Stoke had won their last five league games on the trot so the visitors were under no illusions about the difficulty of the match ahead of them. Burton started well enough putting pressure on the home defence. There then followed a phase of “aerial ping pong” which the visitors eventually won forcing a lineout in the Stoke 22. Stoke won the lineout but were unable to clear the ball and gave away a penalty for holding on to the ball in a tackle. Chaz Bunting kicked the goal to open the scoring for the visitors.

The heavy pitch made running rugby difficult but Burton did try to play but were not clinical enough. On a number of occasions they made good runs only for the last pass to go astray. Winger Dewi Williams made a great break but instead taking on the last man he tried to chip over his head and the move ended. Then full back Leroy Bitterhout receiving a pass on the end of the back line did the same thing and kicked the ball dead. The half ended 0-3.

In the second half the teams had to contend with not only with the heavy pitch but also rain, hail and snow. However both teams still tried to play and after a good run by the Burton backs number eight Kelvin Browne picked up the ball and crashed through the Stoke defence for the first try. The relatively easy conversion was missed.

Burton were strong in defence but still making mistakes with the ball in hand. After a good run by the backs the ball was knocked on over the line. From the drop out Burton attacked again and were awarded the put in at a scrum five metres short of the try line. They scored a pushover try with Browne getting the touch down for his second try of the afternoon.

The home team then went on the attack but the Burton tackling was good and they turned the ball over in their own 22. Spotting the space Fly half Harry Titley did not kick for touch but passed to his backs who ran the length of the field. The ball appeared to bounce off a Stoke defender but was recovered by Lewis Brooks who passed to Williams who scored in the corner. The conversion from the touch line was narrowly missed.

Burton then started to keep the ball in the forwards who made some good drives into Stoke territory. After on such drive the ball was recycled quickly and scrum half Bunting made a break but in attempting to run around under the posts he ran over the dead ball line. To be fair it was a very narrow in goal area with the lines badly marked and the light failing, but it is to be hoped that the missed try bonus point will not be crucial at the end of the season.

There was no more significant action so the final score was Stoke 0- Burton 18.