Once again the Sun God smiled down on Spital Park, for the friendly against Burton 2nds.
After only suffering two defeats all season, and a cup final and semi final approaching, Donington felt the need to test themselves. The test came in the form of Burton A's from four divisions higher.
From the kickoff, Donington seemed overawed by the shear intensity of the bigger and well drilled Burton. After ten minutes, Donington had conceded three unconverted tries and it appeared that the wheels had well and truly come off.
With several key backs unavailable, youngsters Luke Perks, Sam Taylor and Will Baldwin, were put under immense pressure, but stepped up to the mark, tackling again and again.
Full back Dan Kitchin was his usual self, holding up the ball over the line, to foil a Burton try. But Donington could not find the formula, one has come to expect from them.
With about ten minutes of the first half remaining, Donington found their self belief, and started playing their trademark rugby. Wave after wave the Donington pack drove forward, running in two's. Burton seemed powerless to stop them and conceded several kickable penalties. Donington elected not to take the easy points, instead going for lineout and drives. With their tails up, Donington headed for the Burton line. Only solid Burton tackling prevented a try.
Disaster struck, when Totally against the run of play, Burton ran in a try from in their own half, converted for a 22 point lead.
Undeterred, Donington were straight back in the Burton twenty two The Burton defence held strong, and Matt Kibble over clubbed a chip into the corner, for what looked like a certain Dan Kitchin try. With the whole Donington backs sucked into the attack, Burton again broke against the run of play, this time running the length of the pitch for a converted try and a half time lead of 0-29
The second half brought an amazing transformation. A refuelled Donington came at Burton with the same intensity that they dealt out in the first half. Donington were dominant, pushing Burton off their own scrummage ball, turning over rucks and stealing lineout ball. It was Burton's turn to look shell shocked, as Donington forced a pushover try from five yards out with Dan Keeling taking the honours. Dan Kitchin hit the upright for the conversion,5-29
Donington were back on track. Only once did Burton look like scoring again, but "that man", Dan Kitchin once again held up the ball over the line. With total one way traffic, Donington continued to dominate, opting for scrummaging instead of kicking easy penalties.
With minutes to go and Burton in disarray, Donington once again opted for a scrum instead of penalty, and once again drove Burton for a pushover try this time scored by Ady Hacket and converted by Dan Kitchin for a final score of Castle Donington 12 Burton A's 29
Man of the Match:- Dan Kitchin
After a few wins with poor performances, a touch of complacency has crept in and maybe We needed a kick up the backside. This match was the perfect tonic. To win the second half 12-0 against a team of this calibre, when you would expect fitness to be an issue, was simply BRILLIANT!