Burnham 2s 26 Wiveliscombe 19
“Burnham wreak revenge on Wivi”

Burnham Town was privileged to a trilogy of Rugby success this weekend with emphatic wins by the Colts the 2s and the Firsts this sent the rugby faithful onto a weekend of a rollicking; frolicking; feast of merriment which will have echoed through the streets into the wee small hours.
But to the seconds; the visitors Wiveliscombe; who arrived full of the expectations to stick it on Burnham once again; as had been the situation on Burnham’s visit to them in Oct. The visitors had arrived with a large squad and an equal amount of supporters; they obviously were intent on continuing what has been a promising form for them since the Xmas recess.
Meanwhile the Burnham 2s management were in crisis mode the usual glut of players that normally turn to for the home games were noticeably in recess. In fact there were only 15 players turned out; with the Team Captain Matt Slater still out of action it was again up to Lee Berry to strap on the assault vest and lead the side out. A hurried action plan had been put together; this was difficult with so many players playing out of position it was an effort just to put the basic of drills in place nevertheless a game plan was put together the teams formed up and the official got the game underway. The Burnham side started on the back foot this was mainly due to the adjustments and adaptation to; in some areas players being completely out of position; the visitors capitalised on this lack of focus in the home side and launched a concerted attack into the Burnham half. From a number of forward set piece moves mid field an overlap was created; leaving Will Grant as sole defender with three Wivi players to choose from they ran in a try and followed this up with a conversion. This was a bad start for the home side; but it was to have a profound effect on their
attitude. As the game commenced and the Burnham side began to gel, it became apparent that with the right assertiveness this side could be turned over; the pack was beginning to exert cohesive pressure in the scrums the solid front of Phil Collings Ginge and Ben Harris were showing true grit the back row of Dan Thorpe Tom Stevens and Chris Warner were picking the Wivi opposition of disrupting any movement in their effort to dominate the back foot line. The backs were beginning to find their feet and with feet like Matt Love and Ben Gibb you have some of the fastest in Somerset Rugby, it was a case of gelling all this effort to get the machine moving. Lee Berry worked effortlessly in this area, organising and leading the attacks which were mounting up. A breakthrough had to come and it did; from a turnover by Ben Bowket and a drive by Chris Warner into the Wivi 22 the ball was fed to Ben Gibb who made no mistake as he ploughed up the visitors white line and converted this fine effort.
This fine passage of play brought an aura of new found confidence into the home side which had been missing, as the game commenced it was a Burnham team now determined to get this game sorted out in no uncertain terms. Wivi were caught out in this new Tsunami of rugby that was unleashed upon them they actually never recovered from it. Burnham mounted attack after attack from all areas Ryan Reynolds and Will Grant were running everything from deep, Ryan was kicking the opposition back into their own 22 which was having a devastating effect on their morale; any attempt to set up their play was pounced upon by Tom Stevens and Chris Warner, the visitors No 8 tried again and again unsuccessfully to breach into the home side space, it was from a break down in play and from a successful forwards set up engineered by Ginge(the hooker!!) and Ben Bowket that the ball was driven forward by Matt Love who ably fed Ben Gibb opening the way for his second try and conversion.
This put the visitors in to a position where they had to attack and that’s what they did and as the first half drew to a close the home side were pinned down in their own 22 but the defence held; with the lines eventually being cleared by Full back Ryan.
It was a more upbeat Burnham side that appreciated and analysed the past forty minutes and planned for the next. As was to be expected the visitors had to open the play and attack to catch up and get ahead. This is what they did but the resistance they met was from a determined resolute Burnham side that had settled down and were playing cohesive team rugby; aggression had replaced the early match apprehension; this was now a team that could smell victory; Wivi could sense it too and in their eagerness to break into Burnham let their guard down allowing Ben Gibb a fraction of space enabling him to head for the line once more, again converting his effort. This was a valuable breathing space and one which should have seen Burnham close the game down; as it was in a moment of indiscretion Burnham allowed the visitors to breach their line; effort unconverted but a warning to refocus.
This is exactly what happened from a serious of three consecutive scrums with two being won by the home side saw Matt Love take off from a Tom Stevens feed supported by Phil Collings; George Wilcox and Ben Gibb with three Wivi players hanging from him Matt fed Phil, with the line in view and the crowed on their feet bellowing for a score he took off like a banshee but was brought down; before he was grounded he was able to; in a final effort feed Ben Gibb who had the crowd screaming for points which he duly obliged them with and ran in the bonus point try. This excitement unfortunately effected his marksmanship as the conversion failed.
As the game enter the last phase Burnham successfully dominated the play and exerted sufficient pressure to contain any further attempts by the visitors to enhance the score line.
The official drew the game to a close marking a superb effort by the home side who had turned the game around with a 15 man squad the visitors had employed 5 subs during the game and failed to overcome a resolute Burnham squad; “Fifteen players left the dressing room; Fifteen warriors walked back”
The man of the match was without a doubt; Ben Gibb but so many credible performances were put in mainly Chris Warner; Ben Bowket; George Wilcox; Ginge; Lee Berry and many more.
The loss in this victory is the fact that it should have been shared by a lot more of the 2s squad; commitment is needed for all games; the result could have been so different. The seconds have no game next week. The next outing is away to Ivel Barbarians 02 Mar it is imperative that all make a consolidated effort to be available for this and all remaining games left on the fixture card