Staffordshire Senior County Cup Final 2025/2026

Leek 10

Burton 31

On a windy, quite humid afternoon at Stafford, Leek couldn’t match the cutting edge of Burton and, although enjoying the majority of possession, the Moorlanders suffered their 3rd cup final defeat at this level in 40 years.
Leek’s preseason has been complicated by the drought and lack of match practice also told on the team, so the 23-man squad was a welcome bonus for this game, in that new players and those vying for a position in the 1st team squad had a chance to play some minutes prior to the league starting in a couple of weeks.

Joe Byrne was at full back with Sam Brereton and Jack Newton Taylor on the wings. Joe Gorman and Will Midwinter were in the centre, and James Milan was partnering Scott Rawlings at half back.
Skipper Joe Newton Taylor, Ollie Powell and Lewis Dunleavy made up the front row. Joel Booth and Tom Hayes were at lock. Oscar Powell was at No.8 with George Hunt and Connor Bassett on the flanks.
The bench consisted of no fewer than 8 finishers including Jack Bray, Gregor Hayes, Lee Williams, Josh Nadin and Alex Fitzmaurice James and 3 newcomers to Leek in N Butters, H Bradley and J Garner.

Leek’s fast start enabled them to dominate possession and engage the Burton defence for lengthy periods of time, and the strength of the scrum was established in the opening minute when a Leek scrum for a knock on turned into a penalty as the Leek 8 trundled forward. It was probably Leek’s best feature of the game but unfortunately it didn’t lead to any try scoring opportunities.

Jack Newton Taylor went close after 10 minutes but it was Burton that opened the scoring on 20 minutes after a scrum on halfway saw the backs produce an overlap and the very speedy left wing score a try against the run pf play. The conversion missed but it wasn’t long before Burton added a 2nd try after a mistake and stray pass from the Leek backs in midfield as they tried to build an offensive position. The ball was scooped up and one pass later the ball was under Leek’s posts. The conversion was good and Burton led 12-0 after 25 minutes.

Back came Leek with the same kind of tactics engaging the Burton defence and trying to create the overlap as they moved the ball painstakingly upfield. A penalty came on the Burton 22 for a tackle not on the ball carrier and Will Midwinter cut the deficit with a good penalty. 12-3.

As the half wound down, Burton won a penalty and from the lineout deep in Leek’s 22 worked the ball in the maul and that led to a try by the forwards. The conversion was good and Burton had stretched their lead to 19-3 as the first half ended.

The 2nd half saw Burton defending the slight crosswind but despite its strength Leek couldn’t penetrate the Burton defence and Leek had to be satisfied with an Alex Fitzmaurice try on 60 minutes after a good kick had found an isolated defender unable to catch the ball. He kicked ahead and grounded well. Will Midwinter converted and at 24-10 there was a hint of a comeback. However, despite Burton receiving 2 yellow cards in the 2nd half, it was they that scored 2 tries in moves through the centres on the burst and ran out comfortable winners at 31-10.

The difference between the sides was evident with Leek playing their first match and Burton already having a match under their belts last week. Despite the scoreline, the game was much more even than it suggested, and on the note of improvement, Leek will certainly come on for the experience and with one more warm up game at Sandbach this Saturday, the squad should be relishing the opening league fixture at Leek on September 26th when they take on national League 2 relegated team, Rossendale. KO 3pm.

All to look forward to in this exciting season with tough fixtures every week and less time off between games mean the focus will be constant certainly through to Christmas.

Author: J. McDermott