For their first game of the season Burton travelled to Stoke full of confidence and good spirits, and with both teams deciding to use this match as a warm-up they opted to play 4 twenty minute quarters rather than two full halves. Burton started brightly with some good barn storming runs by Will Forrester, Jez Gibbs, Dave Viles and Rich Wilton, but Stoke hit back after a couple of unlucky bounces led to a loose ball being snatched up and run in for a try.

But the Burton heads did not drop and after Ian Cartwright had been felled by a high tackle after his neat interception he stepped up to slot the ball between the posts to reduce Stoke’s lead to 7-3. Another try from the opposition saw Burton go into half-time loosing 12-3.

The second half again began well for Burton with Scott Waddell, Dave Archer and Rich Paupe all making some strong runs and this persistent battering paid off. Good ball along the Burton line saw Ian Cartwright break the line and feed Russ Banton who raced over for a score in the corner. Unfortunately Stoke responded well and added two further tries to run out winners by 22-8. On the whole although Stoke deserved their victory this young Burton team produced many positive points and showed fine spirit with a wonderfully competitive attitude.