Sat 8 Mar 2025
Bridgnorth travelled to Battlestead Croft to play Burton on the back of two home defeats to Nuneaton and Bromsgrove. Their opponents meanwhile, were playing at home after two victories against Dudley Kingswinford and Long Eaton. The official luncheon party was treated to perhaps their finest ever away meal, three courses including a superb beef carvery and crème brûlée. However, the travelling Bridgnorth support was very thin on the ground for a game that was played in the spring sunshine. Bridgnorth received the kick-off and put together very good phases of play before winning two penalties at the scrum and lineout. Paddy Smallman took the ball on well after the five-metre lineout before Connor Nicholls powered over for the game’s opening try, the conversion attempt was unfortunately charged down by Burton. Bridgnorth then knocked-on at the restart and Burton’s dangerous outside-centre went on a brilliant run that saw him almost score, the home side retained the ball and after further phases, they crossed for a converted try.
The game developed into a high-energy battle with play being stretched end-to-end and both defences being tested. Manasa Volaikisuva put in a great jackal to halt the opposition at one stage. Bridgnorth then failed to find touch with clearing and penalty kicks before they were penalised for offside and Burton kicked the three points. Burton now turned the screw in attack and crossed in the corner for a try after some questionable tackling, this was followed up with an excellent touchline conversion. Bridgnorth then raised their own game and after a twenty-metre lineout and a further ‘tap & go’ penalty, George Newman surged over for a try converted by Benji Ritson to make the score 17-12. Newman was injured in the act of scoring and was replaced by Ben Morris. Burton then had their prop sent to the sin-bin and Bridgnorth kicked for a twenty-five-metre lineout. The throw wasn’t straight however and Burton then won a penalty and crossed for another try in the corner, again expertly converted from the touchline. The referee blew for half-time with the scoreboard reading 24-12.
Bridgnorth kicked off the second half and Smallman gathered the ball and put in a strong run which was taken on by Luis Evitt but the away side were penalised for taking an extra roll on the floor. Jack Cole put in some fine work with a clearance and follow up, but Bridgnorth lost the lineout and Burton burst through to score an unconverted try to take the score out to 29-12 and the away side possibly facing a difficult afternoon as they looked tired forming up for the restart. There then followed a remarkable transformation however as Bridgnorth put together a purple patch of play to score twenty-one unanswered points, this momentum was largely inspired by Jordan Burgess as he responded to some verbal abuse from the home crowd by rampaging down the wing on numerous occasions with the defence struggling to contain him. Ed Taylor scored the first try in this sequence, then Ben Ralph scored the B.P. try after high-quality play by Nicholls and Ritson before Burgess completed the period of scoring with his own try after a dazzling solo run. All three tries were converted by Ritson and in an astonishing turnaround, the score was 29-33.
Burton then stemmed the flow of points as they launched their own attacks against their opponents. After some good defence, Ed Taylor received a yellow-card for a dangerous high tackle and Bridgnorth unfortunately invited pressure onto themselves with a not-straight lineout and a sliced clearance which went into the middle of the pitch. The home side then formed a forwards’ drive which barged over for a converted try and Burton took a three-point lead into the closing stages. The home side weren’t content to wind the clock down and at the next scrum, their number-eight cleverly took advantage of Bridgnorth’s lack of a blindside flanker to break down the touchline, Burton then demonstrated fine support play with inside passing before the ball was transferred across the pitch for their centre to score an admirable try in the left-hand corner. Although the conversion was missed, the 41-33 score was denying Bridgnorth the losing bonus point.
Bridgnorth attempted to retrieve this situation and had an attacking scrum, they were then unlucky as the referee failed to see an illegal play on Gareth Bladen and the attack was disrupted. The away side continued to press but knocked-on at the lineout and Burton cleared the ball for the referee to blow for full-time. Congratulations should go to the home side for a high-energy performance that put them up into fourth place in the table. For Bridgnorth this was probably a frustrating performance for the squad, coaching team and supporters as they demonstrated what they are capable of but failed to control the game at vital moments. They now join a group of five teams in the league who have won nine and lost eleven games, this group includes their final two league opponents Derby and Dudley Kingswinford. Hopefully, a larger support can cheer the boys on home and away to the end of the league season.
