Looking for their second league victory of the season Burton travelled to Peterborough’s Second Drove ground but after seventy-five percent of play and possession they returned home with just one point from what should have been a possible four. A second half performance by Burton that at times lacked the power and passion of the first half saw the home side come from behind to score a try in the dying minutes to steal an 18-15 victory.

Peterborough kicked-off to start the fixture and a great take by Ben Grocott was wasted as Burton conceded a scrum. But after a long kick ahead by the opposition Burton recovered to take play back to the ten-metre line. Josh Cartwright took a superb lineout ball and the Burton pack drove forward to over the halfway line to set up good ball for Craig Dutton to burst forward. With Ian Gilmour in support the ball was fed out to Dave Archer and Sam Smith who together took play to inside the home twenty-two. The backrow were in support to quickly recycle the ball but as Dutton charged towards the line his pass to unmarked Sam Smith was forward and seven points were lost. From the resulting scrum the hosts drove play back to halfway with a series of close quarter surges.

Burton countered this with some lovely passing movements involving Gilmour, Dutton, Archer, Joel Booth and Dave Fitchett that took play towards the home line. A penalty to Burton saw Gilmour put the ball into the corner and Cartwright’s superb leap saw the Burton pack surge towards and over the line, but the referee adjudged that the ball wasn’t grounded and Peterborough were able to clear their lines. But a great tackle by Grocott saw the ball spilled and Gilmour kicked ahead to find touch ten-metres from the home line. More pressure from the lineout won Burton a penalty but from in front of the posts Archer scuffed his kick and the hosts again breathed a sigh of relief. Burton were now really playing with power and passion as they drove forward at every opportunity led by Booth, Charl Neethling, Jon Edwards and Grocott with Darryl Banton snapping at their heels. All this pressure paid off and another penalty to Burton saw Banton stride forward to kick the ball between the uprights and give his side three point lead after twenty-five minutes of domination.

Burton were playing with a very positive attitude and with the frontrow of Charl Neethling, Dan Clarke and Rob Wakelin providing a very solid base they could run the ball at every chance but all too often poor handling saw chances slip away, but all the pressure saw the home side began to get ruffled. Despite intimidation and attempted plastic surgery on Edwards’s face Burton kept up the pressure, but struggled to convert it into points. With halftime approaching a great piece of rucking that freed up the ball by Booth surprisingly saw Grocott penalised for handling in the now non-existent ruck. With words being uttered the home penalty was advanced a further ten-metre forward and a well-struck kick put the sides back on level terms at 3-3 as the whistle sounded.

Archer’s dropout to start the second half was well taken by the home side and they showed their intent by kicking the ball back into the Burton twenty-two. But powerful bursts by Dutton, Banton, Archer and Dan Smith took play back to halfway for Gilmour to kick a penalty deep into the home twenty-two. From the lineout the Burton pack drove forward and released the ball for Banton to spin it down the line. Archer entered the line and jumped high to take the pass before feeding Sam Smith and the youngster sped towards the line. When stopped he found Harry Titley and Gilmour in support for the latter to cross the line and touch down for a well-deserved try. Banton’s conversion sailed between the uprights to at last give a scoreline that reflected the play with Burton having a 10-3 lead.

Burton re-doubled their efforts and continued to show the passion their first-half performance had seen. But when a ruck ball suddenly appeared on the home side the hosts wasted no time in moving the ball out wide and after some quick recycling their flyhalf dived over the Burton line to score in the corner. This try seemed to dampen Burton’s spirits as Peterborough began to gain the ascendancy. However, Burton’s defence remained solid and as the hosts attacked Sam Smith seized upon a loose pass and he raced sixty-metres to score Burton’s second try and re-establish their seven-point lead at 15-8.

Peterborough hit back with a series of powerful forward surges as they got close and closer towards the Burton line. Burton’s defence kept them at bay as Edwards, Booth, Grocott and the rest of the Burton pack tackled like demons, but after a period of intense pressure a strong burst by a home prop forward saw him dive over for a try to take the score to 15-13.

Worse was to follow as Peterborough began to sense that what had appeared to be a lost cause was not totally dead and the home side began to pile on more and more pressure. The more the pressure increased the more the Burton side appear to lose faith in themselves as they started to make unforced errors. Chances that had previously been taken or clearances dealt with became strewn with errors as the home side piled forward. With three minutes remaining the dam burst and Peterborough got their third try and for the first time in eighty minutes took the lead and as time ran out Burton were left to wonder where they had gone wrong as the hosts left the field 18-15 victors.