Dudley K had not been beaten since Burton beat them at their own ground on 29th September so a tough match was expected. The pitch was very wet and muddy which made handling very difficult but it is fair to say that the visitors played the conditions better than Burton. Their forwards got around the field quicker and they played short passes and their ball retention was generally better than the home team.

From the kick off Burton knocked the ball forward and immediately put themselves under pressure. The visitors attacked and although the home team tackled well they gave away two penalties in quick succession. The second of these was slotted over by the Dudley kicker to open the scoring.

Burton were then able to exert some pressure of their own but again lost the ball forward. However from the ensuing scrum the Burton pack drove the visitors backwards and although they won the ball from the scrum they were flat footed a hard tackle in the centre forced them to drop the ball which was quickly ceased upon and passed to full back Will Simpson who ran virtually unopposed to score in the corner.

Simpson failed to convert his own try but the home team were now in the lead at 5-3.

From the restart Dudley again got control of the ball. They went through several phases and although the Burton defence scrambled well they could not prevent the visitors scoring a try in the corner. Although the conversion was missed they were back in the lead. They were then awarded another penalty which was kicked over to take them further ahead at 5-11.

Burton then started to show glimpses of the quality we know they have. Winger Dewi Williams made a good run but was stopped just short and the backs continued to pressurise the opposition. From a scrum the ball was passed along the back line and centre Jack Brooks ran in to score under the posts. Simpson added the extra points which took Burton back into the lead. This was the final action of the half so the half time score was 12-11.

A change of shirts did nothing to help Burton’s cause in the second half. Although they gained control of the ball from the restart they soon made handling errors which allowed the visitors to gain ground. Burton were then kept in their own 22 for 30 minutes and although they tackled superbly they did not help themselves. On at least two occasions they had the chance to clear their lines when they were awarded penalties but they lost the lineout on each occasion. With all the possession that the visitors had they really should have scored some tries but eventually they won a penalty close to the posts and with only a few minutes to go they took the lead again.

Burton still had a chance to win the game right at the end but were unable to take it. They forced the visitors to concede a five metre scrum and it looked as though they should have been awarded a penalty try when the scrum collapsed. However the referee made the play the ball and instead of passing Fly half Harry Titley kicked for the corner. Given the difficulty in handling it was probably the correct decision but the kick was not accurate enough and winger Nick Oxley could not get to the ball before the Dudley defender touched it down for a 22 drop out.
The final score therefore was Burton 12 Dudley Kingswinford 14 and Burton will have to be satisfied with a losing bonus point. The loss sees them drop to second place behind Dudley but still with a game in hand.