Burley II V Bramley Phoenix II
6th October 2007
What a promising game this was set to be. With four ex-Bramley lads wearing the Burley shirt and one ex-Burley lad wearing a Bramley shirt, points were there to be proved. Twenty two Burley players declared themselves available for the local derby fixture including two new lads Mike Ward and Peter Shaw.
Unfortunatley for Burley, Bramley turned up a lot more eager for success than the home team. Burley captain Jim Griffin won the toss and opted to head uphill in the first half. Bramley kicked off and it wasn't long before their centre sidestepped the home centres, passed wide out to the wing and allowed Bramleys number 11 to stroll over the line and claim the first points of the afternoon.
After that it just all seemed to go wrong for the Burley lads. We held our own in the scrums but that is about the only positive to come out of this normally strong and tight fixture. Burley's number nine Jonny Baker had his usaul great game and made life very hard for his opposite number - earning his first man of the match award of the season, with plenty to follow no doubt.
Adam Wider was his normal strong, nasty-but-fair self putting in big hits all over the park. New boy Matt Hutchinson started in the centre and showed he is equally skillful there as he is when playing in the second row. And Matt Morgan, who finally got his start at prop despite skipper Jim Griffin thinking he was not big enough and didn't he just prove him wrong? A great display by Matt in the scrums, round the park, and lifting a not-so-light Rob Stone at the front of the lineouts.
My thoughts were with the ex-Bramley lads: Tim Betts, Darren Grey, Craig Daniels and Aaron Ralph (who scored our only try) but it just has to be put down as a bad day at the Burley office.
Next week we are at home yet again to Skipton. All players wishing to play should contact Jim Griffin on 07983 418003.