Burton U16s traveled to Malvern in a break from tradition to compete for the Dave Bowen cup.
Dave was a former club president that played a leading role in both the Mini/Junior and senior sections of Burton RFC. In memory of his efforts the Dave Bowen cup donated by his family is played for between a Burton and Malvern youth team annually. A request from Malvern to get a full squad this year resulted in a change and Burton agreed to travel.
Burton started the day early with a tasty filling breakfast at the club cooked by Tom Beard's Mum. Very much appreciated by the lads especially as most were unaware that 8am actually existed on a Sunday.
Despite this a squad of 17players and an injured supporter Harry Williams set off to Malvern.
Before kick off both team honored the game with a minutes silence.
The game kicked off with Burton needing to defend hard with Malvern moving the ball well. After a number an fast attacks from the Malvern back line they found a gap with the first try scored but not converted.
Burton came back strong with forward dominance in the line out and maul creating multiple platforms and forward surges finishing with Elvis crashing over for a score.
The restart saw Malvern exploit slow and low numbers at the ruck by Burton with a number of turnovers. Again Malvern moved the ball quickly and scored more tries in the back line.
Unable to score again before half time Burton finished the half with only 5 points at least 2 tries behind.
The second half saw much better control of the ruck from Burton notably George O'Brian working hard around the park. The more solid platforms allowed Burton to move the ball quicker looking more dominant in the back line. Only excellent defence from Malvern kept many scoring runs by Burton at bay. Eventually the Burton pressure provided some results allowing Henry Longstaff and Jacob to score well worked tries. Unfortunately it was to late to catch Malvern but provided a more respectable score to finish a good hard contest that I am sure the late Dave Bowen would have enjoyed.

Ian Baker