Following the disappointment of the previous two weeks Burton showed real hunger and desire to turn things around against an unbeaten Sheffield who normally come out on top in this fixture. In front of a huge crowd attending Battlestead Croft on a wonderful Community Day event to show off the brand new facility to our local neighbours, Burton were a completely different team and put on a tremendous show to blast away their opponents in a hugely entertaining game.

Sheffield kicked off with a gentle breeze blowing into their faces and Burton made steady progress up to the Sheffield “22” where the first maul of the game resulted in them being awarded a penalty for holding on. Sheffield won the line-out and a penetrative kick was eventually touched down by Tristan De Jagger behind his own line for a Burton drop-out (new rule this season). A great kick was taken on the half-way line by Sheffield and they mounted their first attack up to the Burton “22”, where Joe Gazzard stole possession and Burton responded with a slick exchange of passes through several pairs of hands only to be shepherded into touch by the Sheffield defence.

The first decisive piece of play came after 5 minutes when a Sheffield penalty kick did not find touch and Burton ran the ball back with great skill and precision passing with Alex Nesbitt showing lightning pace to score in the right hand corner. Chaz Bunting struck the conversion brilliantly to make the score Burton 7-0 Sheffield after about 12 minutes. The restart by Sheffield failed to go 10 metres so a Burton scrum on half-way was the outcome. Burton scrummage, to the delight of the home supporters, was outstanding with Ben Smith getting very much the better of his opposite number and Burton were awarded a penalty just inside the Sheffield half. Bunting’s kick just missed the target to the left but Burton were showing massive improvement from the previous two weeks.

Burton’s second score of the came shortly after when a Sheffield clearance kick saw Nesbitt make a decisive break with plenty of support including De Jagger who touched down just to the right of the posts. Bunting added the conversion and Burton’s lead extended after about 17 minutes. Burton 14-0 Sheffield. Sheffield looked to get straight back into the game but were thwarted by some resolute defending across the park by a determined Burton team. This was typified by a charge down from Gazzard and Harry Titley which pinned Sheffield in their own “22”. The pressure was clearly getting to the opposition as their next attempted clearance made very little territory and handed back possession to Burton. For all their great defensive work Burton just occasionally let themselves down by giving away penalties that affected continuity.

Neither team really took any sustained control of the game over the next few minutes with possession of the ball flipping between the teams without any real threat to either try line but the intensity in the game was immense, particularly from the home side. Unfortunately this also saw the penalty count against Burton rise too. However Burton pressure was resumed with a good clearance kick by Titley to the half-way line, when it was Burton’s turn to steal the ball and the backs moved the ball left with great pace again but Nesbitt was forced into touch on the Sheffield 5 metre line. After 33 minutes following some retained possession by Burton a Lewis Sturgess break from the scrum saw Sheffield penalised and Bunting made no mistake with the penalty kick to extend Burton’s lead to 17-0.

Just before the re-start Callum Stokes replaced Matt Tivey. Immediately after, Burton were penalised again and Sheffield were able to make good progress into the Burton “22”. From the line-out Sheffield tapped down and kept the pressure on , eventually earning a penalty in front of the posts which was converted to make the score Burton 17-3 Sheffield after 39 minutes. Burton finished the half under more pressure with the re-start kick going straight into touch and then being penalised for not driving straight at the scrum. Although Sheffield made their way up to the home 5 metre line Burton were able to clear and with that the half-time whistle blew for the break. The Sheffield coaching team insisted their team remain out on the pitch at half time as Burton went inside their dressing room much the happier.

From the re-start Burton were penalised for holding on and although Sheffield got straight back into the Burton half they too were penalised for the same offence following a great kick by Jamie Dutton. The penalty was quickly taken by Bunting and moved down the line for Josh Kent to score Burton’s third try to the left of the posts to the great delight of the home crowd. Bunting added the extras to make the score Burton 24-3 Sheffield after about 44 minutes. From the re-start Burton were harshly adjudged to knock the ball on for a Sheffield scrum. The Burton scrum was then penalised for standing up and Sheffield kicked to the Burton 5 metre line, however the Burton defence stayed strong and they were awarded the put-in at the scrum.

Fresh legs were then introduced to the Burton pack as John Kirwin was replaced by Llyr Griffiths after about 10 minutes of the half. Sheffield then were frustrated themselves as the pressure they applied came to nothing as they knocked on over the Burton try line for a drop-out to Burton. Sheffield returned with the ball deep into the Burton “22”. after 12 minutes Sheffield scored their second try of the game when they won a line-out and drove strongly. Following a Burton clearance kick Sheffield ran the ball back at them and scored just to the left of the posts. A successful conversion meant the score now stood at Burton 24-10 Sheffield.

The see-saw pattern of the game continued with Burton on the offensive and a good charge down resulted in Burton securing the ball again with Will Derry making a good run down the left. He was tackled and from the ensuing maul Bunting broke from the base and touched down in the left corner after 15 minutes. The conversion proved too difficult but Burton now seemed in charge of the game and were heading for a deserved victory. The re-start saw Burton penalised twice in succession and Sheffield spurned their chance of an immediate response when their kick went dead. Sam Harcourt was replaced by Ed Henry mid way through the second half, resulting in several positional changes in the pack.

The next few minutes saw play fluctuate around the half way line however as Sheffield began to apply pressure again Burton’s penalty count went through the roof and inevitably Sheffield were able to score their third unconverted try of the game in the right hand corner reducing the deficit to Burton 24-15 Sheffield after 24 minutes. This was the signal for Sheffield to adopt a more open style of play in an attempt to get back into the match. They started running the ball from their own “22” line on a number of occasions but were met with dominant tackle after dominant tackle by a resolute Burton defence. Great work at the base of the scrum saw Bunting smartly steal the ball and drive over for Burton’s bonus point try late in the game. The conversion was unsuccessful but Burton then closed out the game for a wonderful and thoroughly deserved victory, Burton 29-15 Sheffield. It was great to see a truly remarkable response to the disappointment of the previous two weeks with massive improvement in the forwards play and some excellent running, handling and support play in the backs.

Man of the match was a difficult choice as the overall team performance was so good. But Josh Kent got the vote for a great all-round back row display.

Report by Rob Nesbitt
Image by Darren Wall