With five minutes gone Burton had already incurred the referee’s wrath on seven occasions with some dubious penalty offences. It soon became obvious to all watching Burton supporters that the task to take mid-table Sutton Coldfield’s undefeated home record from them was going to be a very difficult one. As the afternoon got duller and with Burton’s penalty count continuing to grow at a frightening rate the Burton team needed to step up their game. But unfortunately this did not happen enough for them to leave with the two points on offer and they left, somewhat thankfully, with the one point that the drawn result gave them.

Burton kicked-off with the wind at their backs and one of the many early penalties soon saw Sutton kicking deep into the Burton twenty-two. But Josh Cartwight stole the lineout and Burton returned play to halfway with Danny Smith being bundled into touch after a thirty-metre sprint down the touchline. Another penalty saw Burton lose this ground as the ball was kicked back into the Burton twenty-two and from the lineout the home centre burst through the Burton line to be stopped two metres short of the line by a thumping tackle from John Philliskirk. From the maul Burton won possession and Ian Gilmour cleared only for another penalty to mark the home sides return into the twenty-two where their kicker missed with an easy penalty goal attempt from twenty-five metres out.

Tom Bartram then cleared the ball to the Burton ten-metre line and Burton at last had a chance to attack. Cartwright again took the lineout and Charl Neethling peeled round to charge forward supported by Damon Varney and Simon Spencer. Ian Gilmour kicked the ball high and wide for Dave Archer to chase but as Archer and the Sutton fullback both went up for the ball it was Burton who were penalised and once again hard won territory was lost as Sutton kicked to clear.

With bodies and hands everywhere Simon Spencer was yellow carded for repeated infringements to put Burton a man short as Sutton continued to take advantage of the referee’s decisions and keep play in the Burton half. Twice Dave Archer tried to kick the ball clear but on each occasion the ball stayed in play and Sutton ran the ball back and Burton were forced to defend.

A rare penalty to Burton saw Archer just miss the uprights with a kick from forty-five metres out as Burton attempted to get points on the board. Then after Craig Dutton picked-up from a retreating Burton scrum Tom Bartram sliced through the home defence, but his pass to Smith dropped just short and a scoring chance was missed. Sutton cleared to their ten-metre line where Dan Eastwood took the lineout and set up a rolling maul that saw the Burton pack surge forward. Banton spun the ball out to Gilmour and in a well-worked move his pass to the rapidly advancing Philliskirk saw the fullback scorch through to score halfway out. Bartram made no mistake with the conversion and after twenty-five minutes play Burton at last had points on the board and a 7-0 lead.
With Burton at last playing with some purpose, pace and incurring no penalties they started to look like the side of previous weeks and Lawrence Betty, Darryl Banton and Archer all made good breaks. But this improvement was short lived and Sutton were soon back in the Burton half as they regained control. But with Spencer back on the pitch and Burton back up to fifteen players their defence held firm despite Sutton’s play being assisted by some more bizarre refereeing. With a minute of the half remaining yet another penalty saw Sutton kick into the corner for a lineout and from this their pack powered over for an unconverted try to end the first period of play at 7-5 down.

Sutton kicked-off and Neethling gathered the ball to charge forwarded supported by Dutton and Rich Wilton. This saw Burton gain a scrum in home territory and from this Dutton again picked-up and drove forward to get to within five metres of the Sutton line. The ball was spun out along the line via Banton and Gilmour to Bartram who slithered his way over for a try to increase his sides lead to 12-5, and at last watching Burton supporters probably thought the tide was turning. But this was not to be, as despite Dutton and Spencer taking on the restart to set Archer speeding down the touchline before being tackled into touch on the home ten-metre line, Sutton soon regained possession and began to pressure the Burton line. Good handling from the Sutton backs saw space created out wide, as players were only half tackled, and their burly centre burst through to feed his fellow centre who raced in to touch down and reduce Burton’s lead to 12-10.

Burton now introduced Jon Edwards and Jason Hooper for Damon Varney and Rich Wilton to try and add some fire into Burton’s flagging efforts. Edwards was soon to the fore as he and Danny Smith pounced on a wild Sutton pass and together took play to within ten-metres of the home line and indeed gained a rare Burton penalty. Burton kicked into the corner and from Cartwright’s take Rob Wakelin, Neethling, Dutton and Archer all pressed for the line only to be driven back. A scrum saw Dutton pick-up and feed Banton down the left-hand flank and he spun the ball out along the line to Archer who squeezed in to touchdown in the corner by the narrowest of margins. Unfortunately Bartram normally reliable boot just failed to hit the target as the ball scraped the upright.

With Burton now leading 17-10 Sutton needed two scores to win and with only ten minutes remaining all Burton had to do was keep play in the home half. But with more decisions going against them and Burton at times not playing to their true potential this would prove to be an impossible task. Another penalty against Burton saw the unforgivable happen as a player questioned the referee and the extra ten-metres bought the offence to the Burton ten-metre line straight in front of the posts. For once, this gloomy afternoon, the sun shone on Burton and the Sutton kicker’s attempt at goal sailed well wide. Sutton were not to be robbed of a reward for their efforts and they continued to press forward using kicks into the corners to good effect. From the ensuing lineouts they drove forward as Burton battled to hold them out. But with five minutes remaining another home surge saw their secondrow crash over for a try in the corner. With the Sutton kicker having failed to land far easier kicks than this Burton players and supporters may well have thought they were home and dry. But totally against his earlier form the kick from the touchline sailed over the bar bisecting the uprights to put the scores all level at 17-17.

The final whistle sounded and Burton left the field knowing that despite many strange decisions that had gone against them at the end of the day to get the victory you must be the best team on the park for eighty minutes. Whilst they had defended well throughout the game they had only had a few five minute spells when they had controlled and dominated the game, and today that had thankfully produced a draw.