Burton 22 Loughborough 12 on   Oct 21st 2007

Burton v Loughborough turned out to be a very exciting and close match, watched by parents and friends, somewhat down hearted due the previous night’s world cup tragic loss to South Africa. Burton started very well and were camped in the Loughborough 22 for the first 10 minutes applying constant pressure to a strong Loughborough defence. Loughborough suddenly broke away and scored an excellent try. Burton came back with more aggression and Nathan Taylor and Maitland Simpson Smith powered through Loughborough defence rolling off the mauls and with sheer determination Maitland powered his way through a tight defence to be rewarded with an excellent try.

The second half saw Burton running the ball causing Loughborough to defend well. Dominic Minns’ reliable kicking allowed Burton to gain territory. He suddenly broke through a disorganised Loughborough maul, and ran in Burton’s second try dodging and side steeping his way through half of the Loughborough side. Nathan Wrathall converted the try with sure footed kicking. Loughborough broke away shortly after the restart to score a try. The score now set 15 -12 to Burton with Loughborough looking dangerous. Unexpectedly, Burton were awarded a penalty just in front of the Loughborough goal. A chorus of “take the points” emanated from the coaches. But not content with 3 points, Burton ran with the ball; initially to no avail. Exasperated looks were being exchanged by the coaches when suddenly Burton’s good use of the width of the pitch resulted in a pass down the line allowing Sam Heptonstall to take the ball on the run, steam past the last of the Loughborough defence and score the spectacular winning try.