Colts XV Staffs
Matches
Sun 03 Feb 2013
Burton Rugby Football Club
Colts XV Staffs
27
19
Ashby
Burton come out on top in tough cup final preparation.

Burton come out on top in tough cup final preparation.

Doug Hodder8 Feb 2013 - 15:53
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Burton chose to play a very strong Ashby side as preparation for the coming Staffordshire Cup Final. This match report from Buck reporter Rob Nesbitt

Burton Bucks played the first half with a strong wind at their backs, looking to build a healthy lead to take into the second period. Their intent was announced in great fashion by Charles Budd who from the kick-off carried the ball excellently to take play well into the Ashby half. Following this there was several phases of good positive play involving both forwards and backs and the majority of the opening exchanges took place in Ashby’s half. The first score came after 7 minutes when Isa Cashmore fielded a kick through from Ashby fly-half and set up a ruck just outside the Ashby 22 metre line. The ball was well secured by the forwards and recycled along the backs to Cameron Gaunt to score in the left-hand corner. A difficult conversion was missed. (Bucks 5-0 Ashby).
The Bucks then began to meet more resistance from the Ashby forwards who in the next 10 minutes showed that the game would be keenly contested particularly in the rucks and mauls. Unfortunately for the Bucks captain Christian Todaro, he had to leave the field after just 13 minutes, due swelling around the left eye and a little re-shuffling had to take place earlier than originally planned. The next score came after around 18 minutes when Tom Hamlet joined the backs line from full-back and ran a great line to score on the left. Again the conversion was unsuccessful (Bucks 10-0 Ashby).
Once again Ashby proved that a victory for the Bucks would have to be hard-earned and would certainly not be handed on-a-plate to them as their strong forwards competed for everything with some gusto and evidenced that they are top of their respective league! As a result of this it was late in the first-half when Bucks pressure finally resulted in a further score. Excellent work by Isa Cashmore, clearing out the opposition at a ruck, secured good early ball for the Bucks backs and it reached Matt Robinson short of the 22 metre line with a great deal to do – he beat several covering tackles and went over for a very well taken try. Unfortunately the conversion was again unsuccessful and the lead remained 15 points (Bucks 15-0 Ashby).
In the second half there was no let up in the wind and it was always going to be a more difficult period for the Bucks. So it proved with Ashby finding themselves in the Bucks “22” for the first time in the game. After 4 minutes Ashby were awarded a penalty just 5 metres out and they took full advantage to score near to the post. A successful conversion closed the score line further (Bucks 15-7 Ashby). The Ashby fly-half showed his ability to kick out of hand and constantly pushed the Bucks back deep into their own territory undoing a lot of good work done by the Bucks in gaining ground through a combination of strong forward and nice handling by the backs.
The next score proved to be crucial as it was the Bucks who hit back after 10 minutes. Having been awarded a penalty deep in the Ashby “22” the ball found its way to Frank Simpson who scored near to the posts. The same player slotted the simple conversion and the Bucks extended their lead (Bucks 22-7 Ashby).
Just two minutes later and Ashby were back in the game as a result of a strange penalty decision deep in the Bucks “22” from which Bucks had no chance to re-organise and a converted try ensued (Bucks 22-14 Ashby).
The next score was even more controversial when a line out was awarded on the Bucks 5 metre line after a penalty kick for touch appeared to have gone dead! Ashby took full advantage of this good fortune and score a further try, this time the conversion was unsuccessful (Bucks 22-19 Ashby).
Once again the Bucks handled the pressure very well making steady progress against the strong wind. The next try was again deemed to be crucial and this time Alex Nesbitt duly obliged with a fine individual effort on his return from injury. He took the ball just inside the opposition 10 metre line, showed great strength in breaking the first tackle and then used his pace to beat the covering defence and score over on the left. Again the wind got the better of a great effort for the conversion and the lead was stretched to greater than one score (Bucks 27-19 Ashby).
This proved to be the final score of the game and the Bucks had come through successfully against strong opposition. There were a number of positives which the team can take into next week’s Staffordshire County Cup Final – the combination play linking between forwards and backs; several players playing out-of-position performed very well; the forwards work rate in rucks and mauls; some ferocious tackling, in particular by Tom Hughes; some good handling and running play by the backs. One thing that will have to improve is discipline – there was too much talking back to the referee, which cost valuable ground. That is likely to be crucial next week! Man-of-the-match was given to Matt Robinson for a fine display at centre in the first-half and on the wing in the second.

Match details

Match date

Sun 03 Feb 2013

Kickoff

11:00
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

1st XV Women and Colts XV Match Shirt Sponsorship & Player sponsor to Alfie Grant - Particle Technology
Player Sponsorship - Fredrick Henshaw - All Counties Scaffolding (Midlands) Ltd
Player Sponsor - Conor Bradley - AnS Scaffolding Ltd
Player Sponsor - Dougie Simpson - Biomedical Data Solutions
Player Sponsorship - Alfie Wheeler - Broadway Garage
Player Sponsorship - Conor Bassett - Uttoxeter Tile & Bathroom