After last week’s unexpected, but highly deserved, victory at Northampton Burton took on Peterborough at Peel Croft this Saturday and fell foul of a return to defensive frailties and poor tactics as they were completely out muscled and played by their fellow relegation strugglers. Indeed such was the gulf of the eventual 18-37 score line that spectators may of thought they had just witnessed a bottom versus top of the table clash. Before the game most supporters and players must have thought that their recent return to form would see a home victory. But Burton’s failure to utilise their pace out wide and get embroiled in a forward battle saw them made to pay a heavy price as the team just above them extended its one point advantage to six.

With the sun shining and everything in the garden looking lovely Burton kicked-off and get an early lineout on the visitor’s twenty-two. Good work by the Burton pack saw breaks by Harry Titley and Ian Gilmour keep the pressure on and from a ruck in midfield Jon Evans passed down the blindside to Gilmour who fed Lewis Brooks. He cleverly drew his man and passed to Dave Archer who raced thirty metres down the touchline to touch down for the first points of the game and give Burton a 5-0 lead.

Peterborough stormed back from the restart and only good tackling by Gilmour and Kelvin Browne saved Burton’s line. But Burton conceded the first of their many penalties of the afternoon and Peterborough’s kicker made no mistake to reduce his side’s deficit to just two points. Next it was Burton’s turn to surge forward from the restart as Dave Fitchett and Joel Booth took the ball forward to set up Joe Gazzard to make another ten metres before being stopped. The opposition slowed the ball down to concede a penalty in front of the posts but Archer’s attempt sailed harmlessly off target. Peterborough again attacked and yet another penalty against Burton saw their kicker successfully put the ball between the uprights to give his side a 6-5 lead after fifteen minutes play.

From the restart the opposition tried to run the ball out of defence but a bone shuddering tackle by Lewis Brooks saw the ball spilled for a Burton scrum on the twenty-two. A great move involving Brooks and Gilmour saw Burton pour towards the line but in their haste the ball was lost and a chance gone. Then another successful Burton scrum saw the ball spun out to Gilmour who timed his pass to put Luke Peach through the gap. Peach raced towards the line, but was tackled five metres short oblivious of the two men outside him completely clear.

Peterborough scrambled the ball clear but Burton kept up the pressure wit Booth, Fitchett, James Litchfield and Danny Clarke to the fore. This pressure was rewarded with a rare penalty against Peterborough for killing the ball and Archer stepped up to put the ball between the uprights to put Burton back in the lead at 8-6 with thirty minutes gone.

With the restart not going ten-metres Burton had a scrum in the centre of the pitch and Peterborough were penalised for Archer to kick in to the opposition half. A rare, clean Burton lineout saw Will Brooks take the ball off the top and Evans fed Booth, but his pass back inside to Litchfield was just off target and stopped Burton’s surge towards the line. Two successive penalties against Burton saw the opposition kick to within five metres of the home line. They won the lineout and moved the ball out wide where their winger entered the line to run through a non-existent Burton defence and touch down under the posts for a converted try.

Trailing 13-8 with five minutes of the half-remaining Burton stormed back from the restart and Titley broke and raced thirty metres before feeding Brooks, who drew his man to feed Jon Crisp to race in for his debut try. Archer’s conversion bisecting the uprights and Burton led 15-13 at the break.

The second half started badly for Burton when, after two minutes, Booth was harshly yellow carded for a high tackle on a player only three feet from the floor. The resulting penalty was kicked into the corner and from the lineout despite the valiant efforts of Burton’s weakened pack they couldn’t stop the opposition No 8 from driving over for a try and put his tam 18-15 in the lead.

Although a man down Burton’s pack kept pressure on the opposition and some good honest graft by Rob Wakelin, Fitchett, Will Brooks, Clarke and Gazzard earned Burton a penalty as Peterborough continually tries to kill the ball. Archer’s kick was again on target and the scores were now level at 18-18 with thirty minutes to play. Some dubious refereeing again saw Peterborough kick a series of penalties for play to move inside the Burton twenty-two. From the final lineout the numerically superior opposition pack again caught and drove over for a converted try to take a 25-18 lead.

With Booth now back on the field Ben Grocott replaced Gazzard as Burton attempted to give more impetus to their play. A penalty to Burton was missed and to add to Burton’s woes more another error in midfield defence saw Peterborough again break through and score another converted try to extend their lead to 32-18.

Craig Dutton and Matt Tivey replaced Titley and Litchfield. A penalty to Burton saw the ball kicked to inside the opposition twenty-two for Brooks to take and set up a drive. But as Wakelin and Clarke took the ball on Burton were again penalised and the visitors cleared the danger.

With fifteen minutes to go the outlook started to look brighter for Burton as first one then two Peterborough players were sin binned to give Burton a two-man advantage. But all too often Burton got bogged down in a forward battle and failed to use their asset of pace out wide. A kick by Peach put the ball inside the visitor’s twenty-two, but another poor lineout saw the ball lost and another chance gone. To round off a thoroughly miserable second half for Burton the Peterborough winger was again given far too much space and he raced in for his third try of the day and complete the scoring at 18-37 and so put even more pressure on Burton’s survival battle.