A large crowd gathered at Peel Croft to watch this ‘double-header’ fixture between rivals Burton and Lichfield as they did battle to progress up the league table and into the final of the County Cup, and at the end of a close contested match it was Burton who took the honours with a very satisfying victory by 33-28. The game had plenty of excitement for all the supporters with Lichfield scoring first only for Burton go ahead and then be pegged back to level scores before finishing the game with a final victory try and then having a man sin-binned that forced them to hang on for a frantic last five minutes playing with a man short as Lichfield piled on the pressure to try and snatch victory. But hang on they did and the end result saw the triumphant Burton squad completing the double over Lichfield in the league and also going through to the final of the County Cup in April.

With barely two minutes on the clock Burton got the worst start they could have hoped for when Lichfield took full advantage of some poor defence and organisation as their centre grounded the ball for an unconverted try to give his side a 0-5 lead. This stung Burton into action and Dave Archer’s restart was pursued by Craig Dutton, Dave Fitchett and Kevin Birt as the home pack drove into the opposition ranks to set up a solid maul and after Burton had made ground to get within thirty metres of the line Lichfield conceded a penalty for handling in the ruck. Archer stepped up to put the ball sweetly between the uprights and reduce Lichfield’s lead to 3-5.

More pressure from the home side saw Lichfield try to use their pace and run the ball out of defence but good tackling by Dan Smith, Lawrence Betty, Lewis Brooks and Luke Peach frustrated their efforts and they eventually conceded another penalty for not releasing and Archer kicked the ball to inside the visitor’s half. Josh Cartwright took the lineout and Brooks and Fitchett combined with Ian Gilmour to take play inside the twenty-two. Burton were now dominating play and a chip ahead by Brooks saw Archer narrowly miss getting a touchdown, but the opposition continued to try and run the ball back at Burton only to be met by solid defending that saw them being tackled or dropping the ball. A break by Ken Archer saw him charge up field from one such spillage and Gilmour just failed to touch down a loose ball. Archer kicked a penalty into touch and Cartwright leaped high to take the throw and the Burton ‘steam-roller’ set off towards the line with legs pumping. After travelling some twenty metres Fitchett was driven over the line and grounded the ball to put Burton in front at 8-5 after a quarter of the game that they had dominated. But, once again, straight from the restart Burton gave away a penalty for offside and Lichfield got back on level terms with a successful kick at goal.

With the scores now 8-8 Burton needed to up their game to make the scoreboard reflect their dominance and this they did with the forwards speeding up ball recycling and the backs at last moving the ball with more promise. Another Lichfield attack was halted by a massive Brooks tackle and as the ball spilled loose Ben Peach fed the ball out to Smith who linked with Gilmour for the latter to race within four metres of the opposition line. When stopped Gilmour fed the ball back inside to Smith who linked with Jon Edwards, Dutton and Fitchett to continue the move before Gilmour rejoined the line to take the final pass and touchdown near the posts. Archer’s conversion kick missed the target but Burton now deservedly led 13-8.

A great passage of play involving Fitchett, Edwards, Ken Archer and Nathan Taylor took play to within five metres of the line, but not being happy at final decision a Lichfield player was sin-binned for voicing his displeasure, and so for the last ten minutes of the half Burton had a man advantage. This extra freedom was soon exploited as Burton attacked from deep inside their own half with Dutton, Smith and Brooks taking play into the visitor’s half. Unfortunately just after this great passage of play Brooks had to leave the field injured to be replaced by Darryl Banton on the wing with Gilmour moving into centre. Despite this re-shuffling Burton kept up the pressure and another great rolling maul saw Nathan Taylor driven over the line for a try. Archer’s conversion attempt again missed its target but Burton still led by 18-8. Yet again the restart gave the opposition chance to strike back and poor defence saw the Lichfield fullback race sixty metres to score a try and take the score line to 18-13. But with less than a minute remaining of the half Archer at last got his kicking right as he landed a penalty goal and Burton went into the break well in control and leading 21-13.

Lichfield’s kick was well taken by Dutton who charged forward forty metres and with his pack in support he slipped the ball to Kevin Birt, but the prop was stopped and despite the efforts of Edwards and Fitchett Lichfield gained a penalty and put the ball back inside the Burton half. A great tackle by Edwards stopped the next Lichfield attack and Gilmour was on hand to hack the loose ball up field for Birt to chase. Moving more like a winger than a heavy prop forward he sped after the ball and deftly kicked ahead before winning the chase for the touchdown. One of Archer’s conversions at last bisected the uprights and Burton now had a commanding 28-13 lead with thirty-five minutes to play.

Lichfield rang the changes and this soon paid dividends when their replacement took advantage of some poor tackling to race over for a converted try after just five minutes on the field. To rub salt into the wounds the same player then kicked a penalty goal to put the score at 28-23 with twenty minutes remaining. In between these two scores Burton replaced flanker Edwards with prop Tom Murphy resulting in Birt switching from prop to blindside flanker. From the next restart Murphy charged forward to take the ball on the full and take play into the opposition twenty-two, but Lichfield battled back to get back into the Burton half only to concede a penalty. Archer’s kick to touch failed to find its target and Lichfield gathered the ball to race forward. Good tackling by Archer, Betty and Smith kept them at bay and gained Burton a scrum inside their own twenty-two. But Burton lost the ball and Lichfield moved the ball out wide before scoring near the posts for a try that levelled the scores at 28-28. Fortunately the conversion attempt sailed wide and Burton could breathe again.

With scores level and ten minutes to play it was frantic rugby from both teams as they strived for that all important try that would give either side victory. Thankfully it was Burton who got it when a great burst by Fitchett and Birt took play into the Lichfield half. From the ruck Ben Peach spun the ball out and his brother Luke timed his pass to perfection to allow Betty to race through on as great angle. He was tackled just feet away from the line but managed to get the ball out to Banton who seized his chance to waltz between two defenders and put the ball down for a try halfway out. Archer’s kick again missed the target but Burton led by 33-28 and only eight minutes to play.

Lichfield stormed forward from the restart but solid defending by Dutton, Peach, Taylor, Archer and Smith thwarted Lichfield’s efforts. The pressure was constant and Burton used all their knowledge and skill to stop their opponents, unfortunately one stop by Banton involved his feet and the referee showed him a yellow card for his efforts. Now down to fourteen men Burton replaced the hard-working Fitchett with former Colts captain Ed Henry for the last five minutes and like the rest of his team he played his part in keeping the Burton line intact until the final whistle blew to signal a hard fought but deserved Burton league and cup victory.