Burnham-on-Sea 2nd 27 North Petherton 5.

Burnham Seconds travelled to North Petherton to play in what has become a local Derby affair. In the past this has been enemy held territory for the Burnham sides who in previous encounters have had mixed fortunes. The game on Saturday was of fundamental importance to Burnham due to the fact that a favourable result would place them on top of their league table. This fact created a particular euphoria with the players as they prepared for the game.

Captain Matt Slater was relishing the thought of this encounter and had an impressive array of players at his disposal the post match instructions were simple no panic rugby was to be played, the pace would be set from the word go and maintained throughout.

North Petherton had a good side out they always do losing is not something that they are in the habit of doing, The skipper won the toss and took the geographical advantage to play with the slight incline, this was a wise move. The official got the game underway and almost immediately Burnham gained possession from a wild pass and moved the ball out through the hands of Lee Berry and George Scott to land in Will Conway’s hands enabling him to surge across the line, a fine try great start; try converted by the scorer.  

This stung Petherton into action but they were unable to hold any cohesive attack formation together this was due to bad handling and very positive defensive play by Burnham. It was apparent that the Burnham side would cause the opposition lots of problems. From a turn over in Pethertons ten metre area Tiny Rees broke out passed to Nick Mc Ken who drove deep into the Petherton 22 the ball was distributed out to the backs by scrum half Lee Berry and with a neat side step Mike Whitfield was on the score sheet. Conversation missed Burnham 12 nil. The Burnham side were on a roll and in the mood to capitalise on the current run of play. Petherton threw everything into the fray in an effort to stem the tide and get on the board and back into the game unfortunately their efforts were over zealous the Burnham defence stood its ground extremely well this robustness showed on the opposition as they incurred a number of injuries and had to make substitutions. Burnham did not sit on their laurels and through a quick witted move via Lee Berry the winger and Josh at full back resulted in the ball being worked out to the blind side wing and with an alert pass from the wing allowed Josh to cross the line by the left post. Unfortunately the conversion was missed score 17-0. The next phase of play was a little scrappy the opposition were committing all their efforts to get back into the game and much of the play ebbed and flowed in the midfield region. Burnham’s defence held; some outstanding tackles were put in by Nick McKen, George Scott, Glen Cutter, Ryan Jones and Chris Jones who had come on as a substitution. This robustness paid of when Mike Whitfield drove deep into the Petherton mid field and was supported by Chris Jones Nick McKen and Tiny Rees. This move was recycled out to the backs enabling Will Conway to power his way over the line for his second try, Converted; score 24-0 Half time.

The second half resumed and Petherton had a hill to climb! In fact geographically they had a hill to run down! and they clearly intended to do just that. It was clear that they intended to capitalise on the territorial advantage that they now had. Burnham had already decided that the rest of the afternoon’s rugby was to be played in the Opposition’s half. Substitutions were made Mike Smith came into the second row later on Paul and Ed Lewis made appearances in the pack and the game settled down to hard fought attrition on both sides. The Burnham Pack was outstanding they were by far the lighter unit but continually held and won opposition ball this really got to the opposition as it is an area that they pride themselves in. It was from a   rare let up from a Scrum that Petherton got it together and scored in the mid stages of the second half.
As ordered by the skipper at half time Burnham would play their rugby in the Petherton half this is as it was and the pressure paid of when the opposition were penalised in the closing stages of the game Will Conway Converted 

Final Score Burnham 29- Petherton 5.

The Tempo of this game was top drawer; the running distribution and supporting play by all who played was commendable; the players can certainly hold their heads up high for a very creditable performance.
Burnham now sit at the top of the league table it must the mission of every player to ensure that we stay there. This will only be achieved by player commitment

Next Game Sat 19 November at Home in the League to TOR.