Somerset Vase final

Burnham-on-Sea 38, Yatton 13

TEN years on from their last appearance in a Somerset Vase final, Burnham-on-Sea made history by winning an epic final in front of a large crowd against Yatton at Weston Hornets RFC on Tuesday night, writes Lee Berry.

The Stags had beaten Yatton twice during the season in the league encounters but that was irrelevant as Yatton proved to be tougher than thought in the first 40 minutes.

The game got underway at on Weston Hornets RFC 4G pitch on Tuesday night in front of large crowd.

The Stags went ahead from a Tim Piper penalty on two minutes but Yatton levelled the scores with one of their own shortly afterwards.

From the restart, James Havercroft chased and plucked the ball from away from Yatton, broke through the bewildered forwards but was brought down short of the try line.

The ball was lost and Yatton slowly went through many phases to play to then find themselves back in the Stags 22.

Touch was found, and The Stags wont the resulting lineout then kicked away only back into the hands of Yatton who relentlessly hammered on the Stags door.

They eventually found a way through after 20 minutes of play to score the first try of the game and take the lead 3-10.

Ryan Beard did a carbon copy of Havercrofts restart and The Stags were given a penalty for offside which Piper kicked to bring the score to 10-6.

Yatton were dogged in the loose and ran with ball in hand at every opportunity but the every reliable D kept them out.

The Stags regained possession to push Yatton back in there 22 area and Yatton were penalised in the ruck.

Piper kicked to touch, the lineout was won, and the forwards huddled together to form a driving maul which didn't get moving.

The ball was whipped out and a couple of phases had passed then Will Hopkins somehow managed to find a small gap to score the Stags' first try which Piper converted.

Coach Kev Inalls made a couple of changes, one being Alex Watkins, who made an immediate impact, as he found himself galloping along the wing only a minute or so into the second half to score out wide and extend the lead.

Yatton kicked a penalty a few minutes later but it was at this point those nervous minds had settled in the blue & white camp and the players began to play some quick, open attacking rugby which Yatton struggled to deal with.

Piper found space with a chip over the top, the ball bounced kindly to Tom Chaffey who hacked the ball along and over the line to score - Piper converted.

Piper was then given further opportunities to extend The Stags lead with a couple more penalties which he did to make it 31-13.

With time ticking away and Yatton still seeking to score points, substitute Eoghan Westhoff, had other ideas as he scrambled and bounced his way through the Yatton defence from open play to score and the secure the win for the Stags.

It is safe to say that this season has been the most triumphant, impressive and memorable one since the Vunipola days.

There is just one other very important fixture which awaits this illustrious group of players - Bristol Saracens RFC in the promotion play-off on Saturday, April 27 - kick-off time to be confirmed.