Regional 2 Tribute South West: Burnham-on-Sea 22-66 Cullompton

BURNHAM-on-Sea RFC were on the receiving end of a heavy home defeat at the weekend against Cullompton RFC.

The visitors ran in 40 unanswered points in the second half to run away with the points and return home with a big win.

The defeat leaves Burnham on bottom of the the Regional 2 Tribute South division with one league point in their opening four games.

In the match, there was a debut handed to Mike Wall in the front row.

The visitors were on the drive early and took just eight minutes to take the lead as they broke down Burnham's defence for a straightforward try.

It was 0-14 just minutes later as Cullompton ran in a second converted try of the match and looked well on top.

Burnham had chances themselves and one in particular for Martyn Keep looked promising. However there was a lack of support for him meaning he didn’t keep the ball, culls snatched it and ran the length of the pitch score. 0-19.

But the chance encouraged the hosts and soon after there was a try for Will Hopkins and Alex Watkins slotted the conversion to make it 7-19.

And Ryan Beard scored before half time and the home side capitalised further on the run of momentum with Will Hopkins bagging his brace to make it 19-26 before the break.

However in the second period, Burnham were unable to carry on the strong showing as the visitors ran riot.

Watkins scored a penalty early in the half for Burnham's last score to take the scoreboard to 22-26. However Cullompton scored quickly after that and the points kept coming in.

The second half slump from Burnham resulted in a final score of 22-66 in favour of the travelling Cullompton team.

Elsewhere, Burnham-on-Sea Seconds lost 32-0 away from home against local rivals Bridgwater & Albion Seconds.

That ddefeat in the Counties 3 Tribute Somerset South leaves the Burnham side in bottom of the table, also with one league point in their opening four games.

Up next for Burnham-on-Sea RFC firsts is an away trip to take on Newton Abbot RFC on Saturday, September 30.

For Burnham Seconds, they are at home against Somerton on the same day.