Burntwood 32 Amber Valley 12
RFU Senior Vase – Round 2

Having taken away Wednesbury’s unbeaten start to the season, Burntwood did the same to their visitors from Derbyshire to progress to the 3rd Round of the Senior Vase. Two converted tries within 3 minutes close to the hour mark effectively decided the tie, the sides having only been separated by a point at the break.
Matt Wood had the chance to put his side ahead in the first minute but the strong wind sent his penalty attempt wide of the posts. Two minutes later, from a solid scrum on the Amber Valley 22, No. 8 Dave Peplow almost made it to the line. As he was dragged down he popped the ball up to Ashley Stanton to touch down but the score was ruled out for a forward pass.
The hosts lost skipper Graham Shelley after just 6 minutes with a leg injury. Brother Lloyd Shelley came on as replacement, making his return to 1st team action after an absence of 5 weeks.
The first points went to Burntwood after 11 minutes. Mark Partridge drove into the visitors’ 22 and laid the ball back superbly for Ollie Whitehouse to maintain his scoring streak by ducking under a tackle to get over the line.
A penalty direct from the restart allowed Amber Valley to immediately cut the lead to 5-3 and then just 4 minutes later they took the lead for the only time in the afternoon with another penalty following a line out offence.
Burntwood lost another forward when hooker Stanton came off with a back injury before the first quarter was completed to be replaced by Andy Macey.
The hosts regained the lead after 22 minutes following a penalty award which was kicked to the left corner. Amrit Derry claimed the line out ball to set the backs in motion. A planned move ended with Ben Holt supplying winger James Langford who scored in the right corner.
Amber Valley enjoyed a spell of play in the home half but the Burntwood defence, notably Peplow and Partridge, dealt with any danger until the 35th minute when the visitors landed a 3rd penalty to cut the deficit to one point.
Back came Burntwood up till half time. Prompted by scrum half Whitehouse’s break, they almost scored in the left corner but Sam Wanty lost possession over the line and then a forward pass out to the right denied a 3rd try.
Burntwood continued to press after the turnaround but some loose passing meant that Wood resorted to a drop goal attempt which went narrowly left of the posts. Then Holt put Wanty away on a run but at the ensuing ruck the support players infringed.
Burntwood pulled away with a 14 point scoring burst beginning in the 54th minute. Turnover possession was seized on by outside half Wood who neatly side-stepped his way into the clear for a try under the posts which he also converted.
After 57 minutes another good line out take by Derry was moved out to the backs. Shelley’s burst and pass allowed Holt to feed Wanty and this time the winger made no mistake by cutting inside on a run to the posts. Wood converted.
Langford was almost in for his 2nd try after taking a floated pass from Wood but he was shepherded out near the corner flag with 62 minutes gone.
Surprisingly, Amber Valley chose to kick at goal from a penalty award as play moved into the final quarter. The kick was successful but Wood cancelled it out within 3 minutes with a kick of his own after a strong carry by Partridge won the penalty.
With time running out it took a thumping tackle by Steve Blockley to deny the visitors the chance of a comeback.
Wood was off target with a penalty goal attempt going into injury time but Burntwood went past the 30 point mark following more turnover possession, this time the result of a solid tackle by Tom Restall.
The ball was moved out wide and Shelley shrugged off the last defender to score near the clubhouse corner.

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Burntwood’s Development XV went without a game due to opponents Cannock playing in the RFU Junior Vase so the only other side in action on Saturday were the 3rds. They romped home in their Merit Table match, defeating visitors Birmingham Barbarians 71-12.
They totally dominated the set piece play to run in 11 tries. Hal the Turk and Danny Hackett did most of the damage scoring 4 and 2 tries respectively. Jon Pucci, John Haire, Chris Edwards, Liam Lloyd and Dan Garretty all added a touch down each with Lloyd’s effort the pick of them, jinking his way through heavy traffic to score.
Craig Addy kicked 8 conversions to complete the tally.
The Baa Baa’s points came from 2 tries and a conversion.

On Sunday morning Burntwood U16s travelled to Uttoxeter and after a sleepy first half they recovered a 15 point deficit to win 31-22.
Uttoxeter made good use of the strong wind in the first half to lead 22-7, Burntwood’s try coming from Ollie Aleksejuk who took a crash ball over the line. Liam Degville converted.
It was a different story after the break as the visitors ran in 4 unanswered tries. Scott Minnis, Degville and 2 for Man of the Match Jordan Wood were the scorers whilst Josh Read added 2 conversions.

Burntwood U14s also came from behind to win in their match at home to Tamworth, the final scoreline being 28-19.
Burntwood could only field the bare 15 due to injury and illness but the lads responded with their best performance of the season despite some players playing out of position.
The elements favoured Tamworth in the first period and they stormed into an early lead via a converted try. Burntwood’s dogged defence gradually turned into determined attack and Charlie Liggins set up Ben Tranter for a 50 metre run to the line. Rory Newhall levelled the scores with the conversion.
This seemed to inspire Burntwood who put together some good driving play and slick interpassing. A superb Callum Grundy break and offload was finished off by Liam Smith who crashed over in the corner. Newhall converted.
Against the odds, it was Tamworth who struck first in the second half with a well-worked try out on the right wing.
The home side replied quickly. A tapped penalty by Newhall put Smith away and he galloped in for his 2nd try. Newhall converted.
Tamworth hit back with a converted try but Burntwood had the final say when Smith completed his hat trick and Newhall maintained his perfect kicking record with the conversion.
Will Mason and Josh Birch both impressed on their debuts in the pack.

This Saturday Burntwood are at home for the 3rd week running when they welcome Handsworth to The Sportsway for a league game. The Development XV travel in the opposite direction and the 3rds are away to St Leonards 2nds – both being Merit fixtures. The Vets are scheduled to entertain Linley Vets.
On Sunday morning the U17s and U16s are both at home to Eccleshall and Trentham respectively.