Burnham earned a must win battle against Bude in a dour hard fought contest on a bitterly cold day at the BASC ground.With both teams in the bottom four,it was a case of who had the strongest will and desire to come out on top.No quarter asked,none given proved by the lead changing hands on three occasions.Bude started strongly,pressurising Burnham in driving forward with the pack,however Burnham weathered the storm,drove Bude back and after 10 minutes caught Bude offside.3-0.Keeping their momentum going,10 minutes later,from a lineout, they rumbled over to score.8-0.Obviously that was not enough as Bude came back purposefully,firstly with a long range penalty from their fullback,a mighty weapon at this level and secondly,fashioning their own pushover try.8-10.Not to be denied after a lengthy spell in Bude’s 22 Burnham worked the ball out to Lee Vaughan to use his strength to force his way over.13-10.Halftime.The second half became a titanic struggle for either side to gain a supremacy,with the only score coming from the boot of Will Conway,who had also scored the penalty in the first half,to move Burnham into a 16-10 lead,which they hung on to.Not the most endearing match that one could see,but Burnham’s tenacity in defence maintained their right to claim the victory.Credit to Bude who kept going to the bitter end and for being convivial companions in the bar afterwards.Plus points,Burnham’s lineout,via the safe and capable hands of Blake and Stephens,scrummaging mostly on a parity and for once tackling was a vast improvement.Keep it up Burnham,especially in the home games.Well Done.