Burnham II 24, Minehead 17

BURNHAM II were made to work very hard for the win against a determined Minehead side on Saturday.

Playing with a strong wind in the first half, Minehead capitalised and out Burnham under considerable pressure. Stalwart defending from Phil Colling, Matt Slater and the forwards kept a Minehead at bay - and the backs made some very good carries in midfield.

Minehead opened the scoring with an unconverted try, before adding another shortly after.

A third try sent Minehead into the break with a 17-0 lead - but Burnham, now playing with the wind, launched their own attack after the break.

Captain Evatt piled over for Burnham’s first score, before Osgood, now operating at scrum-half, crashed over for a second.

They earned a penalty try for a series of infringements to bring the scores level, before Henry Bigwood crashed over to give Burnham the lead following good work from Colling, Edwards and Goodall. It was a lead that Burnham were able to hold on to, despite Minehead mounting a late attack.

The seconds next outing is away at high-flying Morganians on March 1.