Burntwood 17 Burton 50 on Sept 30th 2007

This weekend, Burton U15s Cougars travelled to Burntwood.  In good conditions Burton worked to improve on last week’s performance.  The 2 teams have met several times in previous seasons, Burntwood have consistently improved and at the last meeting pulled off a well deserved win.  Knowing that their hosts would be hoping to add another win to their records, the Cougars gave the opposition the respect they deserved.

Burton Cougars kicked off to start the game and initially pressed their hosts deep in their 22m area. Burntwood responded well and pushed the Cougars back towards their own try line, forcing the young crofters to defend several minutes of sustained pressure. The turning point came almost 10 minutes into the game when Tom Cooper ran in and converted the first try of the game from a loose ball. This settled the Cougars and their confident defending developed quickly into confident attacking play. The Cougars rucked and mauled well and distributed the ball confidently. The points continued to flow with tries from Matty Davies, Tom Cooper and Tom Hall, Cooper adding 2 conversions to take the score line to 26 unanswered points at half time this despite the host side playing strong and determined rugby.

With a total of 23 players travelling, a number of changes were made at half time. The team that ran out in the second half included new players and those developing in new positions. Burntwood set out to prove that they were not going to let the game slip away and pressurised the Cougars to defend from the re-start. The hosts were rewarded with a penalty for their hard work and a quick take caught the Cougars unaware and put Burntwood on the score sheet. The new Cougars line up looked as if they might loose their nerve as Burntwood scored another try with a conversion almost immediately. However, this was merely a minor hiccup as the Cougars flexed their muscles with driving runs and good hands.  The ball was driven up-field and passed through several pairs of hands before finding James Hardy in space with just a metre or so to cross the whitewash, Cooper adding the extras. Determined not to go down without a fight, Burntwood once again put the pressure on. Their try attempt was held up following some fine defence of the line by the Cougars. The resulting 5m scrum gave the hosts their final points of the game. The final quarter of the game belonged to the Cougars, having finally found their feet, the second half selection looked equally as good as the initial line-up. Working hard and keeping their heads, the Cougars teamwork came good and the novices of the team put together some terrific play. The hard work paid off as the Cougars put Cooper over for anther 3 tries, one of which he converted.

The game finished 17 -50 in Burton Cougars favour, testament to a fine team performance in both halves. The forward play was drastically improved from the opening game of the season and a steady improvement from last week, the jewel in the crown being that all 23 players gave a good account of themselves. Gareth Chinnock and Chris Sale the team’s newest recruits played exceptionally well given their inexperience and improvement from Nathan Nixon in the front row gave the opportunity for development in other areas. Will Harrison gave a virtuoso performance including great communication in an increasing portfolio of skills, added to his direct running; he set a fine example to his teammates.

Our best wishes for a quick recovery go out to Josh Waltho, who suffered an ankle injury early in the game.