Burton Colts 13 Derby Colts 5 on 5th January 2008

Despite adverse weather and a sticky pitch Burton fought hard to gain their first victory of 2008 with this 13-0 defeat of neighbours Derby.

In a tough first half some excellent forward possession and pressure led to centre Danny Smith opening the scoring, but Derby came back and had Burton pinned in their own 22. Some excellent defence by the Burton side saw them getting turnovers and being able to clear away the danger to keep their 5-0 lead until half-time.

Burton began the second period with the same intensity and most play was in the Derby half, it wasn’t long before this pressure resulted in the visitors conceding penalties and from one of these Will Peach increased Burton’s lead to 8 points. Derby came back but in trying to force the game they made too many mistakes that Burton’s forwards always capitalised on and turned up the pressure to punish them

With the Burton pack causing havoc in set pieces another Derby mistake saw flanker Ben Cook break free. He made ground to set up clear space for scrum half Phil Harris to race in and dive into the corner for the final score in this well-earned 13-0 victory.