Burton kicked off, and in the opening minute Stoke were awarded a scrum penalty just inside the Burton half. The attempted conversion fell just short. The first score of the game came after twelve minutes. A drop out from under the posts went straight into touch giving the visitors a five metre scrum, a penalty was awarded and Burton decided to kick for the points giving them an early 0-3 lead. Burton continued to apply pressure with several phases of possession but the well organised Stoke defence held firm until the twentieth minute, a gap appeared and they were able to score a try close to the posts. This was converted to give them a 0-10 lead. Early in the second quarter Burton extended their lead with a penalty. In the final minutes of the half Stoke were attacking deep in Burton territory, the ball was turned over and several phases later Burton scored their second converted try, giving them a 0-20 lead with half time approaching. With the final play of the half Stoke managed to get on the scoreboard, Burton knocked on at the restart and Stoke were awarded a free kick at the scrum. Number eight Jordan Grimshaw took a quick tap and made ground inside the twenty two. The ball was moved quickly left for winger Fraser Ashman to score in the corner, the conversion narrowly missed making the halftime score 5-20.

The opening minutes of the second half were a fairly even affair until Burton extended their lead with a try after fifteen minutes making the score 5-27. Stoke were not ready to give the game up and replied minutes after. Debutant Nick Oxley made an electric break from deep in his own half eventually being tackled inside the Burton twenty two, replacement Rhodri Campbell was backing up well and was able to pick up and score under the posts, the conversion added made the score 12-27. Frustratingly from the restart, Stoke handed the initiative back to the visitors by conceding a penalty. As we are finding in this league, if you give the opposition an opportunity more often than not they will take it. Sure enough Burton moved down the left hand side and scored in the corner to maintain a healthy lead, 12-34. In the final ten minutes of the game the Stoke pack started to make some progress and on the half hour scored a pushover try from a scrum eight metres out, Jordan Grimshaw getting the touchdown, the conversion was added and to the delight of the noisy crowd the score was 19-34. The pattern of the game continued, just when Stoke looked like they might be getting back into contention the visitors were able to put points on the board, another penalty made it 19-37. However, undaunted Stoke continued to pressure the opposition. From the restart Burton knocked on and from the scrum Jamie Loska made a good break and a couple of good offloads later Jamie Murray was under the posts for an excellent try, the conversion was good taking the score to 26-37. Stoke continued to attack in the closing minutes but the Burton defence held firm and they were able to kick to touch with time up.

The Stoke squad should not be disappointed with this performance. Although it highlighted areas for improvement, it showed that we can definitely be competitive at this level, Burton are top of the league with three bonus point wins.

Next up we travel to Derby and as always the players will appreciate your support.

Written by Mike Yorke