League leaders Dudley Kingswinford visited Battlestead Croft looking to bounce back from a defeat at the hands of Bromsgrove last week with the home team also wanting to make up for a narrow loss at Derby. Burton had several changes in the side due mainly to injury and welcomed a first appearance by loan player Jack Ingram at full-back although his favoured position is scrum half. So the stage was set for a very tough encounter on a dry but breezy and overcast day. Prior to kick off a minute’s silence was held to commemorate remembrance day. The home crowd was boosted by the large numbers attending the former players’ lunch.
Burton kicked-off the game playing with the breeze blowing in its customary direction from right to left straight down the pitch. Burton were awarded the first penalty decision when a Dudley box kick was about to be collected by Will Derry when he was knocked by a chasing Dudley player. Jamie Dutton made clever use of the breeze to take Burton up to the “22” on the left. From the throw at the line-out Burton mauled well and drove forward well into the “22” but the move broke down and Dudley were able to clear almost back to half-way following a Burton infringement.
Two further successive penalties allowed Dudley into the Burton half for the first time and a third gave them an opportunity to open the scoring with an attempt at goal which was converted well against the breeze after almost 5 minutes. Burton 0-3 Dudley Kingswinford. From the re-start Burton soon got themselves into the Dudley danger zone courtesy of a penalty against Dudley for holding on in the tackle and Dutton kicked well again to give Burton the throw at a lime-out on the 5-metre line on the left. Burton moved the ball to the right and were awarded another penalty which rather bizarrely ended up with a Burton line-out almost all the way back on the “22”.
Burton found the Dudley defence difficult to break down but kept the ball alive in this area until another offence form the visitors gave Chaz Bunting the chance to level the scores after almost 14 minutes, which he did successfully. Burton 3-3 Dudley Kingswinford. However Burton were not level for very long at all as Dudley exposed a big gap in the Burton defence straight from the re-start and scored a converted try under the posts. Burton 3-10 Dudley Kingswinford.
The re-start kick went straight out into touch, so Dudley had the put in at a scrum back on the half-way line. A good kick from the Dudley scrum half took the game straight back into the Burton “22”. At this stage of the game Burton were enjoying a reasonable proportion of possession and were again able to gradually make their way back up to the Dudley “22”. Several penalties were conceded by Dudley and the home crowd were encouraged and wondered if that was to continue whether the referee may take stronger action. Alas this was not the case as it was Burton who were penalised next, allowing Dudley to clear the danger.
Burton showed their handling ability shortly afterwards when the ball was moved from left to right with Alex Nesbitt and Henry Knox combined to set the latter on his first dangerous run of the game, which ended when the Dudley defenders were penalised again. Burton were left a little frustrated as they could not break through and eventually this pressure on the visitors was ended with a Burton knock-on near the right corner. The resulting scrum saw Burton penalised for collapsing and Dudley cleared further down the field. The Dudley throw was not straight and Burton, not surprisingly, given their domination in this area, opted for the scrum. Knox then made a fine break in midfield but was brought to a stop by the Dudley defence just outside the “22”.
Despite having momentum Burton were unable to penetrate the visitors’ defence and eventually they were penalised as the attacker became isolated and held on to the ball for too long. Dudley cleared almost to half-way and mistakes from both teams began to creep into the game, particularly the line-out, where it was difficult to keep the throws straight. Dudley then began to keep possession themselves and moved steadily up the field and back into Burton territory. Their push towards the try line was halted by another handling error and Burton supporters were able to feel relieved. However Dudley were not about to give up in their attempt to increase their lead on the stroke of half-time and eventually they went over for their second try of the game in the left corner. A difficult conversion attempt went wide, and the score moved on to Burton 3-15 Dudley Kingswinford and the referee signalled the end of the first half.
The second half started with a good run back from the kick-off by Lewis Sturgess. Dudley gave an early indication of their tactics for the second half as they now had the breeze at their backs, with a penetrating kick into the Burton “22”. Full-back Ingram dealt with this very impressively and got his kick away to the relief of the home supporters. The penalty count for both sides continued to be frustratingly high and did not help either side to create fluidity in their game. Despite this there were flashes of Burton’s handling ability with several players catching the eye. Probably none more so than Dutton who was particularly prominent in one good Burton move that saw them getting deep into the Dudley “22”.
Just over mid-way through the second half after a prolonged period when there was little meaningful action as both teams just cancelled each other out, Dudley scored their third try of the game as a poor Burton pass was intercepted. A successful conversion increased Dudley’s lead to 17 points. Burton 3-20 Dudley Kingswinford. Burton huffed and puffed all afternoon but lacked some much-needed quality in their play if they were to take anything from this game. They were lucky to escape going further behind when another intercepted pass was made but a brilliant tackle from Dutton who proceeded to get to his feet and gain a penalty as the Dudley player held on to the ball.
As the game wore on Burton were finding the line-out increasingly difficult to win which did not make their chances of a comeback any easier at all. Dudley to their credit began to take more control of the game – indeed even in the scrum where Burton had dominated until now. It was no surprise when they scored their final try of the game just over mid-way through the half. A successful conversion gave them what felt like an unassailable lead. Burton 3-27 Dudley.
As the game drew to a conclusion there was little to get excited about apart from an outrageous tackle after the ball had gone on Bunting, not seen by the referee as a slight melee amongst a handful of players on the opposite side of the pitch did catch his attention. Both captains were warned and told to speak to their players. Shortly after this Bunting was unfortunate to be given the only yellow card of the game and Dudley were able to celebrate a worthy win to remain top of the league. Burton drop to 6th place, one above next week's opposition, Kenilworth.