Burton’s first game of the 2022-23 season at Nuneaton took place in warm and breezy conditions on a very dry and hard pitch. Previous games between the two sides have all been keenly contested, often with the result in some doubt right through to the last whistle and this proved to be no exception. Nuneaton kicked off the game and retained possession rather too easily as Burton appeared to be not at all switched on. They moved the ball left and thanks to a timely intervention by Alex Nesbitt the ball was overturned, and Chaz Bunting was able to clear from the resulting maul. Burton were awarded the throw at the line-out as the ball had been slightly deflected by a Nuneaton hand.
Burton won the line-out comfortably and the ball was transferred along the backs to Alfie Grant who made a good early break. Burton showed real hunger at this early stage and the ball was re-cycled to the right where Will Derry charged over in the corner to give Burton the lead. Although Bunting’s attempted conversion just missed the early signs were positive for Burton. Nuneaton 0-5 Burton after almost 3 minutes. The re-start saw Burton’s hesitancy in evidence for a second time leading to a Nuneaton penalty for offside. Burton were put under territorial pressure with the well struck kick to touch taking the home team up to the Burton 5-metre line. Nuneaton won their line-out well and moved the ball left but were met with excellent defensive tackles by Burton and were not able to make any further ground. They were eventually awarded a penalty which they successfully kicked for goal to reduce the deficit to two points after 8 minutes. Nuneaton 3-5 Burton.
Burton looked to move the ball through the hands as often as they could as this seemed to un-settle Nuneaton and produced good gains in territory. A Bunting box kick took play all the way up to the Nuneaton “22”. However, a penalty to Nuneaton allowed them to clear back to half-way. Burton though began to build a bit of momentum as they progressed back into home territory. Nuneaton demonstrated they were in no mood to let Burton become dominant for too long as they once again cleared into Burton territory. Both sides were making several handling errors and the game was a little scrappy from time to time as a result. A handling error by Nuneaton gave Burton a scrum and Burton drove back the home team and were awarded a penalty which Jaimie Dutton despatched deep into the Nuneaton “22”. Lewis Sturgess picked up from the base of the maul after the line-out, but it was Nuneaton’s turn to show their defensive skills to keep their visitors at-bay until Will Simpson found a gap in the home defence to score Burton’s second try of the match after 18 minutes. Bunting conversion was again wide of the target, but Burton had extended their lead. Nuneaton 3-10 Burton.
Burton were much improved in their handling of the third re-start as Griffiths took the ball well and another box kick forced a home knock-on and another scrum for Burton. The ball was moved to the right from the scrum but gave away possession with over-use of the kick through rather than keeping the ball in hand. Nuneaton were forced to make a change at prop due to Burton’s dominance in this area. A scrappy period of play resulted in another Burton scrum on the Nuneaton “22”. Burton were applying good pressure with and without the ball and they were forcing numerous errors by the home team. Eventually a Burton line-out on the home 5-metre line was very efficiently executed and Tommie Collingwood was on hand to score Burton’s third try after 26 minutes. Bunting was again just wide with the conversion making the score Nuneaton 3-15 Burton.
Nuneaton then had a period of possession inside the Burton half but struggled to make any headway against a resolute Burton defence, eventually Burton were able to clear back into the Nuneaton half. Although Burton were dominant in the set scrum, they were frustrated a little by Nuneaton who were having the lion’s share of possession during this period. When Burton were next in possession, they moved the ball well through the hands only for Grant to kick the ball directly into touch. Play then moved into pendulum mode around the half-way line with both teams cancelling each other out and neither giving ground easily. Towards the end of the half Burton were penalised just inside their 10-metre line and the penalty was successfully converted to make the score Nuneaton 6-15 Burton. The breeze was making kicks very difficult to judge and consequently the game was not able to flow well despite the endeavours of both sides. It was Nuneaton who threatened the Burton try-line next, but they were given no joy from the excellent defensive work from the whole of the Burton team and the half finished with the score remaining Nuneaton 6-15 Burton.
The second half began brilliantly for Burton as Nuneaton failed to catch the kick-off and Simpson collected the ball, passed to fellow centre Nesbitt just outside the Nuneaton “22” and he then gave a timely pass to Will Derry who sprinted away to score Burton’s bonus point try. Bunting’s conversion was blown off target in the strengthening breeze to make the score Nuneaton 6-20 Burton. Nuneaton reacted and did their best to try and get back into the game, but they too were finding it difficult to build momentum and flow into their game. At this stage Burton were not making things easy for themselves and a high penalty count against them gave Nuneaton hope that there was a way back into the match for them. This hope was turned into reality when from a 5-metre line-out they caught and drove to score their first try, which was successfully converted to reduce their deficit to seven points. Nuneaton 13-20 Burton.
For the next few minutes, the game became a little cagey as neither team looked to move the ball in the hands and the kick tennis advantage went to Burton who won a line-out just inside the Nuneaton 10-metre line on the right-hand side. From this they moved the ball well through the hands right up to the 5-metre line on the left. Once again Nuneaton showed their defensive ability to ensure Burton were mot able to add to their score and made progress up to their own “22”. Burton regained possession and looked threatening once more only to be halted by a high tackle which the referee deemed only warranted a penalty to Burton. However, Burton were not able to convert this position into points on this occasion.
Burton’s frustration increased a little further with Nuneaton getting away with numerous off-side offences at rucks and mauls as the game continued to be littered with stoppages. However, they snapped themselves out of this with a great handling move from right to left ending up with Collingwood scoring his second try of the game after 25 minutes. Bunting was successful with the conversion to increase Burton’s lead. Nuneaton 13-27 Burton. From the re-start Burton were forced into touch on the right having returned the ball up to the half-way line. Nuneaton to their credit were still searching for a way back into the game and as a result had a sustained period of possession over the next few minutes. This was rewarded with a further try for them, despite a suspicious forward pass, which was converted to make the score Nuneaton 20-27 Burton with around 10 minutes left to play.
Not to be outdone Burton conjured up another great handling move down the left-hand side which ended with Will Hopwood scoring Burton’s 6th try of the game. The conversion was wide of the mark once again, but Burton had a little breathing space with the score standing at Nuneaton 20-32 Burton. Nuneaton were to have the last say in the match as they ended the game very strongly whilst Burton suffered some rather harsh further penalty decisions against them. With almost the last play of the game they scored their third try which was converted to close the gap to Nuneaton 27-32 Burton. Despite regaining possession Nuneaton were not able to score again, much to the relief of the travelling Burton supporters and, no doubt, the team and new coaching staff.
There were several contenders for Man of the match, but it went deservedly to Will Derry. It was interesting to see that all the games in the Midlands 1 Regional league were close encounters. Burton look forward to welcoming Oundle to Battlestead Croft next week for what will be another close-run game bearing in mind their surprising win against Bromsgrove yesterday.