Half a century - and more!

Wigton had this game won within the first half hour when they seemed to break through the defence at will and quickly racked up a 34-0 lead. However, thereafter they struggled to recapture the same fluency and focus and the game became increasingly scrappy before ending in a convincing 55-7 win.

There were plenty of Wigton players who caught the eye. One of these was hooker Richard Jackson who early on stripped the ball from a defender in midfield. Flanker Jay Henderson carried the ball deep into Burnley territory but stand off Dan Reed was held up over the line. From the resultant scrum second row Mark Deans made a strong carry almost to the line. Wigton had a huge four man overlap and were only foiled by Burnley winger Hibbert intercepting in a blatantly offside position. He was shown a yellow card and full back Ryan Clark kicked the penalty for a 3-0 lead.

Jackson was again prominent in the next attack, intercepting a pass but being unable to find a support runner. Burnley had a relieving scrum but their clearance kick down the middle gave Clark a chance to run the ball straight back. He had too much pace for the defence and an outside arc carried him clear to core the opening, unconverted, try for a 8-0 lead.

From the restart Wigton were on the offensive again with centre Oliver Lewis making good ground into the 22. The industrious Henderson was in support to take the ball and score a try. Clark added a fine conversion from a wide position. Burnley were restored to 15 men, but were now 15-0 down.

With Wigton totally dominating, they were awarded a scrum near half way. No 8 Greg Wrathall marked a fine debut with a pick up at the base of the scrum and a terrific run which took him clean through the defence into the 22. He drew the last defender and gave Henderson a pass for a simple run in under the posts. Clark added the extras for a 22-0 lead.

Wigton’s next attack started with a fine run by winger Josh Leeson. Second row Robert Marrs carried the ball further as Jackson took the ball from him and then produced a marvellous offload to Henderson. This time he had a bit of work to do, but duly showed some excellent footwork to beat two defenders and complete a hat trick. Clark added the simple conversion to push the lead out to 29-0.

The next score came from a lineout in the Burnley 22 following a penalty. Wigton carries out a routine catch and drive for Jackson to claim the try. Clark was unable to convert from wide but Wigton now held a pretty convincing 34-0 lead.

It was at this point that game started to lose its pattern. Perhaps Wigton relaxed with the game so obviously won or perhaps Burnley started to summon up a bit of pride as finally had some possession. However, they rarely seemed to trust the outside backs with the ball and most of the time they restricted themselves to close quarter work from the pack. Thus made some progress but rarely stretched the Wigton defence and the impression was one of a lot of effort for relatively little reward. Nevertheless, at least the spells of possession broke up the constant series of Wigton attacks.

For the second half Wigton made some changes of which the most significant was the emergence of David Hanabury into the fly half position for his first home appearance of the season.

It was not long before Burnley were down to fourteen men again with scrum half Rowland giving referee Jason Brown the benefit of his opinion once too often. However, Wigton were unable to take advantage and possession was much more even in the second half and the Burnley defence was markedly more resilient.

Indeed, they took heart from scoring the next try. They attacked a large blindside from a midfield scrum to produce a line in the Wigton 22. They set up a series of ricks and some smart work at the base of a ruck saw No 8 Stockdale take a reverse pass to gallop through a space behind the ruck and cross for a deserved try. Winger Mounsey converted to narrow the gap to 34-7.

Wigton continued to enjoy good field position but too often little errors in handling led to attacks fizzling out. The scrums were a strange affair for most of the second half with the side putting in often coming under pressure. As with many things in the second half, there seemed to be lapses of concentration.

Wigton succeeded in putting a Burnley defensive scrum under pressure and as the visitors tried to play the ball out of defence they were turned over. Hanabury, used to wriggling through the narrowest of gaps in the defensive line, spotted what was, for him, a chasm, and he skipped through to score under the posts to score. Clark again converted to push the lead to 41-7.

From the restart Marrs made a fine catch running forward. As the ball was recycled, Stuart Creighton, having vacated the front row for the No 8 berth, gave a short pass to flanker Jamie Warwick who galloped deep into Burnley territory with desperate defence pushing him into touch. Burnley never relieved the pressure, eventually conceding a penalty. Wigton opted for a scrum. This time the focus was good and Creighton was able to pick up and crash over. Clark again converted.

Although the game continued to be scrappy till the end, Wigton at least ended on a high not. With the score 48-7, Burnley had a series of penalties as they strove for the consolation of having the last word. However, Wigton seized on a knock on in their 22 and produce the beat team score of the day, belated finding some elusive continuity. Good passing and ball retention swept them downfield with Leeson producing a fine finish to score the final try. Clark again converted, being successful with seven out of nine attempts at goal yesterday to wrap up a 55-7 win.

Next week Wigton travel to Eccles where they must be hoping to break their away match duck this season. On today’s showing they have the individuals to cause problems if we can find a little greater consistency during the game as a whole.