Western Counties West
Paignton 24, Burnham-on-Sea 19

BURNHAM slipped to defeat after a game of two halves in South Devon, with Paignton winning the first half 14-0 and Burnham taking the second 19-10, writes John Piper.

Burnham produced a rather lacklustre performance over the first 40 minutes, rarely showing what they were capable of, aside from solid scrummaging.

Both of Paignton’s converted tries were the result of slipshod tackling and somewhat poor all-round play from the visitors.

However, after a sound talking to at half time, they came out with the bit fully between their teeth.

They pressurised Paignton’s defence from the off, easing them further and further back.

This eventually allowed Ward to place a shrewd kick into space, giving Conor Howard the opportunity to display his strength and speed, as he burst through two defenders, gathered the ball and touched down.

Following a crucial lineout penalty, Burnham’s quick movement in both rucks and mauls enabled Tom Wall to stretch his lanky frame and cross the line for a try which Ward converted to reduce the deficit to two points.

With five minutes to go, however, Burnham lost possession, giving Paignton the chance to create and execute enough forward momentum to score out wide and then convert to go clear again.

Burnham were not going to give up, though, and almost immediately were awarded a scrum, from which swift hands got the ball out to Ward, who executed a neat runaround move and released Lee Vaughan to run in from 40 metres, making the score 19-21.

Unfortunately for Burnham, they transgressed in the final minutes and conceded a penalty to lose 24-19.

This was a momentous effort in the second half and it must be taken into account that, by and large, Burnham have a very young side who are still learning what it is like to play at this level.

Their scrummaging was good but they must learn to clear out the opposition at the breakdown instead of scrambling for the ball, but apart from that, one feels that this side can only get better.

This weekend, Burnham face third-placed St Ives at home (ko 2.30pm).

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Somerset 2 South
Burnham-on-Sea 2nds 60, Martock 0

BURNHAM 2nds moved into second spot thanks to a thumping home win over second-bottom Martock on Saturday.

They moved onto 30 points, one ahead of Weston-super-Mare 4ths, who were beaten by runaway leaders Castle Cary – 13 points clear of the chasing pack.

Burnham go to Weston this Saturday, the visitors aiming to secure a sixth straight victory.