Hosts Play With Fire And Visitors Burn'em

Weston hosted Burnham this weekend looking to build on last weeks victory and will be kicking themselves they they weren't able to. Burnham have become a bit of a bogey team over recent seasons and Weston knew this would be a difficult game. The opening exchanges were very even with both sides competing well for the ball in all areas of the pitch. Burnham then began to take the upperhand and had a couple of oppoutunities to attack Weston wide, only for dropped passes to come to the hosts rescue. On twenty minutes, Burnham took the lead when they crashed through Westons defence to score. The conversion was missed and Weston now knew that this was going to be a tough morning. From the kick off, they responded well and made good ground. Harry Lewis made a strong break deep into the Burnham half and from here Weston kept good control. A resulting penalty saw the ball popped to second row DJ Wills and he wasn't going to be stopped, smashing through for his first try for the club and Weston's first of the day. James Aucott converted and Weston had a narrow 7-5 lead going into half time. As the second half started Weston went into their most dominant phase of the match and started on the front foot. The individual pick and goes from last week were replaced with a much more organised team effort and the forwards drove their way to the line, where Liam Hynes picked up and showed great determination and strength to get over the line to score. James Aucott's boot added two more points and Weston now had a 14-5 lead. However this was short lived when from the kick off Weston made mistakes and gifted Burnham territory. Strong desire from the visitors resulted in an immedite response, and with the conversion good, Weston's 9 point lead had been reduced to just two. Once again Weston restarted and looked strong. A scrummage close to the Burnham line caused panic and some great pressure saw the ball spilt over the try line. Owen Kelman reacted superbly well and dove on the ball for his first try of the season. James Aucott once again added the conversion and the nine pont lead was restored. This should have been enough for Weston to build on and look to take the game away, but instead they made some poor decisions and once again let the visitors back in. Only three minutes later Burnham crossed the Weston try line and cut the lead to four points. From here Weston continued to play with fire with some poor decision making and were punished when a poor kick went straight to Burnham's pacey winger. His run to the line was impressive, but the three poor efforts to tackle him didnt help matters. With the conversion added Burham had turned the game around and now led 21-24. In the final exchanges, Weston tried to get themselves back into a winning position, but Burnham controlled things very well and put the nail in the coffin with a well worked try on full time to see them home 21-29. This was a game that Weston could have won, but Burham proved just too strong. There were some poor performances from the Weston players today and we lacked a cutting edge. The rucking continues to improve and the backs looked better going forward but the players must show the same desire and commitment every time they put a Weston shirt on - and not just when we play Hornets!!!! On the plus side DJ Wills and Liam Hynes led the way in the pack with excellent direct running and determination and Owen Kelman had a great game at scrum half, showing good control and distribution. However the stand out performance was made by Tom Sugg who is beginning to grow into his new role at outside centre. Two excellent interceptions could have created more but for poor support, and defensively he didnt miss a tackle. Our next game is away to Old Reds on 9 Dec, so we must all work hard to be ready for that.