Burton 38 Spartans 38 on Oct 7th 2007

This weekend, Burton under 15s Cougars hosted their close rivals from Spartans RUFC on the Ox  Hay.  In a very close and hard fought game the spectacle that greeted the supporters was a credit to those who graced the pitch.

Spartans kicked off and immediately applied attacking pressure,  Burton Cougars defended well and drove a try attempt into touch in goal.  Spartans took their chances at the resulting 5 metre scrum gaining the first points of the day with a converted try.  Burton wasted no time in coming back at their guests, showing good initiative in open play and professional rucking skills.  Combined with some great teamwork, the Cougars wasted no time in putting Matty Davies in for their opening try.  Spirits were running high when Zac Quarterman took the restart ball and put Tom Cooper into open space for a great run to score a try that he converted himself.  In a close fixture such as this a counter score is never far away and Spartans pushed for the equalising try.   The Cougars defended valiantly and held up their guests, but a converted score came from the resulting scrum.  In this breath-taking fixture, neither side wanted to be on the back foot for long Burton Cougars came straight back with a great run from Steve McRobbie putting Reece Collier through for a try converted by Cooper.  Spartans replied with a converted score once again , leaving the young ‘Crofters searching for another opportunity to reply.  Their chance came when Sam Roulston ran out of his own 22m area to set up a ruck, which was cleared single handed by “Nobby Furner” and fed out to Zac Quarterman, in space to run the 40m to score a try converted by Tom Hall.  This exhilarating half finished 26 – 21 in the Cougars favour.

The Cougars re-start was retained by Spartans who worked hard to open the second – half scores with a converted try.  The Cougars worked hard to come back and looked as if they had regained the lead through Reece Collier in the corner, but in an attempt to ground the ball behind the posts the opportunity was lost.  Spartans were pushing to gain the ascendancy,  and their cause was helped on when Burton Cougars lost a player through a blood injury.  In the time it took to regain their momentum, the Cougars let 2 tries past.  When they had regained their composure, Burton Cougars pushed hard and tested their opponents.  Spartans began to loose their cool and discipline slipped, giving penalties for discrepancies, they gave Burton the opportunity to score twice through Cooper.  With both tries converted, the score on the final whistle was 38-38.

This was a great fixture, with both sides playing hard fast rugby every player gave their all and bringing out the best of their opposition.