Burton v Old Saltleians on January 27th 2008

Burton Eagles 65 v Old Saltleians 0

The fact that this match was being played at all was somewhat unbelievable.  Swans were floating between the posts as late as Thursday and any thought of competitive rugby seemed highly unlikely.  However, the changing elements allowed a game and the Eagles were keen to show that they too could float majestically on sodden ground. 

The game started with a flourish of tries from the Eagles as they spurted into the lead.  Sam Willets took full advantage of a leaky salts offensive move when he ran home spilt ball resulting from a tackle from Alex Dutoy within the first minute.  Seconds later Joshua Hart was racing through the Salts line for the second.  Daniel Grimsdell scored the next two tries; his second was set up by a surging run by Tommy Collingwood and quick ball by Connor Wood.  The fifth try once more the result of hard tackles and great defensive work from the Eagles, as Joel Dolman and Joshua Hart broke up salts possession.  Salts were finding it hard work to break through the Eagles defensive line and improved rooking turned ball over time and time again.  Sam Willets and William Hulbert were impressive in the centre as they worked hard to deny the Salts any forward momentum.  Daniel Grimsdell completed his first half hat trick when Calum Launchbury and Jonathon Kingston drove the ball forward and set good quick ball for the score.  The Eagles were 30 points up at the interval.

The second half was more of the same as Eagles were keen to turn possession into points.  Jonathon Kingston received a good pass from Nadan Cox and it was going to take a coach load of Salts to stop him driving the ball over.  Charlie Quarterman scored the next following a hard tackle by William Hulbert and support from Joel Dolman.  Again the Salts were driven backwards by the efforts of Joshua Hart and Charlie Quarterman and William Hulbert scored a well deserved try.  There was no stopping the Eagles as Joshua Hart and Jonathon Kingston added their second tries in quick succession.  Calum Launchbury was rewarded for his persistence after driving the ball forward supported by Jonathon Kingston for the twelfth.  Daniel Grimsdell scored the last try after breaking through the Salts line in the final seconds.  Once more the try scorer was supported by Sam Willets and William Hulbert. 

This was a good performance by the Eagles against spirited opposition.  Despite the score the Salts kept trying and never dropped their heads.  The Eagles tackled hard and denied the Salts any quality ball and forward momentum.  The rooking was better and the coaches will be hoping for a repeat performance against stronger opposition (Stoke) next week.

Eagles Man of the Match: William Hulbert (all round defensive performance and support play).      

Try Scorers: Daniel Grimsdell 4, Sam Willets 2, Jonathon Kingston 2, Joshua Hart 2, Charlie Quarterman, William Hulbert, Calum Launchbury.

Burton Falcons 50 v Old Saltleians 0

Mud glorious mud! The lads seemed to revel in the stuff. Another excellent display of teamwork against slightly weaker than expected opposition allowed the lads to showboat a little and show off their try scoring abilities.

30 points to nil by half-time tells the tale. First half try scorers were James North (1) Josh Wright (3) Oliver Corbett (1) and Jacob Abraham (1)

The try scorers take the glory but some excellent ball handling by Charlie Newcombe and superb support play by Luke Greenhill deserve particular mention.

Abraham’s try was the pick of the bunch, first half. Some excellent inter-play from Cameron Scobie and Oliver Corbett resulted in the ball finding it’s way out to Jacob Abraham who found Dominic Phillips with a fine pass. Phillips ran half the length of the field only to be caught 5 metres out. Abraham had shown great awareness to follow the runner and was on hand to provide the support needed as Phillips was tackled. Excellent teamwork which resulted in Abraham going over for his try!

Second half and Salts seemed to find more determination and in so doing provided stronger opposition. The Falcons stayed very much together, working hard for each other, even when it was obvious victory would be theirs.

John Robson was outstanding in the tackle, as was Jacob Abraham and Dominic Phillips. Josh Suddaby and Craig Plummer showed strength by continuing to drive forward. Oliver Corbett went on a long, breakaway run for his second try as did James North, completing his hat-trick and Josh Wright who bagged a total of four!

An excellent display again from the Falcons in difficult handling and running conditions – well done lads!

Falcons Man of the match: Jacob Abraham (excellent attitude, never stopped working even when victory was in the bag!)