POOR refeering marred an enjoyable match that saw Burton’s unbeaten run ended by a street-wise and very quick Old Halesonians side at Peel Croft.
The endeavours of both sides were spoilt by inconsistent decisions, of which Burton were more often then not seen to be the guilty party.
But Burton had enough chances to win and were only let down by their handling errors that resulted in possession being lost all too often.
Halesonians kicked off and good play from the Burton pack saw the ball move towards the visiting 22, but the first of many turnovers saw the opposition move the ball out wide and the visitor’s centre raced through to release his winger.
Unfortunately, Dave Archer just failed to hold onto his opposite number who dived over for a try. The conversion sailed over the bar to give the visitors a 7-0 lead after just three minutes play.
From the restart, Kevin Birt charged forward on a run that gained 30 metres as he barged would-be tacklers aside and Burton were awarded a penalty that Archer slotted between the uprights to reduce the deficit to just four points.
A period of frenetic play by both sides then saw the ball being moved around the pitch as the teams battled for supremacy, but continual whistle made it difficult for either side to maintain any momentum.
After some 15 minutes of this, Burton put together a great piece of rugby as Matt Tivey, Luke Peach, Craig Dutton and Dave Fitchett all put in surging runs.
From the last of these, Ben Peach got quick ball out to brother Luke, who fed Archer to race over from 20 metres out to touchdown and put Burton in the lead.
Burton then had two penalties given against them to allow Halesonians to get within ten metres of Burton line, but a great take by Josh Cartwright saw Peach kick clear to halfway.
However, the ball did not go in touch and the visiting full-back gathered to return the ball back upfield where Danny Smith gathered.
He raced forward with Lawrence Betty in support, who in turn made ground with a typical bustling run before feeding the supporting Ian Gilmour.
Gilmour timed his pass to Lewis Brooks to perfection and some deft footwork saw the centre glide passed three defenders to score. Archer’s conversion attempt again missed the target but Burton now led 13-7 with just five minutes to go to half-time.
A poor receipt of the restart saw Burton fail to attack the ball and as a maul formed the ball shot out of the side only for a Burton to pick-up, but he was penalised for being offside and the opposition kicker put the ball over the bar to take the score to 13-10.
With Burton again failing to attack the restart Halesonians pressed forward and kicked the ball over the Burton line where the referee awarded a try after both Dave Fitchett and Ben Peach had grounded.
The conversion sailed over the bar and much to everyone’s amazement Halesonians went into half-time leading.
The second half started really well for Burton as their pack charged after Archer’s kick-off and were rewarded by two penalty decisions to get the ball into the opposition 22.
From here, some great runs by Dutton, Fitchett, Birt, Tivey and Taylor saw the ball move across the pitch and back again before Gilmour floated out a long pass to Brooks who cantered in for his second try and put Burton back in the lead.
From the restart, Halesonians took full use of the referee’s inability to spot the offside line and with the help of some unspotted, but blatant, blocking in midfield passed the ball out wide to their winger to race in for a try and take the score to 22-18 in his side’s favour.
Some powerful runs by Tivey, Birt and Dutton took play into the opposition half, but more penalties against Burton cost them territory and possession allowing the opposition to clear their lines.
A 50-metre charge by Tivey saw Peach feed the ball to Smith but the winger was forced into touch on the opposition’s 22.
Injuries to the Taylor brothers saw them both leave the field to be replaced by Damon Varney and Jamie Hamilton.
Following this, Gilmour gathered a loose clearance for him and Smith to both race forward to link with Birt, but he was stopped by three opposition tacklers before he could release the ball.
From a ruck Halesonians pressed forward and kicked ahead for the ball to go over the deadball line, but instead of a kick back the referee ordered a 22 dropout.
From the resulting maul, the opposition again put pace on the ball and their winger again showed a clean pair of heels to the Burton defence as he got his third try of the day to extend his side’s lead to 27-18.
Ken Archer replaced Dutton as Burton pushed for points that would lead to victory.
Gilmour gathered a ball in his own 22 and linked with Fitchett.
He made ground before passing back inside to Gilmour who linked with Brooks who passed to Betty.
The centre put in a kick ahead that saw Brooks and Archer wrap-up the receiver and from the maul Peach fed Gilmour who raced forward before turning back inside to feed Tivey, who raced over to score under the posts.
Archer added the extra points and Burton now trailed 25-27 with five minutes of play remaining.
But, despite constant pressure, they could not get those extra points that would have given victory and kept their unbeaten run going.
