Bradford Salem III XV Versus Burley II XV
12th April 2008
1 Pete Shaw 2 Fraiser Stewart 3 Adam Wider
4 Jim Griffin 5 Alex Gerrard
6 Dan Morrell 7 Elliot Viles 8 Andy Lacey
9 Jonny Baker
10 Tim Betts
11 Kenny Parsons 12 Gavin Leeman 13 Will Broomfield 14 Marcus Peel
15 Karl Heywood
The Bench
16 Jon Bowskill 17 Duncan Elsey 18 Stuart Nichols
Following the success of last week the Burley Battalion marched to Bradford Salem on a Witch hunt of their own. A few changes from the line up last week saw Dan Morrell move to flanker, Fraser Stewart at Hooker, Kenny Parsons on the Left Wing and Marcus on the Right respectfully and Will Broomfield to the centers. Some supporters also made the trip in the form of injured Burley superstars Premium Hooker Tom Barnes (shoulder), Julian Broster (Foot), Andy Taylor (broken rib) and Photographic mastermind Clive Griffin.
Morale was boosted to a high during the warm-up following friendly banter and Skipper Jim Griffin finding Chewing Gum in his armpit (How? Why?). Burley were ready for the off and waited patiently in the changing rooms for the nod from the Ref to make their way to the pitch. It was great weather for Rugby as the two teams lined up ready for kick off, Burley losing the toss and made to play into the wind for the 1st half.
Bradford kicked the ball high into the wind as the game began, Burley collecting the ball and driving forward into Salem's forwards. The ball was lost at some point and Bradford began to move forward but alas to no avail thanks to some heavy tackles from Adam Wider and Andy Lacey. At a ruck the ref blew up for an infraction and gave a Penalty to Salem who decided to go for goal to the mocking of Skipper Jim Griffin a la "Don't want to run at us?? You big girl!!" Despite Griffins mocking the number 19 put it over to see Salem go in front 3-0.
The game restarted by Tim Betts, Salem gathered the ball up and ran at the near impenetrable Burley defensive line. The ball was moved around by Salem quite a lot during the half but still they couldn't make a break past the Burley Boys. Burley even though down by 3 had the upper hand in the half by dominating both the Line-outs and Scrums. Good lifting from Props Pete Shaw and Adam Wider gave jumper Jim Griffin the best chance of turning the ball over at the front. 2nd rower Alex "Marauder" Gerrard also took his chances being lifted by Dan Morrell and Andy Lacey. Even though Burley had the upper hand this didn't stop Salem from getting more points on the board from 2 drop kicks (a rarity in 2nds games I'm told) finding themselves 9-0 down the mighty Maroons began the fight back. Strong running from the forwards gained yard after yard and soon enough found themselves close to the Salem line. A penalty was awarded and drove in by Jim Griffin. Jonny Baker getting the ball at the ruck and spreading it left to Will Broomfield who side stepped his way to touch down and score the first try of the day, Tim missing the conversion put the score at 9-5.
Burley threatened to score every time they got the ball, Gav Leeman steaming up the pitch on numerous occasions put chills up the Salem line. At some point Bradford realized they were going to play dirty to even bother Burley and that's when the fun began. Harder play by Bradford only angered the Burley beast and they fought fire with fire playing harder than before. Scrum Half Jonny Baker was the first to bear the brunt of Salem's frustration as he was attacked by the Linesman, Yes, the linesman. He took offence to Jonny giving a bit of biff to his son who was playing Scrum Half for the Bradford men!! The ref called in the captains for one of what would be many chats and told them to calm down both sets of players. Following that Burley placed more pressure on Salem pushing forward with powerful rampages from Adam Wider, Alex Gerrard, Jim Griffin and Andy Lacey.
Not handling the fantastic play from Burley saw Fraser Stewart bear the brunt of yet more Salem frustration and getting punched!! The offending player was Sin-Binned by the Ref who was getting very annoyed by this point. Not long after that he blew for half time, the score 9-5 to Bradford Salem.
The 2nd half began with Burley in a buoyant mood; they knew the game was theirs to lose even though they were losing. With the wind now blowing on their backs Burley began to soar and took control from the off. Centers Gav Leeman and Will Broomfield proving themselves to be the thorn in Salem's side running rings around them time and time again. The inevitable try came when the ball was spread to Will Broomfield who went over to put Burley into the lead, Dan Morrell added the extras. Line outs and scrums continued to be dominated by the Burley forwards, in one scrum their prop took a disliking to Alex Gerrard and head butted him only to find Alex willing and ready to exchange Head blows shaking the scrum with the power of his nut!! Another chat with the Ref for the Captains asking for calm, the ref stating that anymore nonsense and the offending player would be binned instantly. Hooker Fraser Stewart was everywhere for the Maroons, finding his way into every tackle, maul, and ruck and utterly deserving his Man of the Match pint!! Marcus Peel marked his return to the 2nds with a magical try weaving his way out of every tackle Salem chucked at him leaving them spellbound and slightly more frustrated. Tim couldn't find the extras and watched the ball sail wide.
Salem kicked off and the ball found Pete Shaw who like last week managed to knock the ball on. From the resulting scrum Gav Leeman stole the ball from the Salem backs and charged his way toward the Salem line with 2 players in hot pursuit. The Gazelle-like Leeman wasn't to be stopped and dived over the line to seemingly put the nail in the coffin of Bradford Salem. Dan Morrell stepped up to convert and add the extras. Salem were not to be outdone and did have a few good runs, especially when their prop made a monstrous run and in his way stood Gav Leeman who was lifted up with one hand and thrown down with distain. The prop was eventually brought down by his Nemesis Alex Gerrard and the ball was turned over for Tim to clear the Burley line. Another drive from Salem saw them forced into touch mere yards from the Maroons try line, A strong maul from Burley doing the honors.
Battling back down the pitch the Burley Witch Hunters saw Adam Wider go over the Salem try line again only for the Ref to disallow it because he couldn't see. It was a clear try and better than argue, a few minutes later Burley gained a penalty which was taken by Jonny Baker and passed to Andy Lacey who steamed his way past 6 Salem players to place the ball under the sticks and the score go to 9-31 in Burleys favor. Salem had another player binned before the end. Shortly after the Ref blew for Full-time the score 31-9 and heralded another victory for the Burley Boys!!!
Every Burley player played out of their socks to get this victory. Up against a strong team who knew their rugby, the Burley Battalion proved their mettle and performed brilliantly. Next week sees the 2nds play their last game of the season against Hemsworth. Let's hope they are ready for a very hard game as Burley march toward their 11th win of the season.
P.Shaw