Burnham returned to winning ways after a comfortable victory over Paignton.

Burnham 38 pts

Paignton Saxons 7 pts

THE Burnham pack proved too strong against a spirited Paignton side as the Somerset side ran out 38-7 winners.

From the start, Burnham kept Paignton on the back foot, reducing them to clear their lines and from a misplaced kick, Burnham ran it back and after three successful phases, Hayden Tuttiet, back after a long absence through injury, spotted the gap and skipped down the blind side to score out wide.

Six minutes later Burnham were awarded a penalty. After a series of drives and being recycled three times, Alan House had the opportunity to bulldoze his way over. Piper converted for a 12-0 lead.

Paignton were not to be denied and after a long clearing kick bounced awkwardly, they forced their way over for a try. Burnham continued to press and after three consecutive offences, the referee awarded Burnham a penalty try to lead 19-7 at the break.

Early in the second half, Burnham’s dominance in forward play culminated in gaining a pushover try against the head, claimed by Stuart Blake. Straight from the kick-off, Hocking caught the ball, burst up the middle before passing to Coles to set up an advantageous ruck which led to Tom Chaffey scoring in the corner.

In the last few minutes, Burnham’s formidable scrummaging resulted in another pushover try for Blake.

Burnham are away to Kingsbridge on Saturday, kick-off 2.30pm.

Taunton 3rd XV 15 pts

Burnham 2nd XV 37 pts

BURNHAM’S second string travelled to Taunton and came away with a hard-fought victory.

Early pressure by the visitors paid off as Will Conway drew the defence and created an opening for Jake Allen, who fed Mason to touch down. Soon after, Burnham scored again after good work by Colling, Osgood, Conway and Mason, set up Love for the second try.

Burnham scored again after a good kick by Alex Watkins saw Mitchell and Allen feed Mason to crash over, converted by Conway.

After the break, Taunton hit back with two tries, but Conway replied for the visitors with a try and a penalty. Taunton scored again before Love scored his second, converted by Conway to complete an excellent victory.