On a day when the rain came down for the whole of the match Burton not only held their own against the heavy Bridgnorth forward pack, but for long periods of the game dominated. Because of the conditions handling was always going to be difficult and both sides made errors in the early exchanges. Perhaps surprisingly, for a team third in the league table, the visitors from Shropshire made more. After about ten minutes Burton were awarded a penalty. Full back Will Simpson kicked the ball deep into the Bridgnorth 22. From the lineout the Burton forwards drove over the line with prop Matt Tivey getting the touch down. Simpson added the extra points.

Burton went on the attack again but the visitors’ defence was difficult to penetrate. However, eventually after the forwards had carried the ball almost up to the Bridgnorth 22 metre line centre Loz Betty received it in a “scissors” move. He then ran towards the touch line but outstripped the Bridgnorth defenders to score in the corner. This time Simson missed the difficult conversion attempt from the touch line. With there being no more significant action the score at half time was 12-0.

Burton are often guilty of switching off at half time and taking too long to get back in the game. This was not the case on this occasion and they tackled really well. Even so, they could not prevent the powerful Bridgnorth pack from getting over the line. The kicker was unable to add the conversion from the touch line.

There was a long period after this when nothing much happened. Both sides tackled well and although Burton had the lion’s share of possession, they found it difficult to penetrate the visitors’ defence and on occasions the final pass or kick went astray. Burton eventually won a penalty for a third high tackle and this time the Bridgnorth offender was sent to the sin bin for ten minutes. From the ensuing lineout the Burton pack carried the ball forward, recycled it quickly and it was passed along the back line to centre Sam Smith who scored in the corner. Again, Simpson could not convert the difficult kick from the touch line.

The visitors got back into the game after this but the try they scored was fortuitous to say the least. They kicked the ball forward and as the Burton defender and a Bridgnorth attacker competed for the ball on the floor the Bridgnorth man appeared to knock the ball forward. Two other defenders failed to gather the slippery ball and it went over the line and was touched down by the Bridgnorth centre. The conversion attempt was again missed.

Burton came under the cosh for the last 10 minutes but tackled well. In their eagerness to keep the ball Bridgnorth were penalised for holding on in the tackle. Scrum half Chaz Bunting was able to take a tap and then kick the ball into touch to end the game. The Final score was Burton 17 Bridgnorth 10.

Burton played well in difficult conditions and earned themselves four valuable league points. However, they remain in eleventh place, above Derby but a point behind Bournville who beat Derby.