Having already lost their usual second-row combination of Dan Eastwood and Will Brookes Burton suffered from yet more problems when new hooker Danny Clarke was forced to pull out of the match due to a knee injury sustained at Thursday nights training session. Jason Hooper stepped up to fill the void as Burton prepared for this match against relatively unknown opponents, although news had filtered through to Peel Croft of heavy recruitment involving paid players with national league experience.

Bournville kicked-off playing down the slope on an undulating pitch and with a very hot autumn sun making conditions hard for all the players. A great take by Charl Neethling was rewarded by a penalty as the opposition went off their feet in an attempt to win the ball. From the ensuing lineout Burton lost the first of many throw-ins and Bournville quickly realised Burton's lineout limitations. A deep kick from the opposition was taken by Danny Smith and he drove forward for his pack to produce good quick ball that Tom Bartram kicked deep into the Bournville twenty-two. Good chasing by Bartram and Dave Archer saw them tackle the catcher as he tried to clear. The forwards piled in and Burton won the ball to spin it out along the line but poor passing saw the ball drop to ground for the home side to boot up field. Another similar kick by Luke Peach also paid dividends and put pressure on the home line but again the chance was missed when Burton were penalised and Bournville booted clear.

Bournville stormed back using all their experience and 'street knowledge' as they made ground gaining some favorable decisions from a referee. From one of these the home side converted a penalty to take a 3-0 lead after fifteen minutes play.

But Burton hit back as Lewis Brooks charged down a clearance attempt to go on and gather the ball to score under the posts and Archer converted to give Burton a 7-3 lead. Unfortunately within three minutes Bournville hit back when after some poor tackling in midfield John Philliskirk made a great tackle to put their fying-winger into touch some ten-metres out, but with the opposition stealing the lineout their pack drove over the line to score. The conversion sailed over to put Bournville back in the lead at 8-7.

Another lineout steal saw the home backs go through some poor midfield defending before Carpenter intervened with a great tackle to save the day. Bournvile realised they had an advantage in the lineout and worked the touchline well and before too long another catch and drive saw their pack drive over for another try. Unfortunately Burton assisted them in this area as they continually tried to put any penalty kicks into touch instead of running the ball, possibly with more tactical awareness and experience these faults will be eradicated in future games.

Trailing 13-7 Burton tried to up the tempo but this resulted in rushed decisions and options being taken as the Burton players struggled to come to terms with their more experienced opposition.

Burton started the second half and once again a superb tackle by Joe Carpenter on the receiver forced him to knock-on and so gave Burton a scrum on the opposition twenty-two. This ideal start saw Burton piling the pressure on their opposite numbers as Darryl Banton, Rob Wakenlin and Jon Edwards all were stopped just short of the line. Indeed on one occasion Banton actually got over the line only for the opposition to intimidate the referee into not awarding a try claiming he was unsighted, just as he had been for both of their forward drives. As Burton continued to press Bournville displayed more of their experience as players went down 'injured' at every stoppage of play to disrupt any flow Burton tried to create.

To further weaken Burton's already limited lineout Craig Dutton came on for Jon Edwards, who following a clash of heads had lost a tooth. Bournville cleared the danger when a stray pass was booted seventy-metres up field. Steve Edwards replaced Banton as Burton started to try and run the ball.

A pick-up inside the Burton twenty-two saw Tom Gregory break up the blind-side to link with Smith and Simon Spencer, who made thirty-metres before being hauled down. Quick ball saw Carpenter and Peach take the ball on to set up a maul for the pack to drive forward. Edwards spun the ball out left to Brooks who cut inside and raced through to touch down under the posts. Archer converted and Burton now led 14-13 with about twenty minutes to go.

Spencer took the restart and fed Tom Gregory who raced sixty-metre up the field into the opposition twenty-two, but his backward pass only found a home player and the chance was lost. With both sides playing open rugby play moved from end to end as each side probed for that vital opening. It was the home-sides experience that produced the opening as they ran the ball out wide at pace to produce an overlap for their winger to race in unopposed and score in the corner. The excellent touchline conversion sailed between the posts to put Bournville in the lead 20-14 with ten minutes remaining.

Burton needed to defend and they did with tenacity as the home side pressed again and again to try and get a match sealing score. The defence was solid and with only two minutes to go Burton was awarded a penalty and the chance to run the ball and grab a late win. But for some reason the ball was kicked into touch and predictably Bournville ended up with the ball and their big flank forward powered twenty-metres to dive over to score in the corner and seal Burton's fate 25-14.

Burton's young team were beaten, but not overwhelmed, by a much more experienced side and hopefully the lessons learned from this encounter will hold them in good stead for future games.