Witham were on a high for the start of Saturday;s' match, after the previous week's league win over Dagenham.

They were looking forward to showing local rivals Burnham in this friendly match how much they had improved over the last season but cold and windy conditions meant that the hoped-for big win turned into a respectable result.

Burnham started the scoring with a penalty kick given for an off the ball incident and that was taken by full back Robert Carrington.

Witham quickly replied - the ball was picked up from a ruck by captain John Clark who passed to second row Brian Penn.

He in turn passed to flanker Jon Ferris, who only just made the line to score the only try of the first half.

The second half was hard work with the windy conditions making passing and kicking difficult.

However, from a line-out on the 22-metre line the ball was caught cleanly by No 8 Lee Wilkey and set well by the pack.

Scrum half Simon Mann made the call for hooker Paddy Sherlock to run along the line-out and passed to him.

Sherlock motored his way through the Burnham defence to score beside the post. Fly half Gareth Scott converted the try.

Sherlock left the field shortly afterwards with a shoulder injury to be replaced by substitute Michael Austin.

Play continued with both teams making several breaks but defences were too good to produce any more tries.

Saturday sees Witham travel to play Rayleigh - the only team they have lost to in Eastern Counties Division Four South this season.

Burnham beat seconds

Burnham II........................22

Witham II..........................14

Witham took to the field with spirit and played their part in a hard-fought but friendly match.

The first 10 minutes could have gone either way but, with a lapse in Witham's defence, Burnham scored their first try but did not convert. Witham then came out with all guns blazing - prop Gary Campion scored an excellent try from a second phase move, full back Ken Manning converting the try.

Thirty minutes into the first half, Manning scored a try for Witham, which he subsequently converted.

Witham went into half-time leading 14-10 after Burnham scored their second try five minutes from the end of the first period.

Taking to the field again, Witham came out strongly but, despite strong defence and some good attacking moves, they never managed to penetrate the Burnham line in the second half.

Burnham capitalised on a Witham defensive error and scored 10 minutes into the second half.

And 15 minutes from the end of the match, Burnham charged down an attempted clearance of the Witham line and scored.

The game ended with Witham attacking the Burnham line for 10 minutes without crossing it.

Captain Grahaem Ball said that Witham's spirit was good throughout the match and it was probably one of the best matches the second team have played so far this season, with everyone still going strong at the final whistle.

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