Rolls Royce 29  Burton Vets 24 on 15th March 2008

Back on their travels again Burton Vets made the short journey down the A38 to play Rolls Royce and although narrowly losing certainly played the best rugby of this match. Burton monopolised both territory and possession throughout the game only to be denied the victory by Rolls scoring all their points from breakaway tries from deep inside their own half.

Burton soon showed that they were far superior to their hosts in all areas of the game as the forwards controlled possession and the Burton back line showed its silky skills in both attack and defence. A great break by Ian Weakford saw him completely outwit the Rolls defence as he went first one way and then the other before touching down under the posts for Huw Davies to convert. Then Colin Wood used his immense power and age to crash his way through four defenders to score the first of his brace. But just before the break Rolls hit back with two breakaway tries to go into the break 14-12 in front after Burton had played all the rugby.

The second half again saw Burton controlling the game and Colin Wood used yet more of his expertise to fool the defence as he added to his earlier try with another before Darren Golder sprinted fifty metres to score a fine individual try under the posts. Davies converted this to put his side comfortably 24-14 in the lead.

Burton continued to press and stayed camped in the Rolls 22, but all they had to show for their efforts was a missed opportunity as Chris Samways drop a certain scoring pass a metre from the line. Rolls took this missed opportunity and raced in for two more breakaway tries from inside their own 22 to level the scores at 24-24. But then tragedy happened as Burton again continued to dominate the game and play the rugby yet another dropped pass this time by Neil Gilbert saw the hosts race away to score the winning try.