Syston bounce back to form with tremendous forward effort that stuns Burton

Syston U15s (25) vs Burton U15s (7)

Syston showed their tremendous team spirit as they bounced back from last week's poor performance with a great team effort to stun Burton. The commitment of the whole team and the forwards in particular was obvious from the kick off as they dominated the early exchanges. The forwards were unrecognisable from last week, quick to the breakdown and recycling the ball giving the threequarters plenty quick ball. Unfortunately the threequarters' passing was a little rusty early in the game, and as they were not standing deep enough passes were tending to go behind the runner and to ground. However after 5 minutes of continuous pressure everything clicked and Syston scored an excellent try. The forwards with David Startins and Daniel Frith to the fore won excellent possession and strong running by first Luke Williams and then Jake Pullen took play close to the Burton line. The ball was recycled and driven on and Luke Williams was, yet again, in support to cross for an unconverted try in the corner. Burton's first real attack was stopped when the ball went loose in the tackle and when Enzo Del Grosso picked up the ball and took it into contact the forwards were immediately on the scene and magnificently drove the loose maul 25 metres right up to the Burton 22. The Syston pack were continuing to have the better of the forward exchanges with Rory Thorne and Tom Judd putting in some tremendous tackling. Not to be outdone the threequarters were beginning to get their passing act together and there were strong runs from Luke Williams, Eddie Waller and Jake Pullen putting pressure on the Burton line. Matthew Moorhouse , who was having an awesome game was at the front of a tremendous rolling maul that took play forward from the Burton 22 and George Postle peeled off to score and unconverted try. From the subsequent kick off the forwards yet again dithered allowing the ball to bounce but on this occasion Luke Williams took the bouncing ball on the run to make good ground through the Burton pack before offloading to the supporting Eddie Waller who beat the rest of the pack and the covering defenders to score a tremendous try with a great solo run of nearly 60 metres. Burton were making some strong runs and often getting past the first line of Syston defence but the cover defence was strong and the Syston line was not breached in the first half.

Burton kicked off the second half with some strong runs but again the Syston defence around the fringes was strong allowing Luke Williams to clear the lines. When Syston ran the ball in their own 22 the ball was dropped in the midfield allowing Burton to kick the loose ball through and score a converted try near the posts. Burton were not giving up and continued to run the ball strongly but the Syston forwards were playing well with good ball carrying runs from George Postle, Harry Pacey and James Harman Thomas. Ross Spencer was buzzing around the base of the scrum with sniping runs keeping the Burton back row occupied. Burton were however making good ground from short penalties as the Syston pack were not aggressively defending by running into the tackle area instead standing still waiting for the ball carrier to arrive. The second line of defence was holding firm and Burton were unable to add another score. Syston were still guilty of sometimes carrying the ball too far rather than making good use of the quick pass to players with more space to run into. It is clear that Syston's pace in their threequarters can kill off opposition and they need to ensure that the best use is made of this. Syston put a further score on the board when Lewis Lancaster, who had run strongly from defence all game, was high tackled as he was nearing the Burton line. From the ensuing penalty the Syston pack put Tom Judd over for an unconverted try. Luke Williams was again unlucky to just miss with the conversion attempt. Burton again came back strongly but the Syston pack were quickly through on the loose ball, Nathan Brookes and Alex Bailey turning over possession to set the Syston threes running at Burton yet again. Burton finished the game well but good passing by Sam Reid and direct running by Dan Coombe allowed Syston to take the ball back into Burton territory. The Syston pack again got quick ball and when Lewis Lancaster made a good break he was able to feed the ball out to Sam Kind who ran strongly to add the icing on the cake by scoring in the corner. Burton made one final attack but Ross Spencer cleared to touch to end the game.

Although there are still areas to work on in training Syston should now be in good heart for their cup semi final next week following this week's excellent performance.