North Stafford Men's 1s hosted an in form Burton 1s side. The sides finished level on points last season, but Burton had some notable new additions for North Staffs to contend with. Pakistan internationals Sulman Razzaq who represented his nation at the 2022 Asian Cup in Jakarta and Abdul Manan, who featured for his nation at the recent 2022 Commonwealth Games, were both added to the Burton side.

Burton started the stronger of the two sides and were consistently looking to upgrade their possession in and around the D into short corners, one of which was fired home low into the bottom right to make it 1-0 to the visitors. North Staffs limited Burton after that and despite not getting into a consistent rhythm Staffs were able to make some intricate moves forward. Tom Link was able to turn his man in the D and win a short corner which Ben Read fired into the post man's body. This was upgraded to a Penalty Stroke and Read made no mistake to level the score his seventh of the season from the spot.

Goalkeeper Mahmood had to be alert when he made a double save to deny the visitors and he and the defence kept a number of shorts at bay. Burton though retook the lead when Pakistan international Manan created room to fire a reverse stick strike into the backboard making it 2-1, which is how it remained at the break.

The second half saw a Staffs comeback dealt a blow early on. Another short corner was won by Burton and the cleverly worked routine was deflected in by international player Razzaq at the left post. The rest of the half saw Staffs as the side creating more opportunities, but they failed to make anything clearcut. Captain Ollie Adams was the engine in the middle who tried to push his side forward. Whilst both Josh Evans and Lloyd Morris Fletcher worked tirelessly up and down the left flank.

The performance against the current league leaders will give Staffs optimism, but there is a growing understanding that points need to start being gained.