Another dismal Saturday afternoon saw Burton slip to their fourth straight league defeat and left their supporters feeling like they had just had a spoonful of the town’s other product, Marmite, and not knowing whether to love or hate their team. After a first half that started with a bang and degenerated into a damp squib Burton produced a second half of passion and determination. This at least gave the Burton team and fans the satisfaction of seeing that South were held to just a solitary try and so fail to get what had appeared to be another certain try bonus point.

Burton kicked-off and were given an immediate introduction of South’s big, powerful forward as they gathered and charged forward. But as they tried to move the ball out wide it was dropped and Harry Titley quickly scooped up the loose ball to race towards the home line. With only the fullback to beat he passed out to Dave Archer who had a clear twenty metre run to the line to give Burton a try in the first minute.

Unfortunately this was to be Burton’s only action in the next twenty-five minutes as the home side piled on the pressure with a series of powerful bursts from their forwards. Time and again after initial forward bursts South’s backs would then be unleashed to carve through Burton’s weak defensive line. But fortunately Burton’s second line of defence, in particularly flanker Kelvin Browne, was able to stem the flow. All this saw Burton struggling to contain the home side, but in doing so they conceded penalties and South’s kicker Mark Lord duly converted three of these to put his side 9-5 up with twenty minutes of the game gone.

Burton were having to make do with scraps of possession that allowed Joel Booth, Ben Grocott, Nathan Taylor and Jon Edwards to take the ball forward. But more often than not when released the backs were unable to make little headway so kicking down field became the order of the day. But South had pace, skill and power to capitalise on any poor kicks and returned these with interest either by running or kicking.

After the third South penalty worse was to follow as from the restart as the opposition safely gathered the ball and stormed upfield. The ball was released out wide and kicked forward to be chased down and with the Burton defenders at sixes and sevens the South flanker went to pick-up, but with the little fumble not being seen winger Childs followed up to grab the ball and touch down under the posts. Lord again had no problems with the kick and gave his side a 16-5 lead.

The home side were trying to run everything and such was their clinical precision that most times it saw them make plenty of ground. On one such occasion only a great tackle by Jon Evans and Archer stopped a certain try as the winger raced towards the Burton line. A Burton penalty by Ian Gilmour failed to find touch and the hosts raced back upfield, but great tackling and rucking saw Burton turnover the ball and launch an attack of the own as Craig Dutton drove forward thirty metres and as South panicked they conceded a penalty. This time Gilmour made no mistake and found touch on the home twenty-two. A great take by Josh Cartwright saw Rob Wakelin, Edwards, Booth and Browne drive the ball forward and earn another penalty. This time the lineout was lost but Dutton was up quickly to stop the ball being cleared and Browne and Titley drove the ball forward as South surprisingly dithered. An injury to Taylor saw Matt Tivey enter the fray at loose head prop. Another penalty saw Banton make up for two earlier misses as he bisected the uprights with his kick and put the score to 16-8.

South stormed back upfield from the kick-off and a sustained period of pressure on the Burton line resulted in their forwards ultimately releasing the ball for a beautifully timed inside pass to winger Childs for him to touchdown under the posts. The ever- reliable Lord added the extra points to give his side a 23-8 lead as half-time arrived.

Trailing 23-8 and with their team looking far from lively Burton supporters must have feared a possible fifty point defeat as the outcome. But after a good ear-bashing during the interval it was a completely different Burton side that appeared after the break. Although an initial penalty from the kick-off did not bode too well for the Burton side they were able shrug this off and set about trying to produce some chances and tightening up on their defence. Although playing second fiddle to the far more clinical home side Burton did manage to contain them with a much-improved display but with possession sparse their attacking chances were limited. One South attack saw Dan Smith and Gilmour combine to put the man in touch on the Burton twenty-two and from the lineout Burton won a penalty. Gilmour put the ball in touch on halfway and a tap by Edwards saw Browne drive forward. Burton won the ruck and spun the ball down the line where Titley raced clear and kicked ahead for Archer. But the home defence got there first and cleared.

A series of penalties to Burton saw them vary their options trying kicks to corner, quick taps and scrums but against the much, bigger forwards, who even when down to seven players, were always stronger so getting possession was always a problem. But credit must go to the Burton pack, in particularly the front row of Wakelin, Clarke and Tivey, who despite being possible two stone lighter than their opposite numbers gave their all and did win some possession and were more than a match for the opposition around the park.

With only ten minutes to go South got their third try when after five minutes of heavy Burton pressure in their own twenty-two their wing scooped up a loose ball and raced clear before feeding centre Smith who completed the move and touched down. Once again Lord added the extra points to put his side 30-8 up.

Burton bravely battled on until the end and did manage to make some attacks one involving Booth, Smith and Edwards saw them get into the home twenty-two. But the ball was lost and South cleared only for Evans to gather and run back to set up a ruck. Quick ball saw Banton feed Gilmour who worked a missed move with Dutton for Titley to take full advantage to race through but an ankle tap put him on the ground and again South cleared any danger.

The final whistle sounded with Burton losing 30-8 and knowing that a much, better side beat them. But consolation can be taken from a good second half performance that gave no Burton points but at least, unlike six other sides, they had stopped South from getting that try-scoring bonus.