Willenhall hammer Burntwood to close in on perfect season

Apr 2 2009

Willenhall 23 Burntwood 3

Midlands 4 West North;

The result of this match, plus Shrewsbury’s win over Leek, pretty much decides the top three places in Midlands 4 West North. Willenhall’s win gives them the title and they are only two matches away from completing the perfect league season.

Burntwood are secure in third place. To go second they will need two massive wins in their final two games, the first of which is at home to the Shropshire side this Saturday.

Graham Shelley’s men turned in a gritty display away to the league leaders which was some improvement on their performance a week earlier away to Tamworth.

Burntwood had the wind at their backs in the first half and after an exchange of penalties they were 6-3 down at the break, Ian Jones being successful for the visitors.

In the second half Willenhall ran out worthy winners. Their backs used the ball well to set their wingers away for a couple of tries in the final quarter to clinch the title.

Burntwood Development XV welcomed Willenhall 2nds to The Sportsway and also finished on the losing side but had only themselves to blame for spurning a host of second half chances. The final score was 14-7.

Simon Edwards’s side had the perfect start with a converted try in the first five minutes. Outside half Matt Wood was back from injury and made up for lost time with a superb individual try, running from his own 22 down the left touchline to score in the corner. He also added the splendid conversion.

Unfortunately, his comeback only lasted 10 minutes as he suffered a shoulder injury and was replaced by Lee Evans with Steve Blockley moving to the No. 10 position.

The visitors upped their game, putting Burntwood under pressure at their own scrummages. From one wheeled scrum a wild pass was seized on and Willenhall broke away in a move which covered three quarters the length of the pitch. Evans made a last ditch tackle but the visitors’ support got their first and they went over to draw level.

Burntwood lost prop Tony Davies for the second half which meant that the scrums became uncontested. Whilst this took some of the competitive element away, at least they enjoyed more than their fair share of possession and territory.

However, when they weren’t fluffing scoring opportunities they were frequently penalised for going off their feet at the breakdowns. Towards the end of the half, Willenhall took their chance to win with a converted try from set piece ball.

Burntwood Veterans were involved in a good game at home to Ashbourne 2nds. The Derbyshire club are enjoying a good season and they showed sufficient class in the second half to pull away to a 26-5 win.

Paul Rogers’ side needed the services of three young players to make up their numbers and all three acquitted themselves well. Sam Cotter gave an awesome display at scrum half until he was forced off with a broken hand early in the second half. Danny Lake and Danny Hackett were exceptional in the centres.

The sides were evenly matched early on although the visitors sneaked in for a try to take the lead. They scored again before half time but Burntwood replied when a kick by Martin Ottey took a kind bounce for Hackett to run in from 15 yards to make the half time score 12-5.

With Cotter off the field, Burntwood had to make changes and Ashbourne got on top. Twice they escaped the home defence via good handling, once midway through the half and once close to the final whistle to score converted tries.