Burnham-on-Sea 2nd 48 Tor 5.

Burnham Seconds hosted Tor at the home ground on Saturday in a   league clash, which was vital to Burnham to win if they were to stay top of their current league. The pressure was firmly on the shoulders of the home side to retain a very impressive run of wins in the league. Skipper Matt Slater had a good squad of players to draw from many of whom who in the past weeks have formed the nucleus of the squad that have played some very entertaining rugby. The squad set about the build up to the game, the strategy was laid out and the game got under way. It was clear from the out set that Tor had not turned up just to provide opposition. They fielded a well-drilled pack unit with a sharp back row and some fastbacks. Although Burnham never contemplated a walk over the early exchanges indicated that Tor were certainly in the mood for this game.
The initial engagements were evenly matched in the mid field area the brief from the team captain was to play where we were most dangerous in the oppositions 22 from here we could unleash our backs to do the damage. This is exactly what happened; when from a very stable scrum won against the head by Hooker Ashley Morris Nick Mcken broke away; slipped the tackle and fed Sam Ford for a fine try. The conversion went astray nevertheless the account was opened.

Almost from the kick of this process was repeated from a turnover ball by Ed Lewis scrum half Mike Whitfield fed Nick McKen who thumped over for a try again the conversion was not taken. Burnham  were now   firmly  in  the  driving  seat  and  hunting  down the  ball very  successfully; the  pack  was  now beginning  to  up  the  tempo  and  were  quick  to  the  breakdowns  providing  good  ball  to  the  backs  who  were  beginning  to  penetrate into Tors defence  this  rate  of  attrition paid  of when  Will Conway  broke  through  and  scored a fine  try  under  the  posts this  he  followed up  with the  conversion. The game pattern was becoming familiar to the Burnham players and before long Scrum half Mike Whitfied dummied the opposition Standoff to side step over the try line to open his account; Will Conway stepped up and finished the job with a fine conversion. With half time looming Burnham were firmly in the driving seat 24 Points up.
The half time back brief identified that although this was a very clinical performance we were capable of better, Substitutions were made in the form of Dan Spellman and Ben Brockett for Mike Smith and Ryan Jones in the pack, with more Subs to follow the second half commenced. The tempo of the game resumed much in the same way as it had ended. The pack  had  settled  in well the  front  row  of  Ed Lewis  Ash  and  Matt  Slater were  an  even  match  for  a  heavier  Tor  Front  row, it was  obvious  the  it  was  fitness  that was  wearing  them  down, never the  less  they  maintained the  effort  which  was  rewarded  by  a  fine  try  from a  break  out  by  their  no  8 who  fed  the  outside  centre  enabling him to  score  in the  left  corner.
Burnham made further substitutions in the form of Dan Collins and Gilly Hicks for Nick Mcken and Ed Lewis both of who had put in sterling performances Tom Stevens by his stage had also replaced Chris Jones and Andy Blair replaced Hooker Ashley Morris, Podge Barrington also made his appearance. This new surge of Subs immediately made an impact on the game as the pace increased quite substantially. The previous try by the opposition had stung Burnham back into action and from a fine kick and chase by Lee Berry and Mark O Regan resulting in a very favourable bounce into Lees hands he crossed the line. Sadly the conversation was not taken. This brought about an intense spell of pressure from Burnham which saw some frustrating play and errors made; within this period Dan berry was able to pull out two very good tries which Will Conway converted. The game then developed a dull feel to it as the final stages set on the field.

The after match review identified that Burnham had made to many basic errors, some handling issues were discussed along with the fact that had individual players considered distributing the ball more during the game the score line would have been considerably more. On the positive side this was a clinical performance by all those who took part; the mission was to win the game and the score line shows that that this was achieved in a very commendable manner.

The next league game is against Wells away on 03 Dec. All players are requested to make their availability known to Matt Slater.

Updated 12th November 2011