Burton Have to Settle for Two Bonus Points in Narrow Loss at Home to Stourbridge

For the third year running the weather was sunny and dry for the “Party on the Pitch” Community day event which took place this Saturday. A very large crowd watching were treated to a real humdinger of a game, which was in the balance right up until its end. A late penalty attempt struck the post and rebounded agonisingly to safety leaving Burton just one point behind their visitors, Stourbridge and with just seconds remaining and that proved to be the final score.
The huge margin of victory recorded by Stourbridge last week suggested that Burton might be in for a very tough afternoon, but the home team carried on from where they left off last week and put in a performance that was full of character, endeavour and no less skill which seemed to catch their visitors a little by surprise and they will no doubt return home happy but relieved to come away with a second win in their two games to date.
Unfortunately preparations for the game were somewhat disrupted following a serious injury in the early kick-off which required an ambulance to take the player to hospital. Best wishes go to him and his family for a speedy recovery. In the sweltering September heat it was Stourbridge that gained the early territorial advantage following a penalty against Burton. A lineout on the Burton 5-metre line was deemed to be not straight and Burton opted for a scrum which they won and cleared efficiently almost to the halfway line. From the resulting line-out, Stourbridge were awarded a penalty under the new high tackle law and a successful penalty kick saw them take the lead after 5 minutes. Burton 0-3 Stourbridge.
The next piece of action came from the Burton backs as they moved the ball from left to right very effectively, but a swift turnover of possession then provided Stourbridge with an opportunity to respond, however the Burton defence was well organised, and the move broke down. Burton again regained possession and showed their handling skills, this time from right to left as they progressed to just outside the Stourbridge “22”. With Burton looking quite dangerous with the ball in their hands, the home supporters were slightly frustrated that on two or three occasions simple passing errors meant the end to some good opportunities to get closer to the Stourbridge try line.
This frustration did not appear to translate to the home players as they continued to build pressure very patiently and it was Stourbridge who began to loose a little discipline. With the home crowd finding their voices Burton were eventually awarded their penalty and kicked well to touch for a line out on the left just over 5-metres from the line. A wonderfully executed catch and drive from the Burton forwards resulted in them taking the lead after almost 15 minutes as James Davies got the touchdown and Chaz Bunting added the conversion. Burton 7-0 Stourbridge.
At this early stage of the game which was pretty evenly balanced there were signs of confidence growing in the Burton ranks as they enjoyed their first prolonged period of possession. Even without the ball there were signs that Burton were really growing in stature, demonstrated by an excellent kick chase and tackle by Will Derry which resulted in a Burton throw at a line-out just inside the Stourbridge half on the left. As Burton maintained pressure on the visitors’ defence there were signs of great frustration creeping into the visitors’ game, and this was heightened when they were guilty of overplaying deep in their own “22” and knocked on to give Burton a scrum on the right. Bunting was not going to waste this chance and he made a wonderful brake from the base of a very stable scrum and scored on the right. The conversion was added by Bunting and Burton had moved into a well-deserved lead mid-way through the first half. Burton 14-3 Stourbridge.
Having built themselves a little bit of a cushion, Burton then relaxed a little too much and Stourbridge were allowed to get their hands on the ball for the next few minutes. Burton were exposed by some poor positional decisions and Stourbridge did not waste their opportunity as they too moved the ball very effectively in the hands to score their first try of the game after 25 minutes. A successful conversion and Burton’s lead was reduced to just 4 points. Burton 14-10 Stourbridge.
From the re-start Burton were soon back in Stourbridge territory with forwards and backs alike making good progress into the Stourbridge half. They forced two goal-line drop-out kicks in this phase of play and had the visitors’ defence scrambling like mad to keep them out. It seemed almost inevitable that Burton would be the next scorers. To their credit Stourbridge kept on trying to play with the ball in hand and were rewarded when a couple of missed tackles from Burton allowed play to open out and Stourbridge to score their second try of the game with some very impressive support play. The conversion was unsuccessful, but Stourbridge had re-taken the lead with just a couple of minutes of the half left to play. Burton 14-15 Stourbridge.
Burton were clearly disappointed to concede this try and they resumed their dominance of possession quickly after the re-start with a greater sense of urgency and determination. They were quick to return into the Stourbridge danger zone with some very strong driving moves. Having sucked in some of the Stourbridge defence Burton then moved the ball quickly through the backs and it was Alex Nesbitt who touched down under the posts for Burton’s third try of the game. A successful conversion from Bunting ensured Burton went into the break with a 6-point advantage. Burton 21-15 Stourbridge.
The team talk at half time would surely be let’s keep on playing the same way but cut out the simple errors that had probably limited our lead in the game to just 6 points. Unfortunately this was not to be as it was Stourbridge who scored the first points after just 4 minutes following some great handling and driving work through the whole team. A successful conversion meant the lead changed once again in Stourbridge’s favour. Burton 21-22 Stourbridge.
Having just surrendered the lead Burton then suffered a further dent in theirs ambition to win this game when Bunting was shown the yellow card for a deliberate knock on. Some of the home supporters thought the decision was a little harsh but it was probably the correct one. Burton had to make positional changes as Cyrus Griffiths moved from full-back to scrumhalf and Andrew Martin came on to the wing with Will Derry switching to full-back. Whilst Burton were a player down Stourbridge were ruthless in taking their next opportunity. An excellent Crossfield kick from left to right exposed Burton’s lack of width and the winger caught the kick well and raced over the line for Stourbridge’s bonus point try mid-way through the second half. The difficult conversion was unsuccessful, and it was Stourbridge who now had a 6-point advantage. Burton 21-27 Stourbridge.
Burton were not out of the game just yet though and they were very quickly back into the Stourbridge danger zone. They were then rewarded with a penalty kick in front of the posts and Dominic Phillips took over the kicking duties in Bunting’s absence and made no mistake to close the score to just 3 points with just under 20 minutes remaining. Burton 24-27 Stourbridge.
The visitors were now under severe pressure and as Burton continued to push for a positive result. As a consequence Stourbridge became much more physical in their approach and several scuffles broke out but the referee did not seem too concerned over this and failed to even speak to the visitors’ captain about it. Burton continued to press and despite the great defensive work by Stourbridge. Burton did manage to get their bonus point try though Bunting scoring under the posts then adding the conversion, and Burton once again took the lead with just 10 minutes remaining. Burton 31-27 Stourbridge.
There were a couple of final twists before the end of the game which would deny Burton of the win their performance warranted. Firstly Stourbridge scored a fifth try of the game with about 5 minutes remaining but the passing move leading up to this try looked suspiciously forward to the large home contingent. Disappointingly the referee did not agree and allowed the try, which handed a 1-point lead to Stourbridge. Burton 31-32 Stourbridge. Even then Burton had one final chance to rescue victory but a long-range penalty attempt from Bunting struck the post and rebounded into the grateful arms of a Stourbridge player and they were able to see out the narrowest of winning margins. Final score Burton 31-32 Stourbridge.
So Burton had to settle for 2 bonus points in a game they really should have taken all 5. They sit 4th in the Regional 1 Midlands table just 3 points behind Kenilworth, Stourbridge and next weeks’ opponents Oxford Harlequins. Another very competitive game is likely but on this display Burton are capable of getting a more positive result.