The Scunthorpe pitch looked magnificent on a pleasantly warm September afternoon and it was the hosts who kicked off the game playing into the fresh breeze. Burton set up the first maul of the game and were awarded a penalty straight away as several Scunthorpe players were offside. Will Simpson kicked to touch and Burton won the resulting line-out making good progress into the Scunthorpe “22” where they were penalised for holding on. In the early stages of this contest there appeared to be little between the sides with play fluctuating around the half-way line. After 4 minutes of play, however, Scunthorpe had the first period of dominant possession and a good kick saw them progress deep into the Burton “22”. Burton’s defence, although good, was eventually breeched and Scunthorpe opened the scoring with a try in the left corner to lead 5-0 after 5 minutes.

Following the re-start, Burton were able to regain possession but a handling error gave Scunthorpe a scrum from which they tried to mount another attack, however the Burton defence was again excellent and Scunthorpe were not able to make any real progress down the pitch. Burton then gradually began to win more ball and Simpson kicked deep into the Scunthorpe “22” from a penalty as a result of Scunthorpe not rolling away in the tackle. The line-out was won and Burton put more pressure on the Scunthorpe defence but were then penalised for sealing off after 12 minutes. Burton then regained possession but knocked-on before they could gain any real momentum. A strong scrum from Burton lead to a penalty and a successful kick to touch gave Burton the throw at the lie-out on the Scunthorpe “22”. James Davies drove powerfully from the maul but was penalised for not releasing at the breakdown. The Scunthorpe penalty clearance against a strengthening breeze took then just outside their own “22” but they were able to make more progress up to the half-way line. A miss directed tactical kick went straight into touch for a Burton throw. At this stage Burton were frustrated by a combination of their own simple errors and an inexplicably high penalty count against them!

After a period of play in which the teams cancelled each other out, Scunthorpe managed to progress into the Burton “22” and were awarded another penalty in front of the posts, which was successfully converted making the score Scunthorpe 8-0 Burton almost mid-way through the half. From the kick-off Lewis Sturgess did some great work and drew a penalty from the opposition. Simpson kicked the ball to the Scunthorpe “22” and the following line-out and maul once again saw Davies surge towards the try line only to be thwarted by a strong home defence. Scunthorpe were then able to clear their lines with a good kick to half-way. Burton mounted another attack from the line-out and great handling by the backs saw Alex Nesbitt break through on the left to the 5 meter line. The ball was then brought back into centre field but another error meant the attack came to nothing.

The remainder of the half was somewhat disjointed and littered with penalties mainly in Scunthorpe’s favour. Callum Stokes replaced the injured Matt Tivey just before half-time. After 37 minutes they added to their score despite the valiant efforts of the Burton defence, this time the conversion was successful making the score Scunthorpe 15-0 Burton at the half-time break.

After the interval Burton made two further changes in an effort to get back into the game with the introduction of Lewis Brooks at centre and Joe Gazzard at second row. The changes seemed to have an immediate impact as Scunthorpe were penalised for tackling in the air and Simpson’s kick meant Burton had the throw on Scunthorpe’s “22”. From the line-out the ball went left to right down the backs and progressed deep into home territory. The ball was worked to the left again and Harry Titley found Ben Smith who proved unstoppable from close range to open Burton’s account for the afternoon. An injury to Simpson in the build up meant he had to leave the field and it was Chaz Bunting who converted to make the score Scunthorpe 15-7 Burton.

Unfortunately Burton found themselves fifteen points behind again almost immediately as an error in the middle of the pitch, left a large hole in the Burton defence that was exploited to the full by Scunthorpe for a converted try just to the left of the posts. Scunthorpe 22-7 Burton after just 3 minutes of the half gone. From the re-start Burton were awarded a penalty for crossing. The kick saw Burton win the line-out on the Scunthorpe “22”. Davies made another break from the line-out maul but was forced into touch short of the line. The Burton pressure really told on the home team and a wayward throw was latched onto by Stokes and the ball was moved swiftly along the backs for Lewis Brookes to score Burton’s second try of the match. Bunting added the easy conversion and the score was now Scunthorpe 22-14 Burton after 10 minutes.

The disjointed play continued at the restart as Scunthorpe took possession of their own kick-off only to hand the ball straight back to Burton who then cleared to the Scunthorpe 10 metre line. The next action saw Scunthorpe retain possession deep into the Burton half only to be penalised for one roll too many giving Burton the chance to kick to their own “22”. Burton this time retained possession and Titley kicked infield to the 10 metre line and Scunthorpe then put the ball directly into touch giving Burton the throw there. Burton then won the next line-out and it was their turn to kick the ball directly into touch. It was then Scunthorpe who managed to get back into gear and apply pressure to the Burton try line with a score on the right after 16 minutes. This was converted and the score moved to Scunthorpe 29-14 Burton.

The re-start saw a Scunthorpe knock on and Burton won the scrum on the 10 metre line, moved the ball well along the backs and the forwards then recycled well only for another handling error to hand back possession to Scunthorpe, and eventually Burton were penalised in front of their own posts. Scunthorpe took the penalty points looking to kill off any further threat from Burton to make the score Scunthorpe 32-14 Burton after 25 minutes.

Scunthorpe looked very confident now and sought to pin Burton in their own half with penetrative kicks using the seemingly increasing wind at their backs. A very deflated Burton now had little hope of getting anything out of the game and were put to the sword in the last 15 minutes of the half. A period of kick tennis ended with Burton loosing possession and then the Scunthorpe No. 8 cut through the Burton defence with great ease to score a converted try after 28 minutes to increase their lead to Scunthorpe 39-14 Burton.

Shortly after the restart Scunthorpe again broke the Burton defence with alarming ease up to the “22” but then proceeded to knock-on. However Burton were unable to win their own scrum and Scunthorpe seemed able to run the ball at will. They were penalised for hands in the ruck giving Burton the chance to clear to the 10 metre line. Another mistake in the line-out gave possession to Scunthorpe who sent a high kick into the Burton “22” which was well caught by Nesbitt who ran back into the Scunthorpe half and linked with Bunting. After 33 minutes, Burton were awarded a penalty and relieved pressure with a kick and line-out. However a loose pass was intercepted by Scunthorpe and ended with a breakaway converted try. Scunthorpe 46-14 Burton.

Things then just went from bad to worse for Burton as the restart kick went straight into touch. Scunthorpe won the scrum on half-way and once again took play deep into Burton territory. Burton tried to run the ball from their own “22” but knocked on once again. Scunthorpe took possession and breached the Burton defence for the last score of the game to make the final score Scunthorpe 53-14 Burton.