Burntwood 19 Pershore 8

Midlands Senior Vase – Quarter Final
 

In their first home game for 2 months, Burntwood made it into the last 4 with a performance full of commitment and control to overcome Pershore who lie 2nd in Midlands 3 West South.
They quickly put their disappointing performance a week earlier behind them with a series of opening attacks down the left side of the field infront of their home support.
The first threat was bundled into touch and then full back Ben Holt almost freed Matt Bray but the scoring pass was grounded.
After 8 minutes the home pack took their first strike against a Pershore scrum to keep the pressure on and it was rewarded when Matt Wood kicked a penalty to open the scoring.
He had 2 more penalty chances inside the first quarter as Burntwood kept the visitors pinned in their own half but he was off target with the first and short with the second.
As play went past the half hour mark, Pershore made progress through a lively back division into Burntwood territory but solid defensive work by Mark Poole, Martyn Smith and Mark Partridge kept them outside the 22.
The half ended with another long range penalty attempt by Wood which missed to leave the score at 3-0, meagre reward for Burntwood’s domination of the half.
When Pershore levelled with a penalty just 2 minutes after the restart it could have marked a shift in fortune but 5 minutes later Wood landed the second of 2 penalty kicks following good driving play by Partridge.
Going into the last quarter, Wood was on target again with the easiest of his chances to make it 9-3. Suitably inspired, Burntwood moved up a gear and great play on half way finished with Craig Seedhouse sending a kick to touch deep into the right corner.
Pershore made a mess of their own line out and there was Lloyd Shelley to dart through and touch down. Wood’s conversion extended the lead to 13 points.
The visitors’ cause was not helped when the restart kick didn’t travel the required 10 metres. Wood found his range with touch kicks to each corner to keep Pershore at bay and time ticking down.
Partridge was denied a deserved try when he was held up over the line and then the ball came out of a 5 metre scrum too quickly for the backs to capitalise. However, with 5 minutes of normal time left, Wood converted his best penalty of the day to complete his side’s tally.
With the final whistle due any second, Pershore hammered into the home 22. Some indiscipline which resulted in Ash Stanton seeing out the last moments of the game in the sin bin, led to a try from a tapped penalty but it was too little too late for the visitors from Worcestershire.

After a 6 week lay off, Burntwood U16s began to catch up their league fixtures with a midweek trip to Trentham. The inactivity showed in a one-sided first half which left them trailing 20-0 but they battled back to 20-17 before a late interception try saw them lose out 27-17.
Passing and tackling were both lacking in the first period but it was a different story after the break both in the forwards and in the backs. Excellent pace by both wingers earned 2 tries for Sam Power and one for Ashley Cockerill with Power adding one conversion.
With the result back in the balance, both sides pushed hard to the end but an interception try and conversion sealed it for the home side. Burntwood’s man of the match was Power.

On Sunday morning they bounced back with a 10-8 win over Burton in their first home game of 2010.
The boggy pitch conditions suited each pack of forwards. The visitors drew first blood with a penalty and then a rolling maul sucked in the home defence to leave an overlap for the try.
In the second half quick ruck ball caught Burton offside and Liam Degville kicked the penalty.
Sam Power intercepted 2 minutes later to run in under the posts for Degville to convert.
Neither side added to the scoreline in an error-strewn finish in difficult conditions. Burntwood’s man of the match was Luke Rookyard who grafted away to good effect in the front row.

Burntwood U14s returned from Old Halesonians with a fine 17-5 win against fancied opposition.
On a damp, heavy pitch the hosts exerted early pressure and eventually squeezed through on the left wing for an unconverted try.
After the break, Burntwood began to break free to put Old Hales under sustained pressure. Rory Newhall chipped through for man of the match Josh Birch to blast in for an excellent try.
This inspired the rest of the side who piled on the pressure. Superb interplay set Ben Tranter flying down the right wing to run round to the posts for a try converted by Newhall.
Burntwood then took advantage of a dispirited home side. Inspirational driving by the forwards set Dan Bickley up to score his first try for the club.
The pick of the forwards was Brad Tranter whilst Liam Baker impressed in the backs.

This Saturday Burntwood face Leek with the 1sts (League) and 3rds at home and the Development XV away.
On Sunday morning the U17s welcome Coalville, the U15s (A), U14s (H) and U13s (H) all face Willenhall and the U12s host Rugeley.