Great Win on the Road

Burton travelled to Nuneaton on Saturday to play a fixture that was, before the advent of league rugby, one of the oldest in the Midlands. The fixture was resumed last season with the rise of Burton to the Midlands Premier league. Burton won both home and away and the visitors needed a win this time to move away from relegation danger.

Burton made the better start and were soon attacking the Nuneaton line but they made handling errors which let them down. As usual they found it difficult to penetrate the Nuneaton defence. Defences are very good in this league. To be fair the visitors’ defence was also well organised. The work they have been doing in training seems to have paid off and Nuneaton were unable to breach the Burton defence.
Towards the end of the first quarter Burton were attacking in the Nuneaton half and were awarded a penalty. The home team argued with the referee and were marched back ten metres. From the 22 metre line full back Will Simpson kicked the goal to open the scoring for Burton.
The game then swung to and fro with both sides sharing possession but neither able to make any headway. Eventually Burton were awarded another penalty and Simpson again kicked the goal. At the end of the half Burton were penalised for an offence at the breakdown but a Nuneaton player elbowed a Burton player, so he was sent to the sin bin for ten minutes and the penalty was reversed. Burton were able to clear the ball to touch end the half in the lead at 0-6.

Despite having an extra man for the first ten minutes of the second half the visitors were unable to gain any advantage. By now the wind had increased, making it difficult for both teams to handle well. The home team attacked and although the Burton defence was good, they conceded a penalty which the Nuneaton kicker put over the bar to get them within three points.

A short time later the referee missed what appeared to be a knock on by the Nuneaton centre, enabling them to get deep into the Burton 22. The Burton defence scrambled well but they again conceded a penalty for an offence at the breakdown. The Nuneaton kicker again took the three points to bring the scores level.

By this time though, the Burton pack were well on top especially in the set scrums. Some of the traveling Burton supporters felt they should have been awarded a penalty try when twice the referee stopped play while the scrum was still rolling forwards. However, they eventually carried the ball well into the Nuneaton 22 where they set up a driving maul to push their way over the line. Flanker Jack Neal got the touch down.

Although the visitors were unable to score again, the home team were unable to do anything with the ball either. There was a slight scare for Burton right at the end of the game when they were penalised and the ball was kicked well into the Burton half. Burton stole the lineout ball, however, and were able to kick it to touch to end the match. This was a much needed win for Burton which increases their league position to 9th The final score was Nuneaton 6 Burton 13.