Burntwood 42 Bishop’s Castle 3
Midlands 3 West North
Burntwood bounced back from their disappointment at Veseyans a week
earlier with their best rugby of the season so far. In the opening hour
they ran and supported each other superbly to score 6 tries, 4 of them
in the first half when they played into the teeth of a strong wind.
The
Shropshire side had actually taken the lead with a 9th minute penalty
but just a minute later full back Ben Holt gave the spectators a taste
of what was to come with a thrilling counter attack, taking play from
one 22 to the other.
That move ended with an infringement by Burntwood but 3 minutes later
they put a good backs move together which ended with Holt putting James
Langford away for a try in the right corner.
Langford was in again just 5 minutes later following a superb handling
move featuring Josh Bayliss, Mark Partridge and finally Matt Bray who
provided the scoring pass.
The right winger almost completed a rapid hat trick of tries but when
Holt tried to find his man again the pass was batted away.
Even so it only proved a brief respite for the visitors. A sustained
attack from the ensuing scrum saw some fine ball retention, notably by
Mark Poole, Matt Wood and Bray before left winger Adam Smith crossed
near the flag.
Bishop’s Castle finally tested the home defence from the restart. They
ran 2 kickable penalties but were kept out. Then when it looked like
they had crossed in the left corner the score was ruled out for a foot
in touch.
The pressure was relieved in spectacular fashion when scrum half Ollie
Whitehouse broke down the blind side of a scrum in his own 22. He
reached halfway then fed flanker Bayliss who outstripped the cover
defence to run round to the posts. Wood made no mistake with the
conversion to give Burntwood a 22-3 half time lead.
Within 3 minutes of the second half kick off, Holt scored a
well-deserved try when he finished off a neat backs move from line out
possession on the other side of the field.
Kicks
at goal proved troublesome in the conditions but Wood landed an
excellent long range penalty after 50 minutes to take Burntwood up to 30
points.
Eight minutes later following a home kick out of defence, Whitehouse was
up quickly to seize possession and sprint away to the posts for a try
converted by Wood.
With 20 minutes left and Burntwood frequently taking Bishop’s Castle’s
set piece ball an even bigger win seemed likely. However, a rain squall
which had spectators scurrying for the clubhouse and a succession of
injuries, notably to Graham Shelley and Holt, led to a disjointed final
quarter.
However, a final fling by Burntwood brought them a try in the last
minute. Winger Smith had taken play into the visitors’ 22 which
eventually led to a scrum 5. The drive was well-controlled for scrum
half Whitehouse to touch down for the final points of the afternoon.
Burntwood can reflect on a solid platform provided by the forwards in
which Dave Peplow enjoyed one of his best games at No. 8. Whitehouse
gave a livewire performance behind his dominant pack and Wood varied his
options well at outside half with most of what he attempted coming off.
The Development XV and the 3rds were without fixtures.
