STOKE ON THE WRONG END OF KEY PERIOD IN COUNTY CUP

STOKE were knocked out of the Staffordshire Cup after losing 43-21 at Burton.

Stoke, with nine successive Midlands One West wins under their belts, would have fancied their chances of beating their higherranked hosts under the lights on Friday night.

But despite producing an impressive performance, a key period in the second 40 minutes proved to be decisive as Midlands Premier Burton advanced to the final.

Burton, who have lost seven of their nine league matches, scored an unconverted try in the formative stages of the contest, but Stoke managed to get a foothold in the game.

From a line-out five metres out a maul was formed and the forwards worked hard to move it towards the line, Charlie Poole broke away and was driven over the line for the try.

Andy Marsh kicked an excellent conversion in blustery conditions to give Stoke the lead.

As half time approached Burton stole the ball at a line-out and moved the ball quickly to the opposite wing to score, regaining the lead 10-7.

In added time at the end of the half Andy Marsh hit the post with a penalty attempt which would have drawn the sides level.

Stoke started the second half strongly and took the lead with a second try.

From a line-out the maul was taken down when moving towards the line and the referee awarded a penalty try giving Stoke a 14-10 lead.

Unfortunately Stoke were unable to hang on to the lead for long with Burton scoring four unanswered tries to give the home side a 36-14 lead.

Stoke showed some resilience and fought hard to stop the game from running away completely.

From outside the Burton 22, Sam Clarke broke through the line passing to Will Sant who was tackled close to the line, but was able to offload to Jamie Murray who scored under the posts. Andy Marsh added the conversion to make it 36-21.

As the game went into added time Burton scored a final try.

UTTOXETER were beaten 38-5 on their Midlands Two West North visit to NEWCASTLE.

The game was very open in the preliminary stages and it was Newcastle who troubled the scoreboard, using their rapid backs and sensible kicking game to pin Uttoxeter back. Newcastle scored four tries in the opening 25 minutes to take a stranglehold of the contest.

A culmination of poor handling and individual errors meant Uttoxeter had a mountain to climb and momentum to overcome. Uttoxeter responded well and in typical fashion, bullying the opposition pack in the set-piece and playing with guile and passion in the backs.

The final 15 minutes of the half were all Uttoxeter, prodding and probing around the Newcastle 22, but all too often this season the Town team’s endeavour has not been rewarded with tries, and so it proved again as halftime came and went without the away team troubling the scoreline.

The second half kicked off with an optimism that the away side could get something from the game.

It almost seemed like it would happen as well after a quick second half score from the evergreen Mark Springall, pictured.

Continuing to dominate proceedings after the restart, quick rucking and quicker hands gave Springall the chances to spin away from two would-be tackles and stretch over the line and touch down in the corner.

The conversion missed, but there was renewed optimism that the side could chip away at the deficit.

Uttoxeter’s substitutes rolled on as Bebbington replaced Fletcher, but he could do nothing to stop another silly try was conceded as the team switched off from the restart.

It was Newcastle who rounded off the scoring late in the day with their sixth try of the afternoon.