Moor 1st XV ease to victory over Burnley.

Moor’s opponents at home on Saturday were Burnley with both sides traditionally producing close games at Green Lane. This was not to be this year as the latter, having lost a number of players, are in the process of rebuilding, resulting in them fielding a somewhat young and inexperienced side. As a result, Moor had their biggest win for a couple of seasons, scoring 13 tries in the process.

The game followed a similar pattern both sides of the interval with Moor scoring rapidly in the opening 10 minutes, followed by a relatively barren period during which the visitors managed to put points on the board and then in the final 20 minutes the home side scored almost at will following each kick-off. They opened their account as early as the first minute with a try for winger Felipe Silva followed by a penalty from fly-half Shaun Stirrup with skipper Jim Hine getting the second try after 10 minutes. The only score in the following 10 minutes was an unconverted try for Burnley, which was scored following a quickly taken penalty and an outrageous dummy pass that caught the home defence off guard. The scoreboard then resumed ticking over for Moor with a second penalty from Stirrup and four more tries before half-time, scored in order by centre Nick Smith, winger Ivan Smetana, lock Ben Jones, following a storming run from 22 metres and finally full-back Chris Ogden-Smith; four of the six tries in this period were converted by Stirrup with Moor finishing the half 44-5 to the good.

After the interval, three tries were scored in rapid succession as both Ogden-Smith and Smetana each got their second and back-row Tom Ireland opened his account. Burnley then produced their best rugby of the game to keep the home side pinned on their line and forced the latter into conceding a series of penalties with the visitors eventually being rewarded with a try near to the posts, which was converted. This was to be the last time they mounted any serious challenge as Moor once again turned the screws by scoring four more times before the end. This was started off by a debut try for lock Bruno Rossi, followed by centre Petr Stourac, replacement winger Tom Smith and a solo effort the full length of the pitch by Ireland for his second try; all the last five tries being converted by Stirrup to take his personal tally in the game to 24 points and a comprehensive 89-12 win for Moor.