Burley picked up their first win of 2023 after beating West Park Leeds in a bonus point victory in the cold at the Sycamores. The First XV put in a gritty showing to complete the double over their local rivals in Yorkshire 3, despite the difficult conditions.

Freezing overnight temperatures led to most of the division’s fixtures being postponed but, thanks to what captain Will Graveling described as West Park’s ‘great facilities’, the game was able to go ahead on an artificial surface.

After somehow emerging injury-free from coach Tom Barnes’ decision to warm up on a frozen grass pitch, the team prepared for kickoff by lathering themselves in several layers of vaseline to avoid friction burns.

The extortionate amounts of lubricant had an instant effect as a scrum penalty allowed the Burley backs to slide through a gap in the home side’s defensive line for Ali Trace to score in the corner. The impressive finish made Trace appear like a seasoned winger, perhaps breathing life into his claim that he would outrun Sam Hume over 100 metres.

However, the vaseline seemed to hinder the visitors’ defence as some lacklustre tackling allowed West Park to advance upfield, before flanker Mark Docherty mistook the call of ‘ice’ as a comment on the weather, allowing West Park to drive a maul over the try line.

The experienced heads of Lloyd Roberts and Harry Francis at prop enabled Burley to reassert their control at scrum time, while Arthur Death’s pinpoint lineout throwing cemented their success at the set-piece.

The forwards’ industry continued to create opportunities for the backs to show their flair, with delicate work from Harry Hosier giving eternal player of the match Sam Hume the space to weave his way over the line.

The home side once again pegged Burley back by exploiting an overlap to score in the corner, but another missed conversion ensured that the visitors maintained a slender lead.

A succession of penalties allowed West Park to build pressure on the Burley defence, but outstanding tackling by Matt Currie, Will Graveling and George Anderson, as well as impressive kick chases by Josh Anderson, helped them to repel the onslaught, only conceding three points from the passage.

After coming through the difficult period, Burley extended their lead as Sam Peel scored off Ali Trace’s inside ball, dotting down under the posts due to having lost interest in touchline conversions.

Sam Hume almost scored another try on the stroke of half-time but could not catch up with his kick ahead; a feat that Trace would surely have achieved at a leisurely jog.

The Maroons continued to impress in the second half, motivated by a mixture of Tom Barnes’ team talk and the constant barrage of support from the Burley choir, led by Harry Bullock (proud member of the brotherhood of ‘housery).

Sam Peel took inspiration from Bullock and Pete Leeman on the sideline in order to take up a rent-free residence in the heads of his opponents, while Jack Frazer and Mark Docherty’s hard work in defence made life difficult for the hosts.

As the match’s physicality began to take its toll on the starting lineup, the ‘Burley bomb squad’ entered the fray, with Sam Parry, James Everitt, Damien Thomson and Mike Darby all making valuable contributions in both defence and attack.

Despite Burley trying their best to kick away possession at every opportunity, Everitt’s tough tackling, as well as Arthur Death and Matt Currie’s inevitable presence, laid the groundwork for them to secure the bonus point as Sam Hume broke through to score his second try.

The floodlights could hardly pierce the fog which had descended in the second half, meaning that Sam Peel aimed for West Park’s openside flanker rather than the posts when attempting to kick a long-range penalty.

However, despite the referee’s watch falling victim to the cold and causing the final six minutes to take place approximately twice over, Peel was eventually handed the opportunity to end his magnificent kicking display by scoring a penalty from halfway with the final act of the match.

The bonus point victory represented the completion of a 100% win record against Yorkshire 3’s fellow Leeds-based teams, causing such jubilant celebrations that Bomber agreed to put the heating on when the team returned to the clubhouse.

Although the score-line perhaps did not reflect the excellent competitive spirit in which the game was played, Burley will hope to use the hard-fought victory as a launchpad to push on for the remainder of their Yorkshire 3 campaign.

MATCH REPORT BY MARK DOCHERTY