Burn keep up the pressure

Burn started strongly and kept it up for most of the first half which saw them sitting comfortably at 32 nil at the end of the first period. In the second half the home side rallied and had much more of the ball, however Burn’s superior power and pace still saw them score 4 tries to 1 in the half.

Burn's power was evident at the start as they seemed able to break tackles at will with Jordan Pearson and Paul Gregson leading the way which took Burn close to the Furness line, Nick King drove on again, but the referee adjudged he had been held up. However, Burn didn't need to wait long for the first try as from the 5 metre scrum the ball was passed to the backs, Sam Morgan broke through a couple of tackles, the ball was kept alive and passed back to the right, Jordan Pearson took the ball dummied which opened up plenty of space for him to go on and score. Sam Morgan kicked the conversion, however this was the last kick him or Dom Hogan managed to get between them in the rest of the match, I am sure there are many reasons for this, the pitch was heavy and didn’t support the standing leg well, the wind, the pressure of the ball or maybe they were helping me as I have always been better at my 5 times table as opposed to my 7 times! Whatever the reason I am sure they will be practising more, as if there was another repeat performance the stick from the opponents and teammates would be unbearable! Thankfully Burn had more success with ball in hand and after 10 minutes they had a second try, from a 5 metre scrum Luke Cunningham fed Craig Aikman he in turn fed Matt Hughes who scored in the corner. Burn’s third try came 5 minutes later this time Jordan Pearson scored following a catch and drive from 5 metres out. The bonus point was secured after 19 minutes, from a scrum on the Burn 10 metre line Craig Aikman made a darting run, he threw a dummy that saw him cruise through the gap, he drew the finally man before passing to Matt Hughes who ran on to comfortable score. This made the score 22-0. Craig Aikman scored for himself on the half hour mark, after another sniping run from a 5 metre scrum saw him score in the corner. Aikman scored again on the stroke of half time to make the score 32 nil, this time from a line out within the Furness 22 Burn caught and drove on, the Burn forwards kept rumbling on, before Aikman snatched the ball and made a break to score. In the build up to the try there was a bit of a dust up, which saw Nick King and a Furness player being sent to the bin.

At half time Furness seemed to galvanism themselves and came out charging, almost all of the opening 10 minutes of the second period was spent in the Burn half and Furness were rewarded with a try as a Marc Maher’s clearance kick was charged down and a Furness player was able to gather and touchdown. However, it didn’t take Burn long to hit back as they scored 2 minutes later, from a scrum on half way the ball was passed out to the backs, Matt Hughes joined the line, he broke through numerous tackles to cross and score his hat-trick. Furness came back at Bun again, but this time Burn’s defence held up and kept any danger well at bay. Burn made the score 42-5 on 65 minutes, Burn caught and drove from a line out, a Jordan Pearson run put Furness on the back foot, the ball was then passed along the backs, Anton Garcia took a strong line, but he was stopped, however he popped the ball to Marc Maher who twisted and turned to crash over the line. A further try came on 73 minutes, Garcia was involved again, he had another strong run before stumbling, but he managed to offload to Rick Maudsley, he was only 5 metres out, but still had plenty to do, however he held off one man before twisting to score in the corner. On 36 minutes a Furness flanker was sent to the bin, this didn’t help his team, but it did help Burn as with the last play of the game Furness had the put in to a scrum 5 metres from their own line, the Burn pack put in one last big shove and totally annihilated their opponents, this enabled Jordan Pearson to gather the ball and crash over for his hat-trick, this made the final score 52-5.

Furness showed good spirit in the second half and we wish them the best for the rest of the season at these trying times. For Burn these bonus point wins are crucial as if they have any chance of being champions this year they need to do all they can, Leigh are not going to give anything up easily. Next week Burn welcome Hawcoat Park to Ramsgreave Drive.