Early mistakes cost

Burton travelled to Trentham, the scene of close encounters between these teams in previous seasons, Burton keen to avenge their defeat by the home side in last years Staffordshire Plate semi-final.

The Burton starting kick was retrieved from Trentham and they applied pressure in the opposing half during the first minutes. The home side countered and the Burton defence looked solid until a number of slipped tackles resulted in the first try inside five minutes. Playing uphill and into a strong wind, Burton were on the back foot and went 10:0 down soon after.

A positive spate of play saw Joe Bird make a strong looping run from his position on the left wing to the opposite side of the field and Burton were back near the Trentham line. Seb Chesterman at flanker was quick to dive on a loose ball and Burton gained a scrum on the left. The following drive over, led by prop James Gibbons with ball in hand, looked as if it would produce the try, but Trentham were able to hold up ball and player (no mean feat).

The Burton forwards maintained their forward momentum and a successful line-out on the opposite side of the field led to a drive which was this time successful, the half ending with the home side leading 10:5.

Burton commenced the second half with determination, the forwards showing good mobility and ball control as their rapidly moving maul made ground on the left. They were unlucky not to score but unfortunately, the running backs of Trentham broke away for a converted try, rather against the run of play.

Tom Hunt at scrum-half made a strong run and offloaded in the tackle to flanker Sam Halton. The ball was spun through every player in the back line to reach Eddie Runagle at right-wing who scored in the corner, taking out the corner flag as he grounded.

The Burton forward unit began to dominate the opposition in the scrum and in open play, as every player showed their mettle to successfully control and recirculate the ball. Prop Hawketts and second row Champney both made good ground. However possession didn’t lead to points and Trentham were able to add to their try tally towards the end as Burton had to play more adventurously to chase the match.

The game ended with Trentham the winners with a rather flattering 29:10 victory.