Burton Eagles narrowly missed out on the grand prize at the Rugby festival and had to settle for a courageous second place and lifted the runners up trophy.  A great start to the festival for the Eagles.      

League Match 1: Burton 30 (10) Old Northants 5 (0)

Building on the fantastic start to contact rugby against Derby last week the Eagles were full of confidence as they took on Old Northants in their 1st game of the five match series.  Man of the match Joshua Hart ran in 5 tries and Charlie Quarterman chipped in with a splendid effort to give the Eagles the ideal start.  The Eagles hard defensive work especially Sam Willets, Alex Dutoy (1st half), Joel Dolman and Connor Wood in the second caused the Northants offence to turn ball over time and time again. 

Try Scorers: Joshua Hart (5), Charlie Quarterman

Man of the Match: Joshua Hart

League Match 2: Burton 10 (10) Rugby 10 (5)

The second game gave the Rugby Lions an opportunity for revenge after their losing final against Burton at last years Litchfield festival.  However, the Eagles were having none of it.  The defence once more stood solid and tackles from Charlie Quarterman, Jonathon Kingston and Euan Johnson laid the foundation for another solid performance from Joshua Hart (2 tries) in the 1st half.  The 2nd half proved too big a massive test for the Eagles defence as Rugby ran hard and straight.  Big tackles by Joshua Balance and William Hulbert kept Rugby out. However, Rugby did equalise in the final minutes of the match and the points were shared.          

Try Scorers: Joshua Hart (2)

Man of the Match: Jonathon Kingston

League Match 3: Burton 10 (10) Wolverhampton 20 (10)

Maybe to confident after two very good performances caused the Eagles to be complacent in the 3rd match against Wolves.  The first half was a very equal contest and a further two more tries from Joshua Hart kept the scores level.  However, despite the efforts of Jonathon Kingston and Calum Launchbury Wolves scored two early second half tries.  The deficit would have increased had it not been for the last gasp tackle by man of the match Tommy Collingwood.  The Wolves forwards were strong and deservingly won this match.     

Try Scorers: Joshua Hart (2)

Man of the Match: Tommy Collingwood

League Match 4: Burton 15 Ampthill 0

Retribution time as Burton put the disappointment of their first defeat behind them.  Man of the Match William Hulbert finished two surges by the Eagles offensive pack.  The first a sweeping move after a stunning tackle by Connor Wood and a pick up and set up by Jonathon Kingston.  The Eagles played with great determination and tackled hard.  Alex Dutoy, Charlie Quarterman and Sam Willets were all involved in keeping Ampthill from scoring.  The game was finished as a contest after Tommy Collingwood ran in the third try midway through the second half.  The result kept the Eagles in with a chance of getting the runners up spot.

Try Scorers: William Hulbert (2), Tommy Collingwood.

Man of the Match: William Hulbert

League Match 5: Burton 20 Luton 15

Burton had to beat previously unbeaten Luton in the final match to clinch the second spot.  The Luton pack was strong and had swept all opposition aside during the festival.  However, the Eagles were in no mood to join those who had fallen before.  From the start Burton Eagles rose to the challenge.  Luton did not know what had hit them as massive tackles by Joshua Hart, Jonathon Kingston, and Jacob Buxton caused Luton to spill the ball.  Joshua Hart once more showed his heels to defenders and ran in three first half tries.  The second half saw Luton come back into the game.  The Eagles defence were tested time and time again.  Charlie Quarterman, Joel Dolman, William Hulbert and Connor Wood were all on hand to keep Luton out.  The tension grew as Luton scored to be just the one try behind.  Again Joshua Hart picked up loose ball after a Sam Willetts tackle and ran the whole length of the pitch to stretch Burtons lead.  Despite another Luton try Burton held on as Euan Johnson and Calum Launchbury ended Luton’s last move and the whistle blew.  The Eagles were festival runners up.    

Try Scorers: Joshua Hart (4)

Man of the Match: Joshua Hart

Burton became the overall festival runners up thanks to a great all round defensive / offensive display.  13 tries by leading festival try scorer Joshua Hart capitalised on the Falcons awesome defensive work. Hard tackling by man of the festival Connor Wood and the Burton pack turned the ball over time after time.  This was a great team performance by the Eagles and all squad members contributed to the overall success.  The Wolverhampton game was the reminder Burton needed that all competitive games need a disciplined organised team effort.  Burton scored 17 tries and conceded 10 tries in the five match series.

Man of the Festival: Connor Wood