At one point it looked like Northwich might win by a cricket score, however a late rally from Burn saw them come back at their opponents and in the process securing a bonus point for 4 tries.

After 5 minutes Northwich were 5 nil up as they scored after they had kept the ball alive and moved Burn from side to side until holes opened in the defence and the winger managed to find his way through to touch down. The conversion was added. After the try Burn had a little more of the ball, but they were unable to get over the line and they were made to pay on 14 minutes as Northwich scored their second try. The impressive number 8 broke out from his own half and took play deep into the Burn half, at first it looked like Burn had turned the ball over, but the home side re-gathered possession again and as they spread the ball wide Burn’s defence was stretched and Northwich easily found a way through to extend their lead to 12 nil. When Burn had possession they gave this up too easily and this allowed Northwich to keep the pressure up and this lead to further points, this time Burn were turned over close to their own line and the home capitalised to score, the conversion was added. By 26 minutes Northwich had a bonus point as they scored their fourth try, the conversion was added and the home side now lead 26-0. It was looking very ominous for Burn, however the flow was stemmed slightly as Northwich failed to deal with the restart, Nathan Sewell gathered the ball and by the time it reached Jordan Annakie he had one man in front of him, he comfortably brushed him aside to score in the corner, Leon Fifield was unable to add the conversion. Before the half was finished Northwich had another try, again they kept recycling quick ball creating holes in the Burn defence, the number 8 looked like he might score, but instead passed to a centre who skipped past one defender to score, the extra points were added and Northwich had a commanding 33-5 half time lead.

Burn started much more encouragingly in the second half and were pressing the Northwich try line, but they just couldn’t get over the line as the home side defended well. Again Burn were made to pay as Northwich scored a try on 50 minutes, there was an element of good fortune with this one, they were attacking and it looked like the ball had been knocked on, but before the ball hit the ground the Northwich player managed to get his boot to the ball, his teammate then managed to gather the kick to go on to score. The conversion was missed, but Northwich now had a 38-5 lead. Burn weren’t for giving up and were rewarded with a try on 53 minutes, Phil Baines broke through, he passed to Anton Garcia, who returned it to Baines, he then passed it back outside to Chris Richardson-Dulling who in turn passed to Leon Fifield who had a stroll over the line to score a well worked try. Fifield added the extra points. The game was becoming a bit like ping pong as Northwich went up the other end to score on 57 minutes after the centre jinked past several defenders to score by the posts, the conversion made the score 45-12. The 65th minute saw yet another try and this time it was for Burn, Leon Fifield had broken through, Jordan Annakie made more yards, the ball was recycled, Rhys Morgan fed Nathan Sewell who then found Leon Fifield who scored in the corner. He then kicked the conversion from the corner. This made the score 45-19. Burn were now on top and they secured a bonus point on 75 minutes, again it was Fifield who touched down to score his hat-trick, but it was made by a good break from Lawrence Nelson. Fifield then kicked the conversion. The scoring wasn’t finished and neither was Leon Fifield as with the final play of the game he burst through the defence to score out wide which made the final score 45-31.

There may have been an element of Northwich easing off that allowed Burn’s late show, however Burn should be given credit as at 38-5 down they could have easily given up, but instead like last week this young team showed real character and came back to secure a bonus point. Next week Burn have their last home game of the season as St. Benedict’s come to Ramsgreave Drive.