Burnham-on-Sea 2nd 77 Minehead 7.

Burnham Seconds played host to the visitors from Minehead on Saturday. With the First team out of town the focus on rugby at the BASC playing fields rested firmly with the Second Fifteen. Due to the quality of rugby produced in the previous games a large crowd had gathered at the clubhouse to watch the game.
 Burnham had put in an impressive Pre game work out under the direction of injured first team player Bryan Webb, with the game fast approaching the final instructions were issued by Skipper Matt Slater, all focused on the fact this was a league game and due to the teams current position in the league was a must win situation. 
It was apparent that the Minehead team were not at full strength and needed a Burnham player to support them Ed Lewis stepped in to fill this void and played extremely well for the opposition. Never the less Minehead have a good Rugby pedigree and were a threat in any form. The game got underway; the tactics were to start the game on a furious Tempo and then maintain that level of activity for the duration. Burnham had some players playing out of position but was comfortable with their new roles. The  game started  just  as  was  directed  from the  kick off;  Burnham  forwards  drove  deep into  the  Minehead  territory with  around six  phases  of play  committed;  Will  Conway  broke  and  running straight  scored  under  the  uprights and  converted  his  own effort  a great  start 7-0 this  was  to  be  the  start  of  a Try  fest  for  Will  who was  to    score  a  further  3  times converting  five  of  the  afternoons  tries. This stung Minehead into action and from the kick off attacked the Burnham defence this held well and from a turnover ball by Ben Browkett was recycled out to the backs; a penetrating straight run from Dan Berry with an off load to Scrum half Mike Whitfield resulted in a fine for Mike one of three of the afternoon.  Burnham were now creating havoc with exploiting bursts of play Rod Lewis in the centre connecting with Dan Berry and Will Conway were creating openings with their forward rushes at the Minehead defence; Minehead were definitely in trench warfare at this stage with everything thrown in; but despite their valiant efforts could not stop the Burnham scoring machine Mike Whitfield grabbed a second and Rob Lewis scored the first of his two tries of the afternoon. Meanwhile in the pack George Scott, Ben Bowkett, Dan Collins and hooker Ash Morris were making their presence felt the game was moving at a thunderous pace. Bryan Webb was making and ringing the changes from the sidelines with replacements thick and fast. With Andy and Paul coming on in the Pack.
At the half time analysis it was identified to up the tempo play the ball wide and use the speed of the backs to break Minehead down even further, changes were made on came Mike Smith for Dan Collins Lee Berry made a start at full back then later moved to scrum half. The game restarted in exactly the way that had been discussed. Burnham were getting numbers to the breakdowns quicker the ball was being well distributed by the carriers to keep the rugby fast and flowing; this paid of as Dan Berry broke through and dashed across the line to open the scoring of the second half. This was repeated by Dan almost immediately bringing his afternoon’s work to two tries, numerous tackles made and running gains in the region of sixty meters. Minehead did not lie down and half way in the second half scored and converted a fine try from their Stand off. With the game moving into the last stages Matt Slater scored a fine individual try demonstrating a determined drive over the line. Burnham had Minehead on the rack and were relentless in their determination not to give them any breathing space what so ever. 
In the closing stages of the Game George Scott who had put an enormous amount of work during the afternoon with abundant tackles and penetrating runs into the Minehead pack was rewarded with a fine try of his own. This is his first for the club we are sure it will not be his last. As the closing stages of game settled on this last match of British Summer time Ginge converted Georges Try with a drop kick
Final Score Burnham 77 Minehead 7.
Burnham players can take a lot away from that game it was a very entertaining and very credible team effort.
2nd Team Training is on Thursday
Next Game Sat 05 November away to Winscome