On an overcast and breezy afternoon 15 players took to the pitch with some players in alternate positions. That said none looked out of place as the afternoon went on.

From the kick off It was an arm wrestle with both teams trying to get a decent foothold. Minehead were probably the better starters but Burnham managed to absorb the pressure and on 7th minute after a penalty on the Minehead 22 Eoghan Westhoff took a quick tap and crashed over, conversion not made.

From the restart Burnham were placed under pressure but again Minehead could not convert the pressure into points and some great counter rucking saw Burnham move out of their 22 and up the field thanks to great running and passing through forwards and backs.  Unfortunately the pressure was immediately back on and this time Minehead were much better at finishing, crashing over on 17th minute. Conversion not made.

The restart saw some good physical rugby by both teams with pressure being applied by both teams. Burnham came close after a great run by Scott Mills. On 36th minute Raw Sprts Coaching (Matt Love) showed some great pace and after some side stepping got over in the corner, no conversion and 10-5 at the break.

The second half started with Burnham determined to play rugby and not get sucked into the Minehead arm wrestle. This resulted in one of the best halves of the season so far from the IIs. The handling went up a level and forwards and backs clicked combining immediately for another Eoghan Westhoff score, handing off and side stepping in the process – the only thing missing was a goose step! Massive credit thought to Nick Mcken who through a barnstorming set up that score. Again conversion missed so 15-5.

9 minutes later and the same again except the scorer was Dave Harris, who added a dive to the side step and hand off. This time Eoghan Westhoff was the provider. No conversion 20-5.

Minehead seemed to get the better of the penalty count after that score and took the game to Burnham through their forwards. This resulted in a scrappy passage of play which saw Minehead keep their heads and score, yet again no conversion so 20-10.

That seemed to really annoy Burnham but positively and all of the rest of the game saw Burnham turn it on. Scores arrived on the 63rd, 70th and 73rd minutes from Alex Bowkett, Dave Harris and Mike Forward (who kindly came and played in the back line instead of his normal hooker).  The final try was converted by Alex Bowkett – 42-10 the final score.

Credit to the Burnham front row who had a hell of an afternoon against a very grizzled opposite three. Stuart Theobald had an excellent game in the loose along with Robert Leigh who made some excellent breaks.  In fact the XV that played today can take huge pride from a huge win which could prove important at the end of the season and momentum is building.

Thanks to David Timms for running the line and to Chris Jones who also stepped in to cover the line when Minehead ran out of players due to injury.

Next week the IIs travel to Yeovil for a tough away trip, on today’s efforts it should be a corker.