Children in Need 2010

Burton 40-30 Barton

The game started with both defences looking solid and not giving anything away, with some good attacking play and good ball handling off both sides it was only a matter of time before someone scored, D Sturman made the break and a good passing move saw C Callow open the scoring. With the defence staying strong turnover was secured and a good run from B Blackham, who then limped off with a hamstring pull, satrted a good attack which saw Mumford score. With their opponents proving worthy of their place on the Croft the game was fast and frantic, but further trys for C Spendlove and D Sturman meant at halftime they just had their noses in front. The second half was as good as the first and, with Burtons ball handling looking good, it wasn't long before Spendlove zoomed past the defence to score, further scores by J Richards and Callow before Callow scored his hat-trick try by dancing around the defence to score, and Burton just edged their opponents out.

Burton 40-45 Barton

The second game saw Barton open the scoring after a couple of lapses in defence allowed them in for a soft first try. Burton did bounce straight back after E Brown latched on to a good pass off Fitzsimmons to score. With the Burton defence looking better but still showing a few weaknesses it wasn't long before their opponents were allowed to open up a lead. A good run off H Abel, who is still showing how good he is when he runs directly at the defence, saw him score a superb solo try. One of Burtons new comers this season, C Maughan, then showed how quickley he is learning and how well he is fitting in with his new team mates by not only starting a move but also being in the right place to receive the telling pass to score. J Summers, still with a big smile on his face, then went on one of his elusive runs to score. despite a much improved Burton defence Barton seemed to be able to pull away, particulary through their much bigger centre. For all his work and ever improving form T Fitzsimmons grabbed himself a try and Burton finished on a high when B Blackham, who had shaken off his groin strain completed the match with a well deserved hat-rick.

Burton 50-40 Barton

With Burton stilll feeling pumped from their dressing room team talk they came out all guns firing. Quick hands and good support play, backed up by an inspired defence saw a first half performance that left their opponents reeling. A first half hat-trick from Mumford and trys from M Tolley and J Richards gave Burton a 25-5 lead. Barton saw a player go off after his leg met with Mumfords head after an unfortunate clash. This seemed to slow Mumford down and the whole team suffered in tje second half when they surrendered a handsome lead to fall behind. With the squad looking for inspiration Fitzsimmons was introduced to the action and he soon linked with D Sturman who fed a rejuvinated Mumford who scored in the corner. This seemed to turn the tide and Burton took controll again, Mumford showing his good support play and running skills to run in another 3 trys and complete the Burton victory on a floodlit night
The only sour point was Mumford later being rushed to hospital suffering from concussion from his first half clash.

Burton 10-25 Barton

Hmmmmm. Probabally the best way to explain how Burton came out for the final match. Children In Need was the charity, in need of inspiration was more to the point.
Burton came out very slowly and everything they had been taught seemed to be forgotten, the skills they normally show in abundance nevr even threatened to show through, a lot of bickering before the match seeme to unsettle the boys and they struggled to recover. On the bright side an ever improving Fitzsimmons tried his hardest to inspire the team. Maughan showed glimpses of whats to come, Summers looked good, but all to no avail. At half time Blackham and Callow came on to try to ignite the the team, although Callow and Blackham did manage to grab a trys for Burton they never recovered from the dissapointing first half.

On the night a lot of hard work by team manager, D Bradley, saw over £1000 raised fro CIN, the first 3 games showed good rewards for his hard work. The last game is best erased from all memory.

Try scorers for Burton: C Callow(4), C Spendlove(2), D Sturman, B Mumford(7), J Richards(2), E Brown, H Abel, C Maughan, J Summers, T Fitzsimmons, B Blackham (5)