Aireborough III XV Versus Burley II XV
26th April 2008
1 Alex Gerrard 2 Tom Barnes 3 Pete Shaw
4 Darren Grey 5 Joe Aboagye
6 Aaron Ralph 7 Dan Morrell 8 Julian Brooster
9 Jim Griffin
10 Tim Betts
11 Kenny Parsons 12 Gavin Leeman 13 Fraiser Stewart 14 Jon Bowskill
15 Karl Heywood
The Bench
16 Duncan Elsey 17 Tom Strong 18 Mr. Fox 19 Andy Taylor
Today was a day of days as Burley headed down the road to nearby Aireborough for the last game of the season. After being let down by Hemsworth at the last minute last week Burley were fired up and ready to face down this weeks opposition.
As per usual Burley turned up rather early and warmed up for a good hour as Aireborough only have one pitch and their Vets were playing a game (the inconsiderate buggers).
Tim Betts started the game with a long and high kick, Aireborough collected and found Burley right on top of them with a big hit from the Marauder himself Alex Gerrard. That first tackle would set the tone for the rest of the game as both the Burley Battalion and Aireborough hit hard and fast whenever the opportunity arose. Aireborough were first to get on the score sheet using their rather fat...erm, I mean large forwards to bully their way over the try line but not get the conversion.
After that Burley seemed to step up a gear and decide that enough was enough and they were going to play the way they had been for the past 7 weeks. A move started at a ruck by Skipper Jim Griffin saw the ball passed to Tim Betts who ran and dodged before passing to Gav Leeman who charged his way forward like an angry Rhino. Aireborough were in dire straits as Leeman got the ball to Karl Haywood who used his natural solar panel to blind the opposition as he passed to Kenny Parsons for the Shameless winger to superman himself over the line for the try. The score all tied up at 5-5.
The rest of the first half was evenly fought out between the two sides, Julian Broster and new lad Joe Aboagye making their presences felt with constant hard, fast tackles. AT one point Aireborough had fought their way up the pitch to near the Burley line and be confident enough to race forward only to be met by Mr. Broster and his attack group Alex Gerrard and Dan Morrell. The resulting howl from the Aireborough player could be heard by dogs a few miles away.
Aireborough were dominating the scrums with their fat pack and simply driving Burley pack back on every scrum, one of the scrums collapsed and injured premium hooker Tom Barnes's dodgy shoulder and seeing his season finish early. After the action swayed back and forth, the ball ended up out of touch again for a Burley line on their own 5 yard line. A long throw from Fraser Stewart saw both Burley jumpers miss the ball and an Aireborough forward collect at the back. The resulting drive ended up as a try and the ref blew for half time, Burley down 10-5.
During the break Skipper Jim Griffin pumped up the team as only he could "Lets !!!!!!!!! do them" I seem to remember and that's what Burley set out to do. Burley started the 2nd half brilliantly, the ball was collected and passed to sub Tom Strong who charged his way through the Aireborough defensive line and scored under the sticks, a fantastic try!! Dan Morrell adding the extras Burley up 10-12. Aireborough seemed to be shocked by the try and lined up without a winger on one side.
The ball came back to Burley and they threatened to score again with another run forward, zigging and zagging as only the Burley backs can do. Only a good tackle stopped the move. The average age of the Burley side being 27 and the average age of the Aireborough side being 489 possibly having something to do with them not being able to catch the flash like Burley backs. It wasn't long before Burley hit home again with another mazy run by Tom Strong he was tackled at the death but offloaded to Tim Bets for him to score another try for the Burley Boys and yes, Dan added the extras. 10-19 in Burleys favor.
A neck injury to prop for the day Alex Gerrard after another collapsed scrum saw him replaced with Duncan Elsey and the scrums becoming uncontested. Aireborough were not to be totally overcome in the half and still charging with their stay-puff marsh mellow men forwards. A slightly un-interesting side note: that they also had Lion-o from Thundercats playing for them. Their 2nd rower seemed to love to run at the Burley defensive wall and Jim Griffin seemed to love bringing him down every single time. It seemed this was all Aireborough had in their attacking arsenal but it simply wasn't enough after they were halted time and time again by a seemingly impenetrable Burley line. A small blip from Burley saw Aireborough touch down for the 3rd time of the day, the score now 15-19 and ten minutes to go.
Aireborough thought that the tide had turned but had nothing new to offer the game tactically and used the same crash ball every time...No problem for Burley as they turned the ball over at a ruck and launched the ball to the backs for another devastating attack. The ball ended up in the hands of Mr. Fox who chipped the ball over the Aireborough full back and out-sprinted him to gather the ball and go over for Burleys last try of the game and the season, the ever reliable Dan Morrell adding the icing on the cake. Burley up 15-26.
For the last ten minutes Burley took it easy and slowed the game down making subs and generally taking it easy whilst still making hard tackles and making sure Aireborough wouldn't get back in the game. The ref blew up for Full-Time to the cheers of the Burley team.
A great game for the Burley boys and a good end to the season and now a word from the stepping down Captain Jim Griffin.
Thanks to everyone involved for a fantastic season. We started the year as a brand new team and have worked on every players' strengths and weaknesses throughout the season.
As the second half of the season came round we as a bunch of lads have proved that the Burley RUFC have become a team and a force to be reckoned with. The lads have prided themselves on their fantastic team sprit and have made this season my most enjoyable yet.
A massive thanks to the people behind the scenes that not many people see; Bomber for the kit he sorts out for us, Mally for opening up for us, Jim Lewin for sorting out the fixtures and the refs, Paul Pinder for updating the website out week in and week out, and the two home and away supporters: my dad, Clive and Tim's dad, Mickey.
I hope everyone will start next season under the leadership of Mr Julian Broster as enthusiastically as we have ended this one.
Many thanks.
Jim.
Match Report
P.Shaw