increased Nuneaton’s lead to 9 points. Burton 5-14 Nuneaton.
Burton were having great success with their line-outs, where Llyr Griffiths was having a fine game and when the forwards combined this with their rolling maul game it was almost inevitable that this would be the route by which Burton would get their second try to reduce the home side’s lead. Indeed it was after 23 minutes Jack Neal got the all-important touchdown in the right-hand corner. Bunting just failed with his conversion attempt, but Burton were back within one score. Burton 10-14 Nuneaton. The remainder of the half saw both sides toiling without threatening either try line and them score remained unchanged and the game finely balanced. Just prior to the break a Nuneaton player received a leg injury which ended his game and the half prematurely.
Burton started the second half in positive fashion as the kick-off went straight into touch and then were awarded a penalty from the resulting line-out which McClean kicked to touch just shy of the 5-metre line on the left. Burton moved the ball to the right and then back to try and expose a gap in the Nuneaton defensive line. An attempted interception deep inside the Nuneaton “22” was knocked-on which resulted in another Burton penalty in front of the posts but, surprisingly no yellow card. Bunting converted the easy penalty to take Burton to within a point of their visitors with just 3 minutes of the half gone. Burton 13-14 Nuneaton.
This score seemed to lift Burton a little and the confidence seemed to return to the team along with belief that they could win this game started to show as they were soon back into the visitors’ “22”. They stayed there for another line-out as a Nuneaton clearance kick went directly into touch from outside their “22”. Unfortunately Burton could make nothing of this as they were penalised for obstruction in the line - an offence which the referee seemed to be very hot on for both sides. The rolling maul was still a potent weapon for Burton as they looked to apply more pressure on the Nuneaton defence but their good progress in this area was halted on one occasion when they were deemed to have entered the maul from the side and Nuneaton, rather easily, managed to take the game to the opposite “22” in what seemed like a matter of seconds.
It was this passage of play that ended with an incident that changed the dynamic of the game. Replacement Joe Gazzard was penalised for foul play in a maul and was then sent off for expressing his view about that decision. This left the home team with only 14 men on the field and parity in the scrum no longer for the remainder of the game. The next scrum saw Burton going backwards at an alarming rate and it was no surprise that Nuneaton were able to make the most of their numerical advantage by scoring their third try of the game following a rolling maul after 15 minutes of the half. Burton 13-21 Nuneaton.
Shortly after this there was a further blow for Burton as McClean was clattered following his grubber kick through and was then ordered to leave the pitch by the referee, presumably for concussion, before the game was re-started. Burton had to totally re-organise their backline. However, Burton’s normal spirit and belief in their own ability returned and they were soon back in the Nuneaton danger zone. Another catch and drive rolling maul took them very close to the Nuneaton try line but this move was halted by foul means, which resulted in a yellow card for Nuneaton but no penalty try that the Burton supporters were hoping for.
Excellent Nuneaton defending eventually resulted in the ball being turned over and the pressure was relieved rather too easily as the Burton line was breached like a knife through butter. With Burton players giving their all in terms of effort, this was all too often undone by a stray pass or a knock on or indeed a missed tackle it seemed it would just not be Burton’s day again. With around 15 minutes to go though Burton gave themselves a lifeline as another rolling maul did the trick and Neal scored his second and Burton’s third try of the game. Bunting added the conversion and the gap was just 1 point once again, Burton 20-21 Nuneaton.
Frustratingly, the re-start saw another knock-on from a Burton hand and the initiative, not for the first time this season handed straight back to an opposing team. However Burton were soon back into the Nuneaton danger zone thanks to some excellent defensive work and kick through by Tristan DeJager. A surging run through the middle by John Kirwan almost unlocked the Nuneaton defence but they cleared the danger with a kick up to their own 10-metre line. Burton continued to put pressure on the Nuneaton defence and as the penalty count against Nuneaton increased they received a second yellow card reduced them to just 13 players for a few minutes.
When Burton were awarded another penalty there was a chance to take the lead for the first time in the game as Bunting was asked to take the 3 points. A well struck kick looked like it was going to do the trick but to the dismay of the Burton supporters it planted itself against the upright and rebounded back towards the Burton players. Even then Burton thought they had another chance as the rebound was knocked-on by a Nuneaton hand so Burton were awarded the put-in at a scrum in centre field with time running out.
Try as they might Burton just did not have the quality in them to break through a resilient Nuneaton defence and had to settle for just a single point for the second week running. With Derby losing their final match of the season today Burton find themselves in 6th position in the league and unable to finish any higher and with just 1 home game against promotion chasing Syston next weekend. Man of the match, chosen by Patron and 1870 Members was Jack Neal who was presented with the “Rhino” trophy, which will be presented annually in memory of David Gill.