Burnham-on-Sea defeat St Bernadettes Old Boys in Somerset Premier

BURNHAM-ON-SEA bounced back from their opening day defeat by putting St Bernadette’s Old Boys to the sword on Saturday.

The hosts began brightly and Tim Piper slotted over two early penalties to get the scoreboard moving.

Piper then converted the first try of the afternoon, scored by Russ Pike, as Burnham took a 13-0 lead on the half-hour.

The home side then allowed their opponents back into the game, and the visitors scored before half-time to narrow the deficit to 13-7.

Any nerves were settled shortly after the break when Will Hopkins touched down, and Pike then added his second before further scores from Connor Howard and Tom Stevens added gloss to the scoreline.

Piper completed a perfect afternoon with the boot by converting each of Burnham’s tries as the hosts completed a confidence-boosting win.

Captain Ross McKechan said: “We started well and took the scoring chances when they came, but we stooped to their level a bit before half-time.

“The second half was very promising and it was nice to put on a show in front of a strong home crowd.

“Our lineout worked well, our scrum was good and a good week in training paid off on the pitch.”

McKechan is expecting a tougher test this Saturday - Burnham travel to Minehead Barbarians, who have won each of their first two matches.

ON THE RUN: Scott Havercroft in action for Burnham 2nds at Wiveliscombe

Burnham-on-Sea 2nds got their Somerset 2 South campaign off to a winning start, defeating Wiveliscombe 2nds 17-12.

Burnham were 5-0 up at the break and the score was then locked at 12-12 going into the final 15 minutes. Burnham scored the winning try with five minutes left on the clock.