Following last week’s postponement Burton were keen to get back to winning ways in this local derby against Derby on the final Saturday in January at Battlestead Croft. A fine, cold and dry day greeted both teams as they took to the field and it was Derby who had the better of the early exchanges as they visited the Burton “22” twice without really threatening the try line. As in the previous game against Bromsgrove, Burton struggled to get their game going a little despite their efforts to do so and Derby began to increase their percentage of possession. Defensive skills were the most prominent on display for the first 10 minutes or so and the pre-match expectation that the game would be a close affair rang vert true.
The first score of the game came from Derby as they moved the ball through the hands from left to right to score in the corner after almost 16 minutes. The difficult conversion was missed so the score stood at Burton 0-5 Derby. The home supporters thought that Burton’s response had come almost immediately following a good break from Chaz Bunting but Alex Nesbitt’s foot was adjudged to be in touch before he had grounded the ball wide on the right. Burton had to settle for the penalty advantage in the build-up to this attempt and opted, somewhat surprisingly, for the scrum. A Derby player was shown a yellow card for the infringement, whatever that might have been.
Another penalty to Burton followed shortly after and this time they went for the kick to touch and executed a fine catch and drive move from just over 5 metres out for John Kirwan to get the touchdown for Burton’s first score of the game after 25 minutes. Will Simpson added the difficult conversion to enable Burton to take the lead. Burton 7-5 Derby. The re-start kick from Derby did not go 10 metres and so Burton, sensing their superiority in the scrum, opted for that and won a further penalty which Dutton kicked to touch mid-way between the 10 metre line and “22” on the left. Burton were not able to make anything of this and Derby were then awarded a penalty from which they returned to the Burton half once more.
Derby were able to build momentum much easier than the home team but they were met by some excellent defensive work across the whole Burton side who did not allow themselves to be breached despite some prolonged attacks. Burton supporters were a little frustrated that their team were not able to make their numerical advantage count further during the 10 minute period. When they did get back to 15 players Derby continued to put pressure the Burton defence and indeed went over for their second try of the game with about 5 minutes of the first half remaining. A successful conversion meant they extended their lead to 5 points. Burton 7-12 Derby.
To their credit Burton struck back as the half-time whistle approached with their first real sustained period of possession which saw Dutton expose a rare gap in the Derby defence to score under the posts. Simpson added the conversion and with that the half-time whistle was blown giving Burton a narrow lead. Burton 14-12 Derby.
The start of the second half saw Burton penalised on several occasions much to the dislike of the home supporters who became more and more frustrated with many of the decisions. One of these penalties Derby were unsuccessful with an attempt at goal so the score remained as it was at half-time. The first 10 minutes of the half past without any major action as defence was the winner in both teams efforts to get a grip on proceedings. However, Burton’s defence was first to be breached, a little too easily, it might be said, allowing Derby to take back the lead with a converted try in the 12th minute, Burton 14-19 Derby.
Burton were straight back into Derby’s danger zone following the re-start courtesy of a brilliant grubber kick from Dutton which resulted in a lineout on the 5-metre line right hand side. Burton were then frustrated by a combination of some good defence by Derby and some refereeing decisions that in the view of the home supporters favoured the away side. Eventually Derby’s defence could hold out no longer as a well-executed catch and drive move from the Burton pack saw James Davies get the touchdown mid-way through the second-half. Simpson once again added the conversion and the lead changed once again. Burton 21-19 Derby.
Not for the first time this season Burton put themselves under needless pressure from the re-start having just scored on more than one occasion. But the home supporters furrowed brows were distinguished by a wonderful individual try from Dutton who intercepted a rather forced Derby pass deep in his own “22” and then sprinted clear of the chasing defenders to score Burton’s bonus point try after almost 27 minutes. Burton 28-19 Derby.
Burton supporters were happy with the scoreline but not the fact that Derby were proving once again that they never give up until the final whistle blows. They continued to dominate possession for much of the remainder of the game and Burton found themselves under severe and sustained pressure in their own half. Jack Barry Neal then received a yellow card for hands in the ruck and it was almost inevitable Derby would score again to set up a tense final few minutes. Indeed they did score from the resulting penalty with a short tap kick and forwards drive over the line. A successful conversion reduced the deficit to just 2 points with almost 10 minutes left to play. Burton 28-26 Derby.
With around 5 minutes of the half remaining, Burton had a rare visit to the Derby “22” and were rewarded with a scrum penalty in front of the posts. Simpson was asked to kick for goal, which he did successfully meaning Burton had increased their lead to 5 points. Burton 31-26 Derby. Not surprisingly Derby threw everything they had at Burton in an attempt to once again wrestle victory away from Burton as they had done in the earlier meeting this season. Burton found themselves once again on the wrong side of the referee as the decisions from a Burton perspective were all going against them. In this context it was no surprise whatsoever when Derby scored the final try of the game to tie the scores with a conversion wide on the right to win the game. Their kicker made no mistake to give Derby a win with the last kick of the game much to the dismay of the dejected home supporters.
This result puts Derby up to 4th in the league and Burton slip to 7th. With 3 of their 7 remaining games against teams above them Burton still have a big say in who finishes where in the Regional 1 Midlands table. Burton will be hoping next week’s home game against Stoke will see a chance to turn things round and get back to winning ways. Based on the earlier meeting this season, which Burton won in a high scoring game, they will have to be at their best to ensure another win.