Bonus point win for Burn

Burn travelled to Warrington and came away with a 22-36 victory.

For much of the first half this was a tight affair, where each team on the whole matched the others scores, however it was Burn who stole the initiative at the end of the half and the start of the second which saw them home with a bonus point win, as they outscored their opponents 6 tries to 3.

On 11 minutes Burn were first to score, the Burn forwards had been pounding the Warrington line, but the home defence held up well, then the ball was spread wide and as it reached Frank Nickson he still had plenty to do, but he showed great strength to drive to the line with defenders hanging off him as he scored. Leon Fifield kicked the conversion. Warrington struck straight back, they managed to gather the ball from the restart and kept the ball alive as they spread the ball around, eventually this created space out wide to enable them to score. The conversion was successful. Burn went back into the lead on 20 minutes as Frank Nickson scored his second try, from a 5 metre try Burn got a bit of a push on, but the ball was then passed to the backs, a long pass found Nickson and he easily shrugged off his opposing man allowing him to go on and score. Fifield was unable to add the conversion. 6 minutes later Warrington were ahead with a try and conversion, again they had kept the ball alive, this led to a mismatch allowing the fly half to dummy and score. The home side soon extended their lead with a penalty from 30 metres out. From the restart a Warrington man was sent to the sin bin following a trip and Burn took immediate advantage as they kicked to the corner, they then caught and drove with Tom Burtonwood in control of the ball as Burn crashed over the line. The conversion was missed, but the scores were now all even, 17-17. On 38 minutes Warrington tried a long distance penalty, however the attempt just drifted wide. From the 22 drop out the ball bounced and Leon Fifield managed to gather the ball and make some yardage, a high tackle put an end to his progress, but Burn had advantage and managed to recycle the ball, it found Fifield again and he made more progress down the right wing, he then passed inside to Tom Burtonwood who in turn drew the last man and passed to Scott Richardson who went on to score. The conversion was missed, but Burn had a bonus point and a 17-22 half time lead.

Burn struck again just 3 minutes into the second half as Phil Baines intercepted 25 metres out and he just had enough to evade the retreating defender to score under the posts. Leon Fifield added the extra points. 5 minutes later Burn had their sixth try, Burn had kicked to the corner, they caught and drove, they were stopped just short, but Alex Evans went low and drove again, he appeared to be stopped, but he stayed low and managed to drive yet again and it was enough to get him over the line. Leon Fifield again added the conversion to take the score to 17-36. Warrington tried to come back at Burn, but despite all the home sides efforts Burn kept them out and pushed them back and nearly went down the other end to score, but came up just short. They kept the pressure on, but were unable to score any more points. Instead it was Warrington who scored a consolation try on 75 minutes as their winger skipped in to touch down. The conversion was missed and the game ended 22-36.

This was a good performance from Burn, to score 6 tries away from home is a great achievement. Warrington are dangerous when they spread the ball around and had they managed to continue as they had in the first half, then the outcome may have been different, however as the game went on Burn’s defence was able to blunt their attacks, while Burn’s superior power troubled the home side all day and Burn’s 3 tries in quick succession took the wind out of Warrington and ultimately helped Burn to a relatively comfortable win. Next week Burn welcome Northwich to Ramsgreave Drive.