Burntwood need a helping hand in their promotion push
Burntwood coach James Davies was full of praise for his side’s efforts after seeing their promotion hopes take a hit, writes Nick Elwell.
A 24-17 defeat to Shrewsbury, that clinched the title for the Shropshire men, coupled with a victory for Old Saltleians saw Burntwood slip down to third in the Midlands 3 West (North) standings.
They will now need a helping hand from elsewhere if they are to overhaul Old Salts and nick second spot and promotion.
Burntwood looked as if they were going to end Shrewsbury’s perfect league record on Saturday after a Luke Ruckyard try, a penalty try, and a conversion and penalty from Aaran Dunet had put them 17-5 up.
But Shrewsbury rallied and fought back to score the winning try with four minutes remaining.
“We played really well on Saturday and I can’t fault the lads,” said coach James Davies. “Shrewsbury made a couple of substitutions at half-time that changed the game.
“They rallied well and put us under pressure in the second half and when you are under that much pressure you are going to ship points.
“We started to tire towards the end and they grabbed the winning try with just four minutes left.
“But if we don’t go up, it won’t be because of Saturday’s game. Defeats earlier in the season against Harborne and Edwardians will be the costly ones.”
Burntwood are at home to Trentham on Saturday while Old Salts, who are four points clear, travel to Cleobury Mortimer.
“We have to pick up 15 points from our final three games and hope that Old Salts slip up somewhere,” added Davies. “We need Cleobury to do us a favour on Saturday.”
