Burton U14's  on 27th April 2008

in
The Dave Bowen Cup

On Sunday Burton’s under 14’s brought the season to an end when 37 players were split into two sides, the Blacks and the whites. They were competing for the Dave Bowen Cup. A cup presented in memory of the late Dave Bowen who was a great supporter of Burton rugby club and one of the driving forces in setting up the mini junior section for the club. Dave was also the grandfather of Alex Bowen who captained the White side. Before the game the players lined up and observed a minutes silence in memory of the man.

Photo by Gary Connor

The match itself was an entertaining game. The Blacks started off the stronger and were camped on the whites try line. However the white defence was strong and the first fifteen minutes of the game were very evenly matched. The first points followed a penalty to white. Having kicked for touch Whites won the lineout and Marcus Armitage broke from the maul and went over the line for a try. The white side started to play with some real confidence and there was some great backs work. Sam Day had a fine game at scrumhalf and linked well with Callam Sandeman. Whites were rewarded with a second try again scored by Armitage from a lineout. The blacks did play some good rugby. Joe Bird made an excellent jinking run beating several tackles on the way. The half time score was Whites 10 Blacks 0

The second half again started very evenly. But whites added more points. Tom Hunt made a great run down the line and found Henry Whifield who went over for the try. This was well converted by Ashley Allum. A great aspect from the white backs was their communication. This led to probably the best try of the day as Will Turner passed and then collected the loop pass to create an overlap and to score try number four converted again by Allum. Blacks never dropped their heads. Chris Sammons, playing at scrumhalf for the blacks kept driving his side on. Blacks had a great break when Sammons found Edwin Runagle coming onto the ball at pace who in turn found Seb Chesterman. Blacks finally got the try they deserved when Runagle put a chip kick over the white defence and Matt Prince charged through, collected the ball and went over for his try. James Gibbons was unlucky when his conversion attempt hit the upright. The final try came from the whites. The ball was moved well down the line and eventually found Callam Sandeman with lots of room to score. The final score was Whites 29 Blacks 5.

After the game Dave Bowen junior presented the trophy to Alex Bowen his Nephew. This was a proud day for Burton under 14’s