Burntwood 6 Old Yardleians 5
Midlands 4 West North

Burntwood moved into 2nd place in the league table after they edged home against Yardleians. Had the visitors showed better discipline they would probably have clinched the win but they let themselves down badly in the final quarter.
The hosts had first use of the strong wind blowing in off Chasewater. The points scoring, such as it was, was all completed by the break and a one point lead didn’t seem enough for Graham Shelley’s men to clinch the win.
However, such was their grit and determination that they played much of the second period in their opponents’ half. They survived a late scare to make it 3 wins from their opening 4 games.
Burntwood had 4 clear cut chances to score tries in the opening half, the first of them coming as early as the 1st minute. Thrusting runs by Craig Goodall and Matt Bray took play deep into the Old Yards 22 but winger James Langford was finally bundled into touch near the right corner flag.
The visitors missed a penalty 2 minutes later but a good break by Lloyd Shelley had Burntwood close again but the flanker was scragged just short of the line.
This looked a costly miss when his side conceded their first try in 3 games after 16 minutes. Old Yards almost drove over from a 5 metre scrum. When it was halted, two forwards charged for the line and tight head prop Peter Butler, forced his way over.
A fine break by Matt Sishton on 22 minutes should have resulted in a try but with the line begging, the final pass drifted forward in the wind. Just a minute later, Bray made a great run to the line but was denied by last ditch defence.
However, this attack did produce points when the visitors were penalised in front of their posts and Craig Seedhouse split the uprights.
Right on half time, Burntwood were pressing again. Martyn Smith almost sniped his way over prior to the ball being set back for Seedhouse to drop a goal to put his side ahead.
Old Yards had the chance to regain the lead 3 minutes into the second period but a penalty attempt went wide. Thereafter Burntwood did well to keep play on halfway or in their opponents’ territory.
A late hit on Seedhouse gave the outside half a penalty opportunity but he skimmed the wrong side of the post kicking directly into the wind.
With 15 minutes left and the penalty count mounting against them, Old Yards’ frustrations spilled over and they lost numbers 10 and 12 to the sin bin. Burntwood immediately went on the attack but a promising move was ended by a hack downfield.

In their attempts to scramble back in defence, Lloyd Shelley saw yellow but fortunately the subsequent penalty kick was off target.
With everyone back on the field for the last 5 minutes, the home side had to withstand intense forward pressure to preserve their slender lead. A thumping tackle by Goodall finally turned the ball over and it was cleared to touch.
At this point the visitors’ number 10 was red carded and the number 8 was yellow carded, both for dissent. Old Yards had one last chance to win the game with a penalty kick deep into injury time but with both kickers off the pitch, the 3rd choice hit his attempt left of the posts.

More 1st XV Photo's Here

Burntwood’s development side maintained their winning start to the season with their 4th win in 4 games despite being a man down away to St. Leonards. They scored 3 tries in a 22-0 victory.
An early try by Chris Preston set his side on the way, the flanker breaking off the side of a ruck to cross the line. A break from long range by scrum half Antony Cadman was the prelude to a fine try by Dave Humphries for the second.
Skipper Simon Edwards scored the 3rd with a pick up and drive over. Two conversions and a penalty by Antony Morgan completed the tally.
Beau Hildick and Cadman were the stand out performers although Jon Pucci also impressed in his first start for the team.

Burntwood 3rds found the pace and fitness of the inmates at HMP Featherstone too hot to handle in their Merit Table game. They shipped a lot of tries in the first half and then stemmed the tide a little after the break to eventually go down 42-7.
Ade Williams’ men borrowed 3 players from the opposition to make up their numbers after injuries to Ade Davison and Tim Anslow and it was one of the loanees who crossed for Burntwood’s try in the second half, converted by Adam Ansell.
Chris Black and Colin Phipps put in sterling work in defence and the whole side grafted well in a losing cause.

Burntwood Colts beat Walsall Colts 14-10 for their first league win of the season. They had to come from behind to do it having conceded 2 unconverted tries in the first half.
With several regulars unavailable it took a while for their line-up to click but 2 tries by Josh Bayliss, both converted by Alex Roberts, earned the win, helped to some extent by a lack of discipline by the visitors who lost 2 players to red and yellow cards respectively by the end.

Burntwood U16s faced unknown opposition in the shape of Coalville at The Sportsway in dreadful conditions on Sunday morning. They rose to the challenge well but the visitors took their chances to finish 17-0 winners.
The first half finished scoreless, the hosts being unable to convert their few scoring opportunities into points. Early in the second period, Coalville collected line out possession to maul their way over and then intercepted a pass for their second.
A late pushover try sealed the win for the Leicestershire side.
Jack Johnson was the pick of the Burntwood side, closely followed by Liam Wallace.

Burntwood U15s enjoyed success in their first league outing of the season, overcoming Leek at home 24-0.
In poor playing conditions, it was a game for the forwards and all 3 tries came from driving mauls - Tom Hall and Ashley Cockrill gaining the touchdowns before the break and Jordan Wood afterwards. Luke Rookyard provided the first 2 conversions, Hayden Hastie the 3rd and sandwiched in between was a 30 metre penalty by Sam Power. Man of the match was Andy Witts.

This Saturday, Burntwood make the short trip to Tamworth for their 5th league game of the season. The Dev. Side are TBA and the 3rds host Rugeley 2nds.
On Sunday morning the U17s are at Lichfield, the U16s travel to Willenhall, the U15s and U14s welcome Burton and the U13s host Walsall - all fixtures are league games.

U13's V Stafford - League match
Not the ideal match to start your season this one.
With no warm up matches the U13's ventured onto a full pitch for the very first time this Sunday to face Stafford in a league match.
It became all to quickly apparent that the opposition were a well drilled and experienced side finding holes in the Burntwood defensive line all to easily.
As the game progressed and although Stafford continued to pile on the scores the Burntwood side began to warm to the task, becoming more game aware, and indeed during the second half put several spells of pressure on the Stafford line, looking to be in for a score on at least a couple of occasions. Unfortunately it was not to be and Stafford ran out comfortable winners 0 - 51.
For Burntwood there were some very tired bodies at the end of the match, but all had learnt a great deal in this baptism of fire. Debutants Liam Smith and Oliver Tooth put in commendable performances (and a few crunching tackles) and on his return to the club Rory Newhall was a steadying figure at the back.
The U13's have another tough encounter next Sunday facing Walsall in another league match.