On a cold, still day, Burnham ran out to face Chew Valley. The game was preceded by a minutes silence as a mark of respect for the passing of Christine Piper. A club supporter, volunteer, husband to club Life Member John Piper and mum to player/ coach Tim.
In the first half an hour, Burnham won their set piece scrums and line outs. However Burnham could not find touch from the back and allowed Chew to run at the Burnham backs. However a the defence stood firm.  Then, we saw Matt Love break down the blindside, nearly scoring. Unfortunately Burnham lost Beau Dickins to a ham string injury. In the follow up play Burnham knocked on, however,  a Chew Valley infringement at the resulting scrum gave Burnham a penalty. Jordan Paul stepped up and converted it, the score was now 3-0.
There was a good restart with a brave catch from Tom Hocking to secure possession. Unfortunately, we gave away 2 penalties because we were off our feet. Chew Valley kicked to the corner, won the line out, resulting in a try plus conversion. The score was now 3-7.
From the restart, Chew Valley’s knock on meant a Burnham scrum. Mention to Danny Spellman for a great tackle.
Burnham won the scrum. This caused a fantastic thrust into Chew Valley’s half with Henry Bigwood leading the way. Burnham piled on the pressure but Chew Valley continued to thwart us. We were awarded the attacking scrum on the 5 metre line yet we could not turn the possession into points .
HALF TIME
Both sides were looking for the win and Chew Valley played with a great tempo to make it a very entertaining game. With a line out, Burnham won the ball and Kiwi Muskett touched the ball down across the line, scoring a try. With the conversion  by Jordan Paul, Burnham were in the lead with a score of 10-7.
Winning another line out, Burnham had control over the ball and Jordyn Wikitera scored the final Burnham try of the match. Unfortunately, the conversion was missed, but Burnham were now dominating the game with a score of 15-7.
With a Burnham knock on, Chew Valley one their line out and their fall back scored them a try. However, they missed the conversion.  With the score line on a knife edge a gripping game saw Burnham defend ferociously to pip Chew at the posts. An exhausting but a fantastic team performance.
Next week Burnham are away to Avon. Coach leaving at 11:45.