Burn let it slip

After a terrible start Burn managed to claw themselves back into this game and led with 10 minutes to go, however two further tries from Vale secured victory for them and denied Burn a losing bonus point.

Vale shot to an early 10 nil lead, their first try came after just a minute as they found their way through the Burn defence too easily and the next was on 7 minutes as they dominated play. Despite the early barrage Burn managed to gather themselves and hit back with a try of their own on 13 minutes and it was a great try the Fijians would have been proud of. They managed to keep the ball moving through countless number of hands, including an over head pass and finally broke through to score following a good offload from Dan Birkett to keep the ball alive and play was then spread out to the left wing where hooker, Danny Whitehead, found space out wide to score. Leon Fifield converted well. A couple of minutes later Leon Fifield added a penalty kick to level up the scores. After this Vale came back at Burn and were on top for the next 10 minutes as they pressed Burn’s line, but Burn’s defence held strong and managed to clear their lines. However, Vale came back again and breached Burn’s line on 31 minutes, the visitors had turned over the ball in their own half and managed to break out taking play deep into the Burn 22, at first Burn did well to prevent a score, but as Vale retain possession they stretched Burn’s defence to score out wide. The scoring wasn’t done for the half, as 2 further penalty kicks from Leon Fifield, the second one being a monster one from just inside half way, gave Burn a 16 -15 half time lead.

Burn were the team out the blocks quicker in the second half and on 45 minutes Dan Birkett scored a try on his debut. From a line out on the Vale 22 play was spread into midfield, the ball went to ground, however Cameron Boulter managed to flick the ball up to Birkett who took the ball at pace and his line cut through the defence to score. Fifield was unable to add the conversion. This took Burn’s lead to 21-15. Vale struck back at Burn and a push over try from a 5 metre scrum secured the visitors a bonus point. As the game entered the last 10 minutes Vale kept the pressure on Burn and another try took them into the lead. As the minutes ticked away Burn were pinned in their own half, they tried hard, but were unable to make any inroads and unfortunately in their efforts to win the game they lost control of the ball and Vale gathered to score their sixth try and deny Burn a losing bonus point. This was the last play of the game and made the score 30-21 to Vale.

Vale ultimately deserved to win the game as any team who outscore their opponents by that number of tries should win the game, but Burn can take some credit for how they didn’t completely cave in after a disastrous start and there were again signs of improvement. However, they will be disappointed that in their desire to win the game, they lost sight of the bonus point and their loose play ended up costing them.

There is no game next week due to the World Cup final which will be shown at the club and lunch is available, please call the club if you wish to book.