Western Counties North

Bristol Harlequins 14, Burnham 8

BURNHAM were unable to notch up their third league win of the season on Saturday, as they crashed to a 14-8 defeat at the hands of second-placed Bristol Harlequins.

Former Old reds captain Jed Hooper powered his way over the hosts, who were also awarded a penalty try.

Quins captain Ross Hickery added the extras from the kicking tee, as they held on to take the four points and climb to within eight points of leaders Coney Hill. But things could have been a lot different for Burnham, who had two tries disallowed by the referee.

For the first 20 minutes, Burnham were in the ascendancy but unfortunately failed to capitalise on their efforts - and just before half-time they were hit with a double whammy.

Firstly the penalty try and secondly Harlequins were awarded a penalty and rumbled forward before whipping the ball down the line for Hooper to score.

In the second half, Burnham lost both Wall and Ed Lewis to injury, forcing the referee to sanction uncontested scrums, much to the disgust of Harlequins players and supporters.

But Burnham clawed their way back with a Tom Chaffey penalty and then with a try.

Breaking out from inside their own 22 with a storming, tackle breaking run from Wikiteria, Burnham's backs put Russ Pike in to score in the corner.

But this was to be the final score of the game, as Burnham were forced to settle for a losing bonus-point.