After last week’s disappointing performance in the Staffordshire County Cup Final Burton ran out worthy winners against Nuneaton who came into this game in fine form themselves including a big win last week over struggling Oundle. Ultimately Burton gave an impressive account of themselves in front of a large crowd boosted by the first Ladies Day event at Battlestead Croft. Matt Tivey, who made his 300th appearance for the club today was given a standing ovation as he came out just ahead of the rest of the home team.
Nuneaton kicked off the game paying into a strong breeze and Burton were disappointed not to be awarded the throw at an early lineout following what appeared to be a well-executed “50-22” kick from Chaz Bunting. Nuneaton were then able to clear up field a little and Burton mounted their first meaningful attack which led to Josh Kent touching down for the opening try in the left corner with just under 3 minutes gone. Bunting was not able to add the extras, but Burton had an early lead. Burton 5-0 Nuneaton.
Following the re-start a great kick by Jamie Dutton meant Burton were soon in the visitors “22” again. Nuneaton box-kicked and knocked-on as they chased the ball held up in the breeze. The resulting scrum was a resounding success for the home team as they made Nuneaton back pedal at some speed drawing the inevitable penalty from the referee. Burton then won the resulting lineout and drove the maul very effectively over the try-line with Tommie Collingwood getting the all-important touchdown after 7 minutes. This time Bunting made no mistake with the kick and the lead was extended to Burton 12-0 Nuneaton.
Burton seemed to have put last week’s result well and truly out of their minds, but it was Nuneaton who were next to score. Tristan De Jager was taken out in the air as Nuneaton continued with their aerial bombardment of the home defence, but it was Burton who were penalised next as Nuneaton put together their first real phases of play. Will Derry cleared up a penetrative attacking kick but Burton were penalised soon afterwards for not rolling away and Nuneaton converted the straightforward penalty kick to open their account for the afternoon after around 13 minutes. Burton 12-3 Nuneaton.
From the re-start Burton soon began to threaten once again though and following a high tackle from Nuneaton, Burton had the throw at a line-out on the right on the 22-metre line. A great catch and drive from the Burton forwards led to them getting their third try of the half. Bunting added the conversion and Burton were seemingly in command almost mid-way through the first half. Burton 19-3 Nuneaton. There was though, no further score before half time as the game seemed to stall a little as penalties against each side just stopped either of them to gain any real momentum. Burton’s dominance in the scrum was hampered when James Davies was the unfortunate player to receive a “team” yellow card for not rolling away, just prior to the break. The last action of the half saw Nuneaton hold firm under severe pressure from Burton as they pushed for the bonus point try.
Burton started the second half very positively but could not find the finishing pass following some excellent handling rugby from the backs. De Jager failed to hold on to a pass when he had a clear run in and following an excellent interchange between Alfredo Bergarda and Alex Nesbitt, Bergarda could not hold onto the scoring pass which would have sent the home supporters wild with delight. The resulting scrum saw Nuneaton use their numerical superiority to full advantage and then a missed tackle by Burton saw them progress rather too easily into the Burton half. The pressure mounted further as a penalty against Burton gave Nuneaton the opportunity of a line-out just short of the Burton 5-metre line on the right. A delay for a Nuneaton injury gave them time to reflect on their attacking position and following a scrum soon after in a central position Nuneaton used their newfound scrummaging strength to drive over the line for a converted try after 8 minutes. Burton 19-10 Nuneaton.
From the re-start Nuneaton were penalised for holding on and with the re-emergence of Davies the Burton scrum was again able to dominate although not quite as much as in the first half. Bunting used the conditions to Burton’s advantage when a high box kick held up and Bergarda was able to catch the ball before the Nuneaton defence had chance to. Bergarda then gave a magnificent back hand pass to Dutton who was able to race over the try-line and score the Burton bonus point try after about 50 minutes Bunting’s attempted conversion was charged down, but Burton had hit back straight away and restored their healthy lead. Burton 24-10 Nuneaton.
Nuneaton, as expected did not give up by any means and as they got themselves within striking distance of the try-line, they were awarded another penalty and this time, rather surprisingly, they opted for the scrum, but excellent Burton defensive work kept them out temporarily. Burton eventually succumbed to a dummy pass in midfield and although the conversion was missed their lead had been cut once again with 20 minutes to play. Burton 24-15 Nuneaton. At this stage, the game could have gone either way and there were a few anxious faces amongst the home supporters.
However, Burton soon put smiles back on those faces as from the re-start a knock-on gave possession back to Nuneaton, who returned the compliment moments later and the quick thinking of Dutton was rewarded as he picked up the loose ball and sprinted away to score in the right corner after 24 minutes. The difficult conversion was unsuccessful but Burton were back on track for victory. Burton 29-15 Nuneaton. It was at this point that Burton really began to turn the screw as they sensed victory and Nuneaton began making errors more frequently. A clearance kick went straight into touch, so Burton had the throw at a line-out just outside the 22-metre line on the left.
A couple of phases later Davies and Collingwood found themselves on the left wing with a couple of defenders to beat but the were stopped just short of the line. As the ball was worked back into the middle of the pitch good Nuneaton defending led to a drop-out from under the posts, which was stylishly run back to the left where the same two players made no mistake this time - Collingwood scoring wide on the left after 68 minutes. Bunting just missed the difficult conversion. Burton 34-15 Nuneaton.
From the re-start Burton knocked on to give possession back to Nuneaton and they made their way up to the Burton 5-metre line. Burton then forced an error leading to a fabulous breakaway movement from the backs, but this came to a disappointing end with the final pass going to ground with the try-line begging! The Burton defence then ensured Nuneaton could not get out of their own half. Having regained possession, they moved the ball to the left where De Jager sold a great dummy and glided through a gap to score just to the left of the posts with about 2 minutes to go. Bunting added the extras to increase the lead further. Burton 41-15 Nuneaton.
The final score of the game came with just a minute or so remaining and it was finished off by the same combination, this time De Jager fed Bunting to score the converted try to leave the final score Burton 48-15 Nuneaton. With other results going in their favour today Burton are almost guaranteed to finish 8th in the league but trail Bromsgrove in 5th by just 8 points with three games left to play. Man of the match was a difficult choice today as there were many contenders, but it went to Tommie Collingwood for an excellent performance in the front row.