Burn, despite being the away side, started much the better and dominated the opening period, they took the lead and looked comfortable, however as the game went on Widnes came more into the game and made it a lot closer than Burn would have wanted.

Play in the early stages was all in the Widnes half and Burn had their first try on 14 minutes and it came from 2 line out steals, firstly Burn stole a line out on the half way line, from this Cameron Boulter launched a well judged kick that bounced into touch 5 metres from the Widnes line. Burn then again stole the line out through Liam Canning, Burn’s forwards gathered the ball rumbled towards their opponent’s line and as they fell over the line Nathan Sewell was at the bottom of the pile to score. Leon Fifield missed the conversion. Burn came close to scoring on 28 minutes after a good break by Liam Canning, but the final pass didn’t go to hand. However, Burn had a 5 metre scrum, from this they were awarded a penalty, they decided to take another scrum, Widnes were penalised again as Burn drove forward, this time the referee awarded a penalty try. Leon Fifield added the extra 2 points and Burn now led 12 nil. After this the game changed, Burn had been so dominate in the scrum, but now we switched to uncontested scrums due to another Widnes front rower going off. This favoured Widnes a lot more than Burn and they began to be able to retain more of the ball and before the half time whistle Widnes managed a try and conversion. This left the half time score 12-7 to Burn.

Widnes dominated the play at the start of the second half and they scored their second try after 62 minutes. As there were uncontested scrums, Widnes elected to take a scrum in the Burn 22 when awarded a penalty, from this base they spread the ball out wide to score, this tied the scores. However, this also seemed to wake Burn up and on 65 minutes they scored a try. The forwards had kept the ball and kept the momentum going forward, as they reached the 22 Josh Reilly made a darting break, he was hauled down just short of the line, however Alex Evans picked up and powered over the line. Leon Fifield superbly kicked the conversion from the touch line. Within just a couple of minutes Burn had their fourth try, Ben Renton had gathered the ball from the restart and made some useful yards, then another great run by Josh Reilly took play to within 10 metres of the Widnes line, the ball went loose, but it was gathered and off loaded to Nathan Sewell to go over for his second try of the game. Fifield was unable to add the conversion, but Burn now had a 24-12 lead. All Burn needed to do now was to hold out Widnes, however their cause was not helped when Jordan Pearson was sent to the bin, this put added pressure on Burn and with 4 minutes left a try and conversion for Widnes made it a tense finish to the game, however Burn held out to win 24-19.

The uncontested scrums completely changed the match and gave the home side a base to attack from, but in the end Burn managed to stay in the game and secure a much needed win and bonus point.

No game next week as it is Easter, however the week after is another crucial and probably season defining game as Carlisle come to Ramsgreave Drive, I am sure the players would really appreciate a big and positive crowd as they look to take a further step away from the relegation zone.