Champions!

Burn went into the game just needing 1 point to be confirmed as champions and they achieved this by half time as they notched up 4 tries. In the second half they ran riot as they scored 46 unanswered points.

Burns hopes suffered an early dent as Wigan charged down a clearance kick, the home side then managed to gather the ball and cross the try line to score. Burn hit back on 10 minutes, from a 5 metre scrum Craig Aikman took the ball and feed Rick Maudsley who managed to squeeze in the corner. Sam Morgan was unable to convert. After this Burn remained on top and were rewarded with their second try on 18 minutes, from a line out 5 metres from the Wigan try line Burn caught and drove on and over the line with Alex Evans being at the bottom of the pile. On 24 minutes a Marc Maher drop goal stretched Burn’s lead to 13-7. Not long after Burn thought they had scored again as Nathan Sewell made a break down the touch line, his pass put Luke Cunningham in the clear, but Sewell had just stepped into touch. However, Burn did have a try on 32 minutes, Luke Cunningham managed to turn over the ball on the Wigan 22, play went to the left and was then spread back to the right wing where Matt Hughes ran in to score. Wigan scored another converted try on 37 minutes, Burn had a scrum within their own 22, they won the scrum but lost control of the ball and Wigan swooped to score and drag Burn to within 4 points. However, Burn hit back again on the stroke of half time with their fourth try which secured the bonus point and league title. This time it was Wigan who had a scrum within their own 22, Burn drove on and were awarded the put in to a reset scrum, Jordan Pearson made a break from the back of the scrum, he was brought down, Nathan Sewell drove on again, he was stopped short, but the ball was recycled and feed to Sean Hall who went low to score. The conversion was missed again, but Burn had the vital bonus point and a 23-14 half time lead.

With the title question now answered Burn really started to play and throughout the second half they scored at regular intervals. The first of these came on 45 minutes, Marc Maher made a break into the Wigan 22, he made it to within 5 metres of the try line, he tried to off load, but the ball was knocked down, the ball was recycled and then Sam Morgan stayed low and scored in the corner. The conversion was missed. A further try came 9 minutes into the half, Rick Maudsley made a break just inside the Burn half, he then set out on to a typical weaving run as he reached the last defender he had Marc Maher in support, the defender went with Maher enabling Maudsley to cut inside and score under the posts. Sam Morgan converted. Four minutes later Burn scored again, from a scrum on the Wigan 22 the ball was passed along the backs, Leon Fifield took the ball with pace and went straight through a gap and he just had enough pace and power to score as he had two defenders hanging off him as he made it to the line. Sam Morgan converted to make the score 42-14. The 57th minute saw another Burn try, around the half way line there was a loose ball, Nick King gathered and popped it to Mark Briggs who turned back the years as he showed pace to go through a gap and he just kept on going and just managed to touch down before he could be tackled. Sam Morgan added the 2 extra points. Burn’s next try came on 64 minutes, Sam Morgan had made the initial break, he was caught, but the ball was recycled, Anton Garcia then barged his way through, he was stopped 5 metres from the try line, he tried to pop it up to Sam Morgan, but the ball went over his head, Sam Parkinson recovered the ball and passed it out to Rick Maudsley, he jinked his way close to the line, he was brought down but the ball was popped up to Anton Garcia who crashed over. The conversion was missed. Leon Fifield scored his second try on 69 minutes, again Leon Fifield found a gap and he went on to score unopposed. Sam Morgan was unable to convert. The 74th minutes saw Burn score their penultimate try, they had driven Wigan off their own scrum, this gave Burn a scrum 30 metres out, the ball was passed to Marc Maher he produced a diagonal grubber kick, Matt Hughes chased the ball and beat his opponent to it, it looked like he may score, but he was tackled short of the line, however Nathan Sewell was there in support and he picked up the ball and fell over the line to score. Burn’s final try came with the last play of the game, Sean Hall made an initial break, he passed to Rick Maudsley he cut right through the defence, he reached 30 metres out before passing to release Matt Hughes his arcing run took him away from the chasing defender, he outstripped them and then managed to run round to score under the post’s, impressively this was Hughes 36th try of the season, which is a club record. The honour of taking the last conversion of the season was given to captain, Luke Cunningham who made Sam Morgan look like Jonny Wilkinson, as his attempted barely got off the ground, however it had little relevance as the final score was 69-14 and Burn were league champions!

After Burn lost at home to Leigh in January they set themselves a target of winning all the remaining games with a bonus point, they managed to do this and ultimately over the season it was bonus points that made the difference, as Burn and Leigh had the same number of wins, but their superior haul of bonus points saw them end the year 5 points ahead of Leigh.

Head coach, Dino Radice was rightly pleased with his team, “We have been working towards this over the past couple of seasons, the players have worked hard and the title was well deserved, I would like to pass on my thanks to all involved.”

Winning a league title is a great achievement, however Burn will need to prepare well for next season, as there is no doubt next season will be tough, however first Burn face Bolton next week in the Lancs Trophy.