Game of catch-up but Crofters beaten

BURTON played catch-up from the start in a frustrating 46-26 away defeat against Bournville in the Midlands Premier.

They were 7-0 down within a minute of kick-off after conceding an early converted try and they never really found their feet, with four players sent to the sin bin at different stages to compound matters further.

After Bournville’s early try, Will Simpson put Burton on the scoreboard with a penalty but the Crofters then fell 14-3 behind when the home side touched down again and added the extras.

From the kick-off, Burton lock Athenkosi Kethani was the first Burton player to be shown a yellow card but the visitors managed to close the gap when Simpson kicked his second penalty.

Bournville replied with a penalty of their own before Florencio Llerena went over for Burton’s first try, although the conversion was missed.

Just before half-time, Bournville were awarded a scrum on the Burton five metre line.

Despite the Bournville front row being forced up twice under pressure by the Burton pack, the referee took no action and instead sent Crofters’ number eight Dominic Taylor to the sin bin for kicking the ball out of the scrum.

With Burton a man short, the home pack scored a converted try for a 24-11 half-time lead.

The visitors scored first in the second period, flanker Jack Neal scoring under the posts and Simpson converting to bring the Crofters within three points of the home team.

However, having moved within touching distance, Burton made

another bad mistake, losing possession deep in their own half.

Bournville backs pounced to score an unconverted try.

Burton went on the attack again, with backs and forwards making some good breaks but seemingly lacking the pace to go all the way to the line, while on other occasions the final pass went astray.

Eventually, Kethani won the ball in a line-out and crashed through to score in the corner, although Simpson missed the conversion.

Again Burton were within three points at 29-26 but the visitors did not score again.

Instead, Bournville ran away with it. First they scored from a scrum when two Burton forwards were yellow-carded for killing the ball.

As one of those was a prop and there was no replacement, another player had to go off the field and the game switched to passive scrums. A try was almost inevitable and the extra points were added for a 36-26 lead.

Bournville kicked a penalty to extend their advantage before being awarded a penalty try to complete the scoring.