Walsall 2nds 7 Burton 'A' 24 on 16th February 2008

As the visitors at Delves Road it was Burton’s better structure and discipline that paid dividends as the Crofters scored a fine 24-7 victory over their hosts, Walsall. An initial period of pressure from the Burton team paid off handsomely when Walsall were penalised and John Philliskirk took a quick tap to feed Tristan Gill who raced in for a score that Gareth Sutton converted to put Burton 7-0 in the lead.

The next score was a great effort by Chris Murcott as he stole the ball at the back of a lineout to break clear of a tackle and chip ahead. He raced through to gather his own chip and touch down to give him a great welcome-back present after breaking his wrist earlier in the season. Niggling infringements interrupted the game for the rest of the half until Burton broke the deadlock and three well worked rucks produced good ball that Burton spun out wide where the waiting Matt Tivey gratefully accepted the pass to score in the corner.

After the break Burton again continued to dominate but one lost ruck saw Walsall gain a foothold in the Burton 22 and force their way over for their only score. In the last twenty minutes Walsall’s poor discipline really let them down and three yellow cards saw them reduced to 12 men at times. Seizing on this numerical advantage Burton produced a series of sweeping moves that resulted in a final try under the posts that Sutton scored and converted. This score put the seal on an emphatic and deserving 24-7 victory for the Burton squad.