Western Counties North

Burnham 21 Bristol Harlequins 10

A STORMING first-half performance fired Burnham to an impressive 21-10 victory over Bristol Harlequins at the BASC on Saturday.

The home side scored 21 unanswered points before the break, courtesy of tries from Russell Pike, Matt Love and a remarkable 95-metre effort from Jordan Wikiteria.

All three tries were converted by Wills Conway, to give Burnham an unassailable lead.

Constant pressure by Burnham in the first 10 minutes culminated in a well constructed team try.

Many hands and efficient recycling, notably from Dickens, Chase, Muskett, Conway, McKechan and Love eventually released Russell Pike to cut through, round the full-back and score under the posts - Conway converted for 7-0.

On the half hour mark, after a spell of pressure from Harlequins, Burnham turned over the ball with Dickens strong in the tackle, Chase snaffled the ball and released Matt Love to speed down the wing, rounding the opposition to score under the posts.

Conway added the extras to extend the lead to 14-0.

Three minutes later, Harlequins won a penalty lineout, gathered the ball in and set off on a rolling maul.

But when they lost control, Jordan Wikipedia scooped up the ball and raced 95 metres, evading two tackles along the way to score out wide.

Conway duly obliged for a 21-0 half-time score line.

Unfortunately for Burnham they got sucked into an arm wrestle in the second-half, playing into Harlequins hands.

Firstly Burnham were caught offside and the resulting penalty made it 21-3 – and this was followed by Harlequins pouncing on a poor pass, allowing their outside centre to kick through and win the race to touchdown.

The rest of the match fizzled out as neither side were able to claim sufficient advantage.

This weekend, Burnham travel to Gloucester to face table-topping Matson.