Under 8's v Birmingham Solihull on   February 10th 2008

Birmingham & Solihull 35     Cougars 35

Coach Pride decided to mix the teams today and things seemed to go well for Burton. The Cougars took to the field first and came up against a B&S side that believed in running hard, fast and straight, this gave them a flying start, scoring 2 quick tries. Once Burton found their feet they themselves ran straight and hard, J Johnson again making some good yards. Some good passing saw Burton finding space and outflanking their opponents, Z Fellows scoring Burtons first quickly followed by a T Smith double. Burtons defence though kept getting drawn to the ball and B&S exploited the holes left and took a 2 try lead into half time. A Z Fellows double after half time saw the score levelled, Fellows then got his forth try with his usual sprint the length of the pitch. Another T Smith try saw the Crofters take a 1 try lead, But B&S grabbed an equaliser with the last play of the match

Birmingham & Solihull 25   Lions 30

Z Salt seemed to take note of the direct running seen in the first game and was often seen breaking the gain line and leaving his opponents on the floor. O Ballyn took advantage of this and grabbed 2 quick tries. Some good defending kept Burton in front, even when some generous reffing (by 1 of the Burton coaches!!) gifted B&S a try. A good run by J Mumford saw him tagged desperately short of the line, but the ball got quickly passed across the field for M Pride to score. Another score for B&S saw Burton take a 15-10 lead into halftime, with their confidence up and all the Burton boys making ground it wasn't long before M Pride got his 2nd and 3rd tries of the match. Burton's defence then came under constant pressure, and just after they seemed to repel the B&S attack, they dropped the ball and allowed B&S to score. Some good support play from N Collette then saw him get on the score sheet. Thinking they had got the match in the bag Burton relaxed, and allowed B&S to run in 2 more tries.