This past Saturday the Burley 1st XV travelled north to Harrogate to face the Pythons. In the previous encounter between the two sides, Burley were beaten 38-0. Since this defeat, Burley have strengthened as a squad and are beginning to look at home in Yorkshire 3. Therefore, Burley were going into this fixture with hopes of redeeming themselves with a more favourable score-line.

Burley saw very little of the ball in the early stages, as the Pythons advanced up the field. After a short period of pressure, the Pythons were awarded a scrum inside Burley’s 22m. In an unexpected move, the Pythons scrum-half sold a dummy pass and broke through the line to score. The upright denied their kicker from adding the extra two points.

Now with a chance on the ball, Burley put together a couple of phases as they pressed on into the Harrogate Pythons half. Number 10, Sam Hume caught the Pythons defensive line off guard as he chipped the ball over the top and regathered to make the break. Unfortunately, this play would end with a knock-on and a scrum awarded to the Pythons. From the scrum, the Pythons passed the ball through the backs and out wide, crossing the line to increase their lead. A successful conversion followed as they took a 12-0 lead.

Similar to the previous passage of play, Burley once again attempted to make ground but were turned over. A penalty for the Pythons enabled them to position themselves in dangerous territory from which they would score another try. Within moments of the restart, the Pythons were awarded a scrum on their 10m line. Continuing in their theme of scoring after scrums, the Pythons played the ball through the line and scored out wide for their fourth try. After a successful conversion, the Pythons now had a considerable lead of 24 points.

Determined to get back into this contest, Burley desperately tried to make ground. However, mistakes ended each attack. After a turnover, the Pythons chipped the Burley defensive line and scored again. Offside calls against Burley allowed the Pythons to pile on the pressure. Despite holding for numerous phases, the Burley line would break as the Pythons scored their 6th try of the half, giving them a lead of 36-0 at half-time.
Despite the insurmountable margin, Burley looked dangerous in the early stages of the second half. A penalty enabled Burley to attack just outside of the Python’s 5m but they couldn’t make the most of this territory. A fumbled ball allowing the Pythons to run it back into the Burley 22m and score on the next phase. Burley’s discipline allowed the Pythons to get straight back on the attack, crossing the line soon after to give them a 50-point margin.

Not wanting to get nilled, Burley mustered what strength they had left to ensure they got some points on the board and a penalty in front of the posts provided a perfect opportunity to do so. However, Burley opted for a scrum which was unfortunately lost. Burley were gifted another opportunity to score off the back of a lineout on the Python’s 22m. Burley utilised both their forwards and backs to great effect, in an 11-phase drive that resulted in a try scored by Jamie Doyle.

On the board at last, Burley looked determined to score again. However, a handling error gifted possession to the Pythons who countered quickly, scoring another try. With the game already over as a contest, the Pythons became less conservative in attack and played more freely. However, this led to mistakes which benefitted Burley who found themselves in attacking position again. Some quick thinking from Sam Hume enabled him to find a gap in the Pythons defence and cross the line making the final score 55-10 in favour of the hosts.