In a match that saw bottom of the table Burton travel to face third placed Longton a home win was probably the expected result but for sixty minutes Burton made their higher placed opposition have plenty of nervous moments as they battled against the odds. In the end the resulting 39-8 score-line somewhat flattered Longton and was only achieved after Burton had pulled back from being eleven points down at the break to get to 15-8. But with twenty minutes to play some wayward play by Burton and a penalty try at the death saw Longton score four more tries to inflate the final result.

Longton kicked-off and a great tackle by Luke Peach on their centre soon showed that Burton had not made the journey just to be cannon fodder. A poor Burton scrum saw the hosts make in roads into the Burton defence but they were met by ferocious tackling as Burton’s backrow, Dave Fitchett, Kelvin Browne and Ben Grocott, put down anything that other Burton players missed. Then a great steal by Will Brooks saw Dave Archer break down the blindside to outstrip the defence before a last ditch tackle stopped him a couple of metres short of the line. Then a break by Ian Gilmour saw him kick ahead, when possibly ball in hand was a better option, for Danny Smith to chase but Longton won the chase and cleared the danger. Burton were playing with passion and a chance to take the lead was missed as Archer’s penalty attempt into the wind fell proved to be a little ambitious as it fell just short.

Longton now started to try and keep the ball close with a series of rolling mauls, but good work by Burton saw them turned over. This was soon followed up by more excellent lineout work from Brooks, Grocott and Joel Booth, but fumbles cost Burton the chance of making more of this possession. Two free kicks for front row offences by Burton saw Longton pile on the pressure but once again great defensive work by the whole Burton side kept them out as they steadily gained ground. But then another refereeing decision against Burton saw Darryl Banton sin-binned for not releasing in the tackle and with Burton still re-organising Longton stole in for the first score after twenty-five minutes play.

From the restart Brooks and Fitchett clashed heads as they both drove in to tackle the Longton receiver and this saw Joe Gazzard and Rich Wilton come on as blood replacements while they both received treatment for head injuries. To cover their absence Grocott upped his work-rate and could be seen everywhere tackling and supporting. A rare lapse in the Burton defence during this frantic first half led to the Longton centre scoring a try to increase their lead to 10-0. Two minutes later Banton pulled back some of the deficit with a penalty from in front of the posts. But with the sixth minute of injury time being played another powerful surge by the Longton pack saw their second row emerge from the bottom of the ruck with the ball to claim their third try and take them into the break leading 15-3.

Burton restarted and as Brooks returned to the game with his head swathed in bandages he took a great lineout ball to set up a six-phase move for Burton that saw them eventually awarded a penalty. Unfortunately Banton’s kick sailed inches wide, but Burton kept up the pressure and more lineout ball saw Booth attack the line only for the ball to be lost. Another multi-phase move stemming from a lineout take by Booth saw Burton get to within five metres of the home line only to again lose possession. But as Longton tried to break out of defence Brooks and Fitchett, this time without injury, put in a great double tackle to bring down the charging Longton prop.

A solid Burton scrum on halfway saw Banton break down the blindside to chip ahead and score with a great individual effort, but his conversion from the touchline dropped just short.

Only leading by seven points Longton now began to show signs of nerves as they replaced two players in quick succession in a effort to up their game. This certainly had the desire effect as they ran in three tries in eight minutes helped by some hapless Burton play. As Longton attacked Burton repelled them with Matt Tivey and Peach putting in a couple of great tackles before Peach kicked the ball deep into Longton territory. But as the hosts stormed forward Jamie Hamilton snatched up a loose ball to demonstrated the well-known fact that props can’t kick and sliced the ball straight into the arms of the opposition hooker, who raced over the Burton line for a try. Jon Evans replaced Banton and a period of kicking ‘ping-pong’ followed as both sides vied for position. The last kick was a Longton penalty to put the ball five-metres from the Burton line and one of their replacements gathered the ball to dive over for an unconverted try to increase his side’s lead to 25-8.

Further Longton changes soon paid dividends as a harmless kick ahead from them bounced favourably back into the arms of their chasing scrum half. He raced over to touch down under the posts for a converted try to end this awful spell for Burton and put his side 32-8 in the lead.

Burton replaced Danny Clarke with Wilton due to a shoulder injury and Gazzard again game on for the bleeding Brooks as Burton stormed back on the attack led by Booth, Grocott, Fitchett, Browne and Tivey. But with the line beckoning Browne’s normally safe hands let him down to let Longton off the hook. A powerful surge by the Burton pack saw the Longton scrumhalf just get his hands to the ball only for Grocott to tackle him, but the referee adjudged Grocott’s actions to be too quick and yellow-carded him for tackling without the ball.

Now playing against fourteen men and with five minutes remaining Longton began to use their power and a series of scrums near the Burton line saw Burton concede their third penalty try in as many matches. The easy conversion put the score at a flattering 39-8 for the home side and left Burton to rue the eight minute spell that cost them seventeen points and the penalty try at the death without which the score if not the outcome would have been more realistic for their efforts.