STAFFORD 1ST XV vs BURNTWOOD 1ST XV. 11TH NOVEMBER 2023. LEAGUE.

Stafford hosted their first home game of November against a travelling Burntwood. The visitors were having a decent season with four wins and three losses holding a good sixth place in the league. Stafford came into the game on the back of four losses, looking for some form and continuity to reignite the season. The County Town team fielded a starting XV which included three new players making their first team debut. In a mark of respect all of the teams at Blackberry Lane gathered on the halfway line with Stafford & St Leonards standing shoulder to shoulder accompanied by Burntwood and Stoke 2nd XV. The clubs then held a two-minute silence for armistice day. Followed by a minutes applause in memory of Stafford & St Leonards player Jez Barber who tragically passed away recently.

Some simple attacking rugby put the visiting XV into the driving seat from the opening whistle. Stafford tried to settle, but in a torrid first fifteen minutes three Burntwood tries put the hosts on the back foot. The Blackberry Lane team started to claw their way back and managed to stem the scoring spree that the visitors had been on. The game settled into a slightly more even affair as both sides wrestled for an opening. But a yellow card for Stafford, reduced the side to a temporary fourteen and again changed the momentum. A Burntwood penalty, followed by a fourth try contributed to a very sizeable lead. Stafford then started to play their best rugby of the afternoon, laying siege to the visiting try line. A couple of warnings to Burntwood went unheeded and the referee eventually ran out of patience and produced a yellow card for the visitors to even up numbers on the field. The visiting defence did a sterling job at keeping the hosts out, but when Stafford were restored to a full XV they were able to ramp up the pressure. After a number of attacks, Colton Mclaughlin nearly burst through but an offload to Jerry Qasenivalu produced the try, converted by Archie Bent. Stafford went into half time trailing 7-27and looking for a solution to the attacking rugby that Burntwood were raining down on them.

Any momentum for a comeback were soon squashed when Burntwood opened the half with a fifth try to their pot. Stafford kept scrapping but couldn’t string together enough phases to seriously threaten a dangerous opposition. There were massively bright periods of play, but the final touch always seem to elude a fighting County Town team. It became a game of narrow margins and Stafford couldn’t find a spark from any of them. The clinical Burntwood XV took all of their chances and were impressive when switching into a flowing attack. Two more Burntwood tries closed out the afternoon and made it a fifth successive loss for the battling home side.

Next 1st XV League Match; Saturday 18th November 2023, Away vs Longton.