A Win for Burton!

They made a good start and were able to exert some early pressure on the home team but were unable to penetrate. The first time that Kettering got into the Burton 22 they scored. Although centre Josh Kent made a crunching tackle on his opposite number, Kettering managed to keep the ball and the other centre crashed through to score under the posts. The try was converted.

Burton soon got back into the game and after some good interplay between the backs and forwards winger Alex Nesbitt made a strong run and found scrum half Chaz Bunting in support to score close to the posts. Will Simpson added the extra points to draw level

There followed a period of play when both sides enjoyed possession but were unable to use it effectively. Eventually Burton were awarded a penalty in the Kettering 22. Although the penalty was in an eminently kickable position, they chose a scrum. They won the ball from the scrum and Bunting threw a long pass to Nesbitt who ran in to score. Simpson again converted. There was no further significant action in the half, so the half time score was 7-14.

After the restart Burton went on the attack again but still found it difficult to break down the Kettering defence. However, the home team were penalised for being offside and again instead of going for goal the visitors chose a scrum. The referee penalised the Kettering front row for collapsing the scrum three times and each time Burton chose the scrum again. When the scrum collapsed for the fourth time his patience ran out and he awarded a penalty try.

The rest of the second half was a fairly scrappy affair with both sides making mistakes. In a moment of lapsed concentration when attempting to run the ball from their own half they lost it and the Kettering centre gathered it and ran into score. The try was again converted.

They were able to hang onto the end of the match without conceding again so the final score was Kettering 14 Burton 21. This was a much needed win for Burton but they stay in twelfth position a point behind Kettering who got a losing bonus point.