U16 match reports

Hey we have found some-one from the Under 16' s who is able to put a match report together. The following is with thanks to Dan Eastwood.

Burton U16’s traveled to Birmingham Solihull to play a strong bees side for their third game of the season. The game soon kicked off to be a physical match with the Bees having quite a lot of possession in the first half which resulted in 4 tries by the Bees. But near the end of the first half the Bees gave away a penalty 10 meters from their try line which the Burton forwards took a quick tap and showed great power to rumbled over the line to score Burton’s first try.

The second half started very positively for Burton as they soon got a lot of the possession, which resulted in quick ball shipped out to the backs for the winger to burst down the pitch from their own 10 meter line to score near the posts. Burton carried on playing very well and the Bees gave quite a lot of penalties away which resulted in Will Peach (crazy) clearing a long kick into touch and Burton setting up a maul from a line out. There followed a number of phases of play from combined forces of the Burton forwards and backs which again resulted in quick ball down the line to the winger to score his 2nd try.

Burton under 16’s arrived at Wolverhampton for a cup match with a good but slightly inexperienced side to play a well organized wolves’ side.

The game started off in the Wolves favour to score 5 minutes after kick off. Despite a spirited defence by the Crofters the tries kept coming for Wolves who had most of the possession in the first half.

The second half was much better from Burton as they had a lot more possession and a lot of good play, nearly scoring on a couple of occasions. They kept Wolverhampton out from their try line but near the end of the game Wolves managed a final score.

Full credit to Wolverhampton as they played very well.

Burton under 16's proved too stong for visitors Coalville as they ran out comfortable 31-0 winners.

Will Harvey scored 2 tries, both of which he converted himself, while Daniel Stronge and Matt Perkins also got their names on the scoresheet to send the Crofters into a 24-0 half time lead.

Coalville tried to come back in the second half but a try from Tom Cooke and a Will Peach conversion completed the scoring.

Burton U16 took on Linley and Kidsgrove at home on the washlands. The game was delayed in kicking off as the visitors arrived late.

It was worth the wait as the Crofters took the game to the opposition from the whistle. the forwards played good clean ruck and maul ball to set the backs in play.

The Crofters played the game at a fast pace and didn't allow the opposition much chance of getting the ball. The forwards and backs linked up well together playing a lot of crash ball resulting in 4 tries in the first half 2 of which were converted. The try scorers were, James Farrell, Carl Timmins, Will Harvey and Daniel Stronge and the conversions were put over, first by Will Peach and the second by Will Harvey. Resulting in a 24 - 0 lead at half time.

The second half started at the same pace as the first half finished with the Crofters retaining the ball well. After 5 - 10 minutes, and a few substitutions, the Crofters seemed to lose concentration and started giving away silly penalties by being offside knock-ons and generally relaxing their game play. The opposition looked as if they might get some points from this lapse of concentration. The captain, Daniel Eastwood, saw this and had words with his team and got them back in order.

The game came back the Crofter's way, and good rugby, clean ball and team effort got 4 more tries and 1 conversion.

Daniel Stronge got 2 of the tries, giving him a hat-trick, Jack Sharkey and James Farrell also got a try each and the conversion was by Will Peach.

The game finished 46 - 0 to the Crofters.

Overall, a good display of rugby and discipline from both teams. A very good game for parents and spectators to watch.

Well done lads keep it up.

Burton travelled away to Market Bosworth.

The game kicked off on time but it was noticeable straight away that the Crofters were unable to perform to the same high standard as the previous two games. The first half was marred by lots of silly mistakes, coming from both forwards and backs resulting in knock-ons and giving away penalties which was down to lack of concentration. Because of this, Market Bosworth broke through to score the first try.

Burton then had a bit of luck when Jason Hooper scored a try to pull the score back to 7-5. Market Bosworth though went on to score another try and go in at half time leading 14-5.

In the first 15 minutes of the second half the Crofters came out the stronger side, playing good ruck and maul ball, creating a try for Will Harvey. Five minutes later, Rory Peverell went over the line and scored another try, which came from another good ruck and maul movement by Burton. This made the score 15-14 to Burton.

The Crofters tried desperately to score again, but Market Bosworth came back. Burton defended well, and managed to hold them up time after time, and preventing them breaking through. But five minutes from the end, a couple of missed tackles allowed Market Bosworth to score two late tries, converting one of them, to leave Burton on the losing side of a 26-15 defeat.

Not a bad game in all, but not quite piecing together the form they have shown in previous games.

A very elegant Stoke side arrived at Burton, but it seems Burton had eaten far too many mince pies and drank far too much alcohol over Xmas and New Year. This resulted in Burton not being on top form.

The game started off to be a fair match but then Burton fell asleep this resulted in missed tackles this lead to Stoke scoring 4 tries in the first half.

The second half wasn’t much better as Stoke scored even more tries.

Overall this wasn’t one of Burton's best games.

Burton under 16’s travelled away to Burntwood.

The match soon started to be a good and powerful battle between both teams and the teams seemed to be evenly matched in the first half. Both giving away some silly penalties which allowed either team to make there way down the field by some nice kicks or big hits from the tap penalties. Although Burton seem to camp out in the opponents half, nothing came of it and the first half ended 0 - 0.

Second half both teams made changes, unfortunately Burtons wasn't for the better, resulting in Burntwood scoring two unconverted tries. The game finished 10 - 0 to Burntwood. Overall it was a good match to play and watch.

This weekend Burton U16's were supposed to be playing Barkers Butts, but a change to the fixture list meant that Burton now faced a tough game with local rivals Lichfield at home.

The day got off to a strange start when 3 of the Barkers Butts team members turned up for the game. This turned out to be to Burton's advantage as they became substitutes for the team.

The first half started very well for Burton, as they took the game straight to Lichfield from the off, spending the first 10 minutes or so camped in their opponents half. Whenever Lichfield had the ball, big tackles were going in from all of the Burton team, and the ball was frequently turned over. This persistant pressure from Burton finally got a reward when Will Harvey managed to convert a penalty from 30 yards to put Burton in front by 3 points to 0.

The rest of the first half followed much the same pattern, with Burton winning all 50/50 balls and putting in big tackles to keep Lichfield deep in their own half. Unfortunately though, they were unable to score again in the half.

As the second half got going, this is when the Barkers Butts lads gave Burton an advantage they do not normally have, by being able to introduce fresh players. This helped Burton to maintain their stanglehold on the game and keep Lichfield on the back foot.

The second half carried on as the first half had ended, and Burton's ruck and maul game became more intense, and on many occasions, too strong for Lichfield to cope with. Throughout all the pressure though, Lichfield's defence managed to hold out and prevent Burton breaking through.

As the second half started to come to an end though, Lichfield started to give away penalties, which meant Burton pushed right up the field. This then lead to a well worked cross field play resulting in Stuart Kirk going over for a try in the final minute. Will Harvey unfortunately was unable to convert the kick but a thoroughly impressive performance by Burton gave them an 8-0 victory. This was more impressive as this was the first time that Lichfield had failed to score in a game all season.

Well done to all the lads for a great performance. And a special thank you to the Barkers Butts lads for their support.

In perfect conditions for rugby the Under 16 team played outstandingly well. 3 players preferred to play for the U17's, 1 ill, 1 injured and 3 AWOL this looked like an impossible task, but with George Wright from the Under 15's and Matt Brittain and Mike Parr out of retirement a miracle nearly happened.

Burton started brightly with some good positional kicking from Tom Cook and the forwards driving well. Five minutes into the game the pressure told and Will Harvey went over under the posts and converted himself. Ten minutes later more of the same and Will scored another. From that point on the game changed. Repeated penalties put Burton under pressure and eventually a try was conceded before half time. All was not lost, there was half a game to go and Burton were still in the lead.

Second half the inexperience in several positions started to show. As the cracks appeared Earlsdon took advantage with intelligent kicking and domination at the ruck. Three further tries from Earlsdon sealed the game, although Burton pressed hard at the end only to be held up a metre short.

All in all a good performance by a makeshift team with a hooker and prop playing their first game with contested scrums.

26/09/04	Burntwood (h)
31/10/04	Bham/Solihull (a)
21/11/04	Wolves (a)
05/12/04	Coalville (h)
12/12/04	Linly/Kidsgve(h)
19/12/04	Mkt Bosw'th(a)
02/01/05	Stoke (h)
30/01/05	Burntwood (a)
20/02/05	Lichfield (h)
13/03/05	Earlsdon (a)

21st November 2004 (Staffs Cup Qrtr Final)
Wolverhampton 39	v	Burton 0

26th September 2004
Burton 37	v	Burntwood 7

31st October 2004
Bham Solihull 22	v	Burton 15

5th December 2004
Burton 31	v	Coalville 0

12th December 2004
Burton 46	v	Linley/Kidsgrove 0