| 26/09/04 | Burntwood (h) |
03/10/04 |
Derby (a) |
| 14/11/04 | Rugby Lions (a) |
| 21/11/04 | Newcastle (a) |
| 05/12/04 | Coalville (h) |
| 19/12/04 | Mkt Bosw'th (h) |
| 16/01/05 | Stafford (a) |
| 23/01/05 | Ashby (h) |
| 09/02/05 | Stoke(a) |
| 13/02/05 | Mansfield (a) |
| 20/02/05 | Lichfield (h) |
| 13/03/05 | Earlsdon (h) |
| 20/03/05 | Loughborough(h) |
| 10/04/05 | Derby (h) |
| 24/04/05 | Derby (h) |
BURTON under-14s
suffered a disappointing 34 - 0 defeat away to local rivals Derby.
Although the Crofters were able to comfortably hold their hosts in the scrum
and were the stronger side at the lineout, this advantage evaporated in the loose,
where time and again rucks were lost to a quicker Derby side.
in the backs, it was a similar story as Burton could not gain clean enough possession
to allow their superior overall pace to count.
It was the home side who made better use of their possession, despite their own
generally poor ball handling, as they cruised to victory.
26th
September 2004 |
||
| Burton 38 | v |
Burntwood 15 |
Select Date of Match |
3rd
October 2004 |
||
| Derby 34 | v |
Burton 0 |
A
perfect morning for fast paced exciting rugby led on to a great
game between Burton Under 14s and Burntwood. The home team was
very keen to make a good impression early on, and created opportunities
right from the kick-off, Kieran Dadley being unlucky not to score
within the first 5 minutes when the ball was kicked from his
hands on the line.
It was not long before the first try came, following some great
work by Burton's backs to open up play on the wing and let Matt
Stephens in on the left, well converted by Tom Samways from long
distance. A new backline was being tried for the first time at
this game, and the half back pairing of Charley Cash & James
Leverington made the most of it, moving ball quickly away from danger.
Although the pack were a little slow gaining confidence at the ruck, and suffered
lost ball too often, at the scrum Burton dominated, giving an excellent platform
which released David Dew for some blinding runs, one of which resulted in the
second try right under the posts. 2 further points added from the boot of Leverington.
An exciting pairing of Oliver Randall and Jack Elton in the centre gave Burton
both pace and power, opening up the visitor's defence regularly, and allowing
Randall and fullback Samways in for more tries, the first half ending when Henry
Clarke smashed over under the posts once more. Leverington added 2 more conversions
to take a 33 - 0 lead into the break.
Several changes were made at half time to allow all Burton's large squad to participate
in the game, and Burntwood also raised their game considerably, playing some
more direct and aggressive rugby. As a result they came back to score 3 deserved
tries, none converted, before Randall once more powered his way to the line to
create a convincing 38 -15 win for the young Crofters.
14th November 2004 |
||
| Rugby Lions 29 | v |
Burton 0 |
21st November 2004 (Staffs Cup Qrtr Final) |
||
| Newcastle 0 | v |
Burton 17 |
5th December 2004 |
||
| Burton 15 | v |
Coalville 12 |
19th December 2004 |
||
| Burton 5 | v |
Mrkt Bosworth 41 |
16th January 2005 |
||
| Burton 29 | v |
Stafford 15 |
23rd January 2005 |
||
| Burton 69 | v |
Ashby 0 |
Burton U 14’s played a newly formed Ashby side which turned out to be a high scoring affair.
David Dew opening the scoring with a touchdown in the far corner after a 50metre run. Good forward play led by pack leader Adam Brookes saw George Phillips score soon after. Quick set ball from the forwards passed out along the three quarters gave Jack Elton the opportunity to show his pace & power scoring two in quick succession, followed by another two tries from pacey winger Luke Day. Powerful forward play & support from all players saw Patrick James (x2), Jan Cleary & Adam Brookes all score tries. Ben Marshall adding two conversions.
Burton dominated play with David Dew from the wing scored a further two tries with Olly Randall crashing over with his usual finesse. Some changes were made at half time & it was good to see James Leverington back in action. A spirited Ashby side continued to take on Burton but were convincingly beaten 69 – 0 .
9th February 2005 |
||
| Stoke 10 | v |
Burton 0 |
13th February 2005 |
||
| Mansfield 40 | v |
Burton 12 |
Burton Under 14s tavelled away to Mansfield on a blustery and cold day to face a very strong home team who have been undefeated in 4 years.
A shaky start against Mansfield's strongest line-up put Burton on the back foot, with 3 soft tries given away inside 10 minutes, before the Crofters woke up and started to respond with some fantastic tackling, notably from Phillips, Randall & Varney. The game stabilised for some while, and Burton were able to gain some possession, albeit mainly inside their own half. Some intelligent kicking from Randall and van-Daesdonk put the home team on their back foot, and at the 30 minute mark this resulted in a Burton line-out on the Mansfield 22, from which good handling and direct running put Leverington over in the corner to score Burton's first points of the game.
20th February 2005 |
||
| Burton 0 | v |
Lichfield 19 |
Burton U14s hosted local rivals Lichfield at Shobnall in a tight game that allowed both sides to claim credit for some excellent rugby, irrespective of the final score.
From the outset Lichfield showed intent by pushing Burton back into their own 22 through some probing kicks, forcing the Crofters into the defence, a task they were well up to but which prevented them from showing their pace out wide. Burton's tacklers did a great job, some excellent work from Varney and Briggs throughout the game being highlights, while Lichfield were unable to move wide themselves as Dew & Samways held them out.
Lichfield were slightly the stronger at ruck & maul, and it showed as they ripped ball from a ruck on Burton's goal line, scoring an unconverted try as just reward for their pressure. They scored again from concerted forward pressure before the break to take a 12 -0 lead into halftime.
In the second half Burton were more adventurous, and on several occasions pushed Lichfield onto the defensive, Samways winning a tit - for- tat kicking battle with Lichfield's stand-off, while Elton and Dew made good ground with ball in hand. The narrow Shobnall pitch did not help the Crofter's cause, however, as every time Burton attacked the Lichfield defence was able to shepherd them into touch, from where their significant height advantage in the line-out paid off. This advantage was used to good effect by the visitors, who managed a further try late on to take a 19 -0 victory, a scoreline that many felt flattered them somewhat, and gave the Burton lads good heart compared to the previous seasons heavy losses to Lichfield.
13th March 2005 |
||
| Burton 5 | v |
Earlsdon 5 |
Burton Under 14s faced a determined challenge from visiting Earlsdon in what proved a tight and at times niggly game where neither side could really claim to dominate.
20th March 2005 |
||
| Burton 53 | v |
Loughborough 0 |
10th April 2005 |
||
| Burton 29 | v |
Derby 0 |
The second half Burton kept up the pressure, spinning the ball wide and quickly recycling the ball when ever possible. Kieran Dadley using skills not normally associated with a hooker broke two tackles and ran like a winger to go over in the corner. With the Derby defence not giving up but finding it increasingly hard to cope with the Burton attacks Jack Elton went over with a break through the midfield. Tom Samways kicking a fantastic conversion to make it 24 – 0. In the end the Derby defence were being stretched all over the field not knowing where the next Burton attack was going to come from and Ollie Randall went over for another try breaking 2 tackles whilst over the try line just to make the kick easier. Final score 29 – 0. To be fair to Derby they did manage to get over the Burton try line on various occasions but stubborn defence kept the ball either off the ground or had Burton hands underneath it to deny the try.
The coaches were very pleased with this result and they felt as long as they didn’t give the opposition early tries they could beat anybody on the day.
24th April 2005 |
||
| Burton 54 | v |
Derby 0 |
On that earlier occasion, Burton had won convincingly, and as expected Derby wanted to avenge that defeat. However the home side were well up for anything that their visitors threw at them, and dominated the game from start to finish. This was a whole team performance, the forwards dominating at the scrum, while Burton's backs cut the defence to ribbons every time they had the ball.
Burton's first try came under the posts as Oliver Randall broke free and charged in to score. This was the start of the home team's domination of play, Randall himself going on to score 2 further tries, his outside centre partner Jack Elton 2 and winger David Dew 2 more in a demonstration of both power and pace out wide. This was champagne rugby at its finest, as half-backs Charley Cash, Ben Marshall & replacement James Leverington worked tirelessly to keep the ball hungry backs supplied with some excellent quality passing.
The forwards were not to be outdone, as No 8 Patrick James powered over for more points, and a superb performance from Jan Cleary being rewarded by a further try, while Joe Gazzard and Adam Brookes starred in loose play to get the ball moving wide. The whole pack worked continually to provide a platform for Burton's ball carriers, and it was clear the work done in training on offloading in the tackle is paying off handsomely.