Burton travelled to Bromsgrove knowing that a victory would see them climb to second place in the league but were left frustrated by a lacklustre performance and some poor defensive errors which were fully exploited by the home team. The first of these led to an early score for Bromsgrove under the posts which was converted with ease with barely two minutes gone, Bromsgrove 7-0 Burton.
The re-start saw Burton move the ball very well from left to right and a lovely grubber kick from head coach, Harry Titley, making a rare appearance these days at full-back, taking play up to the home “22”. Their presence in this area was rather short-lived as a penalty awarded against them for interference in the line-out resulted in Bromsgrove clearing almost to the half-way line. However a good handling move by the backs took Burton back a few minutes later where a penalty was won and a fine kick to touch gave them the throw-in at a lineout on the left 5 metres from the try line. A good clean catch and drive followed and under severe pressure the home side were deemed to have stopped Burton’s drive for the line illegally and the referee awarded them with a penalty try after almost 8 minutes. Bromsgrove 7-7 Burton.
An error of judgement from the kick-off meant Burton were back in their own “22” with the throw in at another lineout. Burton cleared almost to the 10-metre line but the throw in this time was to Bromsgrove, where Burton were undone by a short throw passed back to the thrower, who broke away and scored Bromsgrove’s second try of the game wide on the left. The conversion was missed but Bromsgrove had re-taken the lead after 12 minutes. Bromsgrove 12-7 Burton.
The game at this stage was quite evenly matched with both sides enjoying possession and territory as it fluctuated either side of half-way. Of the two teams it was Bromsgrove who looked to have the greater rhythm in their game as Burton suffered a little with simple errors. The next score went to Bromsgrove as they made their way back into the Burton “22” and were awarded a penalty, which they tapped short and eventually drove over the line for their third try. A successful conversion increased their lead to Bromsgrove 19-7 Burton almost mid-way through the first half.
With the wind in their favour Bromsgrove were looking to pin Burton back with long kicks and make Burton play deep in their own territory. However one such kick went dead, and play was re-started just outside the Bromsgrove “22” on the right. Burton were enjoying a degree of dominance in the set scrums and won themselves a penalty which Jamie Dutton kicked to touch very nicely up to the 5-metre line on the Burton right. Unfortunately they were not able to convert this pressure into points as the ball was lost in the tackle and Bromsgrove were able to clear the danger.
The remainder of the half passed with little in terms of quality to mention but Burton did have to use two of their replacements as Dom Taylor had to leave the field with a back injury, replaced by Harry Mellor and Cal Donnelly was replaced by John Kirwan as the first part of a rotational process. On the stroke of half-time, however Bromsgrove scored their bonus point try which went unconverted to increase their lead to Bromsgrove 24-7 Burton.
The second half started with much more expected from Burton as they now had the wind in their favour and would be looking to apply much more pressure on the home team. A deep kick from the re-start did just this and it was noted with some interest that Bromsgrove began by running the ball rather than kicking. Having got themselves almost back to the half-way line Bromsgrove were then penalised and a great kick by Dutton meant Burton were within striking distance of the try line. A great catch and drive from the Burton pack looked like they had got the early score they so wanted but the referee had other ideas and deemed the ball had been held up.
The next few minutes of play was littered with mistakes from both teams, but it was Bromsgrove who were able to gain territory and indeed went on to score their fifth try of the game as poor defensive tackling was exploited with disappointing ease from a Burton perspective. A successful conversion this time meant Bromsgrove’s lead was now quite substantial and it would be a long way back for Burton to get anything out of the game. Bromsgrove 31-7 Burton.
Burton showed only glimpses of their normal potency with the ball in their hands and were really having to force their passes at times in an attempt to get themselves going. They were also frustrated by an increasing penalty count which seemed to be going all Bromsgrove’s way. As the half went on this frustration continued as Burton tried their hardest to get themselves going but it was not to be their day and as Bromsgrove countered back the errors mounted up and Burton found themselves back in their own danger zone with a scrum to Bromsgrove.
To “rub salt into the wound” Bromsgrove got a rare scrum drive going and were rewarded with their final try of the game with just under 10 minutes of the game remaining right under the posts. An easy conversion followed to make the score Bromsgrove 38-7 Burton. Burton tried in vain to get another score on the board but were denied by some good defensive work from the home team. Even when they went over the line late on in the game for what looked to be a clear score, they were denied by the referee who deemed the ball was held up over the line.
With other results today Burton slipped to 6th position in the Regional League 1, level on points with both Kenilworth and Syston, which makes next weeks’ game with Syston at Battlestead Croft a very mouth-watering prospec