Burton travelled to play Barker Butts at their Pickford Grange Lane ground full of confidence looking to make it four straight wins but also well aware that they may face a backlash from their host’s heavy seventy point defeat at Lichfield last week. But after a game that was possibly more closely contested than the score suggests Burton travelled home at the end of the day after an excellent display saw them score a great sixty-five point victory that lifted then one place up the league table to third place.

A late change due to an injury to Jason Hooper saw a debut for young Burton’s Colts hooker Kieran Hawketts so with Matt Tivey also making a welcome return from injury it was a much changed front row of Tom Murphy, Hawketts and Tivey that faced the initial onslaught of the home pack, but at no time were the Burton three over awed by this and gave as good as they got throughout the game.

With a strong wing blowing down the field Burton’s Dave Archer kicked off with the wind and for the first twenty minutes both sides threw the ball around but in totally different styles. Butts drove forward using their big forwards closely and up the middle of the park while Burton moved the ball out wide. While both defences held firm it was Burton’s style that was the more penetrating as both Archer (twice) and Danny Smith, making a welcome return after a lengthy lay-off through a shoulder injury, were forced into to touch with last ditch tackles as Burton pressed towards the home line.

During this time Darryl Banton kicked a penalty goal for Burton and Browne scored a typical poachers try as he pounced on a loose ball to race clear and touchdown near the posts for Banton to convert, but the Butts winger added a try to take the score to 5-10.

After this period of stalemate Burton upped their game and started to make use of their own forwards as Ken Archer, Matt Tivey, Kieran Hawketts and Kelvin Browne all made ground with some powerful runs that resulted in huge gains of ground and allowed Burton to start a period of play that saw them camped in the Butts half of the field. The lineout was also beginning to work better than in recent weeks with Hawketts finding his man on most occasions, although at times over ambitious calls did little to help this new found rhythm. From one of Browne’s run he off-loaded to Lewis Brooks who race thirty metres to score and Banton added the extra points. Then Danny Smith was given the ball and somehow managed to weave, dodge and swerve his way through a pack of defenders to mark his come back and score a super, individual try. Once again a Browne surge saw him feed Brooks who again tore through opposition ranks to touch down and Banton slotted home the conversion to take the score to 5-29 with five minutes of the half remaining.

But Burton were guilty of relaxing a little bit too much and just as the half-time whistle blew the Butts winger again showed his pace as he scampered in for his second try that was also converted to give Burton a 12-29 lead at the break.

Now playing with the wind at their backs it was Butts who started the second half brightly as their backs moved the ball out wide for their full back to take the final pass and score a converted try. Stunned by this Archer quickly snatched up a loose ball and raced forty metres to score a try and this set the pattern for the rest of the second half, which was nearly all Burton as they showed their superior pace and skill to score another five tries to take their tally to ten.

Replacement Will Brooks entered the fray and soon was seen making plenty of ground with good powerful carries and assisted by Browne, Tivey, Jon Edwards and Ed Henry this ensured that the Burton backs had plenty of good quality ball. First Lawrence burst through the home defence to score, then Browne scored to get just reward for all his effort around the park and these were followed by three more tries from Danny Campbell, Archer and a final one from Lewis Brooks as he finished the game a hat-trick to his name. Banton converted three of these to give Burton a final victorious score of 19-65. A fitting and deserved reward for their demonstration of pace, skill and power that overwhelmed an industrious and persevering home side that also lifts Burton to third place in the table.