Leek 3  Burntwood 26
Midlands 4 West North

On paper this looked like a tough opening away trip for Graham Shelley’s men but such was their dominant performance in the game that they came back disappointed with their tally of 4 tries.
They made a superb start to the match with Craig Goodall crossing twice in the first 10 minutes as Leek were taken by surprise at the visitors’ willingness to run the ball from the off.
His first came from open play, holding off would be tacklers in a strong run to the line. The second followed line out possession moved down the backs and he was in support to make it 10-0.
There followed a long period of stalemate although Burntwood had plenty of possession and would have added to their score but for a lack of precision in the final passes. They were dominant in the line outs and solid in the scrums.
Leek reduced the arrears with a penalty in the last 10 minutes of the half and would have been on terms but for an excellent piece of defensive work by James Langford. He chased back to put in a try-saving tackle after Leek had intercepted which allowed his defence to regroup and scramble the ball away.
Craig Seedhouse gave his side more breathing space with a penalty early in the second period to capitalise on a good start to the half.
Ollie Whitehouse, back at scrum half in the absence of Ian Jones, had a fine game round the base of the scrummages and he muscled his way over for Burntwood’s 3rd try.
Referee Roderick resorted to using his yellow card after his warnings about handling on the floor went unheeded. Leek lost a lock and a prop whilst Ash Stanton went off for a breather for Burntwood. Seedhouse turned one penalty award into a further 3 points for the visitors.
Going into the final quarter Burntwood introduced Rob Cartwright and Matt Wood for Martyn Smith and Matt Sishton and both added to an already impressive team performance.
Whitehouse burrowed his way through from the home 22 and wrestled his way over the line to complete the scoring and give Burntwood 2 wins in their opening 3 league games.
Josh Bayliss had an excellent debut in the back row and with Wood and winger Alex Roberts also stepping up from the colts side, Burntwood are beginning to see the fruits of their junior section making an impact.

There were also some impressive performances by young players in the home game between the Burntwood and Leek second strings which the hosts won 38-10. There was a symmetry about the scoring with Burntwood scoring 3 tries in each half before Leek ended each period with a try.
Burntwood’s first attack after 5 minutes produced a try for winger Chris Smith. He received quick possession which allowed him to nip down the touchline for a touchdown near the corner.
Seven minutes later the home forwards turned over Leek ball in their own 22 and moved the ball to centre Russ Lingwood who went in for John Haire to convert.
There was a lucky escape for the hosts shortly afterwards when Leek looked to have scored but they were brought back for a foot in touch by their own touch judge.
A spell of pressure by the visitors close to the half hour was ended by Haire’s clearance kick. Winger Smith was up to judge the bounce superbly, shrug off the last defender and take his side up to 17-0.
Leek’s reply came when they worked the narrow side of a scrum. The home defence stood off which allowed a visiting centre the chance to run round behind the posts although the subsequent conversion attempt was missed.
Smith almost completed his hat trick of tries just before the break but that was his last action as he was replaced by Jon Pucci during the interval.
Despite good work by Amrit Derry and Beau Hildick to begin the second half, Burntwood had to battle hard to regain control. It was Leek who looked likely to score but a thumping tackle knocked the ball loose in the hom 22.
Pucci hacked the ball up field and full back Dave Humphries was up to collect and race away for an unexpected try. Haire converted.
Within 10 minutes, Danny Hackett, playing in the centres, added 2 more tries with strong runs down centre field. Haire converted both.
In the last minute Leek stole home possession, kicked to the corner and their left winger touched down to complete the scoring.
Hildick maintained his fine start to the season with another all round game at back row, ably supported by colts No. 8 Danny Smith

Burntwood 3rds were not helped by the late arrival of 2 players who struggled to find their way out of Burntwood en route to Leek 3rds. By the time they arrived the hosts were 12 points up. Despite a superb effort, they couldn’t quite make up the deficit and went down 32-27.
Their fight back began with a try by Chris Garner. As play became nip and tuck skipper Ade Williams featured in the next 2 tries. He scored himself and then Garner collected his cross field kick to run round behind the posts for Adam Ansell to convert.
Gavin Smith, who enjoyed his new role at scrum half, made a break to set up the 4th scored by Micky Mapp. The final try went to Chris Black but despite never having their full quota of 8 forwards, it was the visitors, inspired by back rower KJ, who were battering the home line at the death only to run out of time.

To complete a good day for the club, the Veterans enjoyed success on their first outing of the season. In what was probably the first genuine Vets encounter between Burntwood and Lichfield it was the hosts who won by 41-12.
They led by 3 tries to 1 at the break. Matt Cummins charged down a kick for the first; Antony Sutton jinked inside for the 2nd after the forwards has built up a head of steam and then  Craig Addy finished off a cracking backs’ move after Lichfield had reduced the deficit in their first meaningful attack. An Addy conversion made it 17-7 at half time.
In the second period Burntwood pulled away with tries by Simon Ptolomey, Addy, Paul Lee and Cummins. Addy and Cummins added a conversion each before Lichfield’s late pressure was rewarded with a fine try.

There was more success on Sunday morning when the U14s travelled to Coalville for their season opener and returned with a 26-22 victory.
A quick start by the visitors saw T. Coleman cross in the first minute. M. Geldard-Williams converted.
Second row R. Mason scored 2 tries and centre S. Jones one. Two more conversions by Geldard-Williams completed a promising performance in which D. Poole on debut made an impact in a fine back row unit.

This Saturday Burntwood welcome Old Yardleians to The Sportsway for their 4th league match. The Development side are away to St. Leonards 2nds and the 3rds are in Merit Table action at HMP Featherstone. The colts host Walsall in a league game.
On Sunday morning it is  U16s v. Burton (H), U15s v. Leek (H), U14s v. Tamworth (A) and U13s v. Stafford (H).