IN conditions more akin to water polo, Burn and Wirral produced a high quality fourth round tie in the EDF Senior Vase.

After some early pressure, Burn won a penalty but skipper Bleasdale shaved an upright in slippery conditions.

Wirral responded and were first to score. A mix-up behind the scrum and a slip by centre Elston allowed the visitors to hack through. The conversion was added for a 7-0 lead after 15 minutes.

Burn charged back into the game and some pressure defence forced the Wirral backs into a dropped pass. Bleasdale kicked through and after some smart footwork got a favourable bounce to pick up and dive over.

Burn now had purpose and a second try soon followed. With the forwards laying the platform and having retained possession for a sustained period close to the Wirral line, Bleasdale was able to scamper over from close range for his second score. He also added the conversion.

Burn continued to press and with second row Miller putting in a man-of-the-match shift in the second row tried hard for a further score.

The call in the second half was for ball retention and the Burn forwards started strongly.

Some charging runs took play into the Wirral half only for a dropped ball to turnover possession. The Wirral half-backs tried to use the wind and fly half Harvey put in some booming touch -finders.

However, Burn were able to clear their lines without too much fuss save for a penalty which Harvey converted for a 12-10 score line after 55 minutes.

The visitors tried hard to create a scoring position, but Burn were in no mood to surrender their cup run. The home forwards started to dominate and retained possession efficiently.