A consummate and entertaining performance by Burnham on a cold autumn day,warming the cockles of their old faithfuls.
Cullompton arrived hoping to consolidate their lofty position of 3rd in the league,only to meet a Burnham side that were determined to prove otherwise.With pace and guile on the wings and a strong pack burnham set out their stall early on with several attacks only to be thwarted by desperate defence,but,eventually,Brandon Petit gathered a clearing kick,set off from his own 10 metre line and in his own inimitable fashion,using his pace and ability to ignore attempted tackles,he crossed the line close to the posts.Piper converted.7-0.Burnham increased their lead when Cullompton transgressed and Piper duly obliged.10-0.Cullompton quickly replied with a neat flowing move culminating in the left winger scoring in the right wing corner.10-5.10 minutes later Watkins put a long clearin kick into the opposition half,obliging dropped by the full back,allowing a marauding Jordan Paul to scoop up the ball and race in under the posts.Piper converted.17-5.Half-time.Cullompton picked up the challenge from the restart and when Burnham were caught offside,they took the penalty.17-8.This was,basically the catalyst that Burnham needed to up their game and after a good spell of pressure and possession close to Cullompton’s line,Alan house was driven over.24-8.By this time Burnham were rampant,driving their opponents backwards in the tight and with Stevens and Blake’s strength in the lineout and with a highly commendable debut by Oti who was duly rewarded with a try in the last few moments,brushing aside the defence to score under the posts.Final score 31-8.
A memorable day for Burnham,firing on all cylinders and if they can manage to keep the squad together for all their games,then l see no reason for them to languish in the bottom regions of the league.Well done Burnham.