Kenilworth Men's Firsts 7-54 Burton Men's Firsts

On a cold and dull grey weather day Kenilworth hosted Burton.

This was a rearranged fixture from a previously postponed match, again, due to the weather and a frozen pitch.

The final score did not really reflect the match, as Kenilworth again showed grit, resilience and tenacity in all facets of the game.

At the moment this is not enough for this young side, but as long as they stick together and take the positives from their performance, eventually the tide will turn.

The game itself was open and exciting. Both teams wanting to play with ball in hand in the right areas of the field.

Burtons finishing was far more efficient and they opened the scoring through sustained pressure on 18 minutes.

Their driving maul off a lineout close to the Kenilworth line produced a try for their outstanding tight head prop, Riley Cassidy, this was converted by the full back.

There followed some good spells of outstanding defence from Kenilworth and a limited time in attack which yielded no points at this stage. Burton scored again on 40 minutes this time through their hooker off another drive converted by the full back.

Kenilworth had defended with good shape and aggressive line speed but could not match Burton's physicality and power.

Outstanding, for Kenilworth were the more experienced players Rhys Jones, Todd Freemantle and Jon Lowden.

As expected, the game opened up as we went into the second half and Kenilworth had several continuous attacks which showed resilience and promise.

In one of these attacks, Burton secured a turn-over in their own half and scored a break away try through their very mobile tight head prop, Riley Cassidy and converted by their full back.

Kenilworth showed resilience and determination even with limited attacking ball.

The Kenilworth forwards were doing an effective a job as possible. The lineout was functioning quite well with Morgan Fox to the fore and the scrum was holding its own, especially with the return of Kieron Payne.

The backs showed moments of winning the gain line with fluidity and promise.

Burton followed up with three tries on 50, 60 and 71 minutes.

Again, prop Riley Cassidy scored, converted by their left winger. The Burton centre scored on sixty minutes, again this was converted by their left winger. This was followed by a well taken try on seventy-one minutes, by their scrum half, again converted by the left winger.

Kenilworth's moment of glory came in the 74th minute through outstanding work from left winger Iestyn Thomas who instigated the opening gambit of the move and finished after slick handling and great support play.

This brought a big cheer from the gathering crowd. It was converted by Rob Holden.

Burton replied with two more tries by both wingers as they spread the ball wide and looked for space. One of these was converted.

The score at the finish was seven points to 54.

The game was played in great spirit, excellently refereed and the Kenilworth supporters were right behind their team in the ongoing difficult circumstances.

The next men's firsts XV match is at home to Banbury on Saturday 15 February, with a 2.15 kick off. There is a Pirates and Former Colts pre-match lunch.