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Staffordshire rivals Stoke next up for Burton

Staffordshire rivals Stoke next up for Burton

Jono Edwards23 Mar 2018 - 18:58
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Five wins from the last six games will see Burton claim the League Title & Promotion

For the fifth Saturday this season and for the second time in three weeks the Burton 1st XV league fixture was again a casualty to the harsh winter we are experiencing. The latest postponement means the away trip to Moseley Oak will be played on Saturday 5th May which is two weeks after the regular league season was scheduled to finish. The league cannot afford to have any more cancellations and it remains to be seen as to what impact this will have on the teams effective with some players will almost certainly will be unavailable as it had been anticipated that the season would be well and truly completed.

Although Burton would have ideally avoided the postponement it may actually act in their favour as what looks a tricky away trip against Moseley Oak could be a dead rubber at the end of the season if Burton can secure the five victories they need to secure the league title and promotion. It also means 3 of the 5 games are at home with the next two games at home to Stoke on Saturday and Lutterworth on Easter Saturday.

Saturday on paper is a top of the table clash with first against fourth. However there are some 6 wins difference between the sides, a points difference of 537, 10 bonus points and 30 league points. Back in November Burton came away from Stoke with a well-earned and deserved victory, 18 points to nil, in difficult conditions. That day the Burton side mentally prepared themselves for a difficult and testing afternoon as that is what you always get from Staffordshire rivals, Stoke, and that is exactly the same attitude that needs to be adopted this time around. Stoke also did not play last week but two weeks ago pushed third played Bromsgrove very close losing at home 8-14. Burton will know what to expect from Stoke. You never expect an easy game and they will be sure to try and derail Burton’s promotion push. Last season Burton were comfortable winners at Peel Croft, 43-5 but we only have to look back to two season ago when Stoke triumphed 8-7.

In a quest to freshen things up and keep players on their toes the coaching team of Ricky Whitehall and Tom Barlow have decided not announce selection until after Thursday night training so we can only speculate as to what the match day squad will look like. What is known is that winger Dewi Williams is not available so this should provide the opportunity for Nick Oxley to be involved. Elsewhere the names on the team sheet should be pretty consistent to previous weeks, although places are up for grabs on the bench.

Team Manager, Jono Edwards, explains the thinking about delaying selection:

“It’s just a new twist to freshen things up. Usually we would announce the side at the start of training on a Thursday evening and you can see that some of the players who will not be involved start to look deflated and soon lose interest in training with some drifting away before the session has completed. This way, with nothing fully decided, players have the opportunity to train hard and have two opportunities in the week to impress the coaches. If there are some tight calls, which there has been all season and a player is present on a Thursday and they show the right application then this will definitely mean they get the nod in a 50/50 call”.

The A XV did the business last week beating Newbold 34 points to 5. The victory moves Burton to 2nd position in Midlands Reserve League Division 1. With all teams in contention at the top having games in hand over Burton it will need Burton to record victories in their three remaining fixtures away at Luctonians, home to Nuneaton and starting this week away at Syston to stand any chance of retaining 2nd spot. The squad was stretched last week as the under 19’s played in the Colts Staffordshire Cup semi-final at Leek which they won (34-5). The youngsters return to A XV action this week and also now have a County Cup final to look forward to at the end of the season against Stafford. What are the chances that Burton can again claim both the Senior and Colts County Cup competitions for the second successive season?

Burton 1st XV Team Selection https://vimeo.com/261537493

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