Bury 7-15 Woodbridge
Bury hosted Woodbridge at the Haberden on Sunday but were unable to continue their good run of form, losing 15-7 to a strong Woodbridge side.
Bury started the match defending against a strong Woodbridge pack who attacked and rucked well. Bury fought back and opened the scoring with a try from Joe Tottie who outpaced the Woodbridge defence to score. The try was converted by Jamie Cooke. The match developed in to an even contest with strong attack and defence from both sides. Woodbridge eventually replied with a try after their forwards drove the Bury defence back over their line. The conversion was missed and half time was reached with the score 7-5 to Bury.
In the second half Bury continued to work hard with an excellent performance from fullback Matt Hunt who continually counter attacked when he had the opportunity, and strong tackling from all the team especially Joe Batterbee and Timo Barrow. Bury were however not able to convert any of their attacks into points. Woodbridge on the other hand were able to convert their continued pressure into 2 further scores during the half, neither of which were converted. The match finished with a win for Woodbridge 15-7.
IPSWICH (A)
9th November 2008
Ipswich 5 – 36 Bury
The Bury team visited Ipswich for a tough game against their local rivals and came out with a thoroughly deserved win.
Bury started with Joe Phillips at no 8 playing his first game for the club this season and his contribution to the game with his back row team mates Jordan Williamson and Luke Platt made the difference between the two sides. Bury quickly got in to their stride when Joe broke away from a driving maul to force his way over early in the game. Bury’s forward dominance ensured that they retained and recycled possession on a regular basis constantly getting over the gain line. Strong runs by Ryan Bennett, Alex Cresswell and Luke Platt kept Ipswich on the defensive and it was no surprise when Josh Hollingworth and Joe Phillips again crossed for further scores. But Bury were also giving Ipswich a hard time in the backs and the best back move of the first half sent Matt Hunt away for another try to reach half time with a 24-0 lead.
The second half saw Ipswich get back in to it with a try of their own. However, that was a brief respite for the home side as Bury continued to take the majority of possession and produce some good running rugby. Moves down the back line were commonplace and as a result, strong running centre Timo Barrow was able to score two tries to extend the lead to 36-5. Bury had so much possession that in fact players were beginning to get in each other’s way as they lined up to take the ball on. Bury completed the day with a 36-5 win after six tries by the team and 3 conversions by Jamie Cooke - man-of-the match Luke Platt typified the effort put in by the team as a whole covering lots of ground and making a substantial number of breaks.
v ELY (H)
2nd November 2008
Bury 36-12 Ely
A mixed Bury team made up of A team and development squad players hosted an Ely team that brought an unbeaten record to the Haberden on Sunday.
Bury started with tremendous energy and in the first passing move down the back line Joe Tottie was able to run around the Ely defence in the first meaningful attack to open the scoring. Ollie Lawson then converted leaving the visitors 7-0 down after only three minutes. Bury continued to press forward and despite strong rucking and mauling by the visitors, Bury extended their lead when Ryan Bennett managed to touch down after a driving maul got him to the line. Ollie Lawson again converted. Ely then managed to hit back with a kick and chase into the Bury half that was poorly defended and allowed the Ely side to cross the line. Bury however ended the half with another score when Morgan Whitehead received a pass from a great break by Joe Tottie and forced his way over the line with some great support from Luke Platt. The half finished with Bury ahead 19-7.
The second half started with a number of changes to the Bury line-up leading to some disruption in the pattern of play. For some time, Ely exerted pressure on the Bury defence and with some clever kicking by the Ely fly-half were unlucky not to score. They were assisted by some dreadful defending from Bury but were unable to score. Then Bury broke away and half time substitute Matt Hunt was able to speed his way down the wing to score. Within a few minutes he had repeated this feat after another passing move putting Bury well in control of the game. Ely kept going though and eventually scored a try of their own a deserved reward for some of their pressure. Joe Tottie, having lost a boot on one through the defence, finished off the scoring in the same way he had started it with another run to the line and the game ended with Bury winners by 36-12.
v STOWMARKET (A)
26th October 2008
Stowmarket 5 – 45 Bury Development
The Bury Development squad played away at Stowmarket on Sunday in cold and blustery conditions.
Bury started the game in confident mood, with a strong move involving Alex Hollingworth, Josh Hollingworth and finally Jamie Cooke who opened the scoring with a well-taken try. The next score came from hooker Jack Hammond who received the ball in space and side stepped the Stowmarket full back to cross the line. Stowmarket attempted to get back in to the game but in one attack centre Josh Hollingworth stole the ball and powered past the defence to add to Bury’s growing tally of tries. The Bury forwards continued to work hard with a surge towards the line. Strong work by Shaun Leeks and Josh Bell set up Joe Batterbee for an easy score and the Bury forwards kept up the pressure enabling Harry Couture scored Bury’s fifth try of the half.
Stowmarket came back in the second half and their efforts were rewarded with a try. Bury, however, continued confidently with scrum half Alex Lack and flanker Joe Batterbee preventing the hosts from getting any clean ball. Strong defence work by Jamie Cooke and Jack McKendrick helped to keep Stowmarket pinned mostly inside their half and any kicks out of defence were efficiently dealt with by fullback Alex Hollingworth. The pressure was eventually rewarded with a second try for strong running centre Josh Hollingworth. The last score of the match came from a second try by Jamie Cooke whose kicking was impressive, converting 5 out of the 7 tries. Overall it was a confident and composed performance by the whole team.
v SUDBURY (A)
19th October 2008
Sudbury 15 – 17 Bury Development
The Bury Development squad travelled to Sudbury on Sunday and came away with a hard fought 17-15 victory thanks to a hat trick of tries from Joe Tottie.
Bury started in spectacular style, receiving the opening kick then making progress up the pitch to set up the first ruck. The ball came out to Oliver Lawson who ran through the Sudbury defence and passed to Joe Tottie who scored. Oliver also converted the try. Sudbury came back and pinned Bury on the line and were rewarded with a try from their number 8. The big Sudbury pack attacked strongly but the Bury forwards kept working with some excellent runs by Ryan Newton and Joe MacDonald. Sudbury's pressure was eventually rewarded with a second try, this time in the corner from a creative back move. Bury again fought back and thought they had scored with a flowing back move involving Ed Barrett, Oliver Lawson and Joe Tottie from the 10 metre line but it was disallowed so Bury finished the half trailing 10 -7.
Bury started the second half in determined fashion and a strong run from Josh Hollingworth set up a scoring opportunity which was only prevented by a tap tackle. Bury then scored with another good backs move which led to a second try by Joe Tottie. Sudbury continued to pressurise Bury and were rewarded with their third try. Bury were next to score when Sudbury kicked the ball to test the Bury defence, but it was caught by Joe Tottie who outpaced the Sudbury defence to score his hat trick. In the final part of the match Sudbury kept up the pressure but Bury defended well, flanker Luke Platt preventing Sudbury from getting the ball back on a number of occasions. The game ended after Sudbury were disallowed a try after a forward pass giving Bury a narrow win, 17 -15.
v COLCHESTER (H)
12th October 2008
Bury A 5-50 Colchester A
Bury were given a rugby lesson when they hosted Colchester at The Haberden on Sunday.
Bury received the kick off and played much of the first half defending their line against a strong and organised Colchester side who were well drilled and very motivated. Bury were unable to cope with the visitors pace and aggression and made some very basic mistakes, gifting possession to them on a regular basis. Despite this, Colchester did not make the most of the advantage that they had and were only ahead by two tries after the first 15 minutes. However, the strong Colchester back row put pressure on the Bury backs and another two tries followed in quick succession. All four tries were converted by the Colchester fly half who could not put a foot wrong. Bury to their credit managed to push in to the Colchester half on a couple of occasions and on one such visit forced the Colchester defence in to a mistake, giving Matt Hunt an interception which he took gladly and ran away to score under the posts.
The second half then became a procession of Colchester attacks that were rewarded with another four tries during the half as Bury became more uncertain of how to play against the visitors. There was some great defensive work by Timo Barrow, Matt Hunt and Cameron Ramsay and Jamie Cooke kicked well from defensive positions despite being under a lot of pressure. The forwards looked solid in the scrum but could not win any clean line out ball or rucks so the backs were mostly on the defensive. The final score of 50-5 did not flatter the visitors and in some respects it could have been a lot worse.
v WYMONDHAM (H)
5th October 2008
Bury Development 12-0 Wymondham Development
The Bury Development squad, including several players making their debuts, faced a strong visiting squad from Wymondham in atrocious conditions at Bury.
The visitors started strongly, driving Bury back with in the set piece and maintaining the majority of the possession. Bury however defended well and even in the poor conditions, did not allow the visitors time or opportunity to breach their defence. After reaching half time with no score from either side, Bury came back strongly with attacks of their own, led by Joe Tottie at centre and Harry Couture and Josh Hollingworth from the scrum. Joe Tottie eventually managed to breach the visitors defence with an excellent run and score which was converted by Ollie Lawson. The Josh Hollingworth managed to break free and run to score in the corner. As the visitors tired, Bury were unlucky not to score again with breakaways by debutant Harry Couture and Joe MacDonald not rewarded with the scores they deserved. Bury reached full time with a hard earned 12-0 win.
Bury A 12-5 Wymondham A
If anything conditions were worse for the second game of the morning as a strong Bury team faced the Wymondham A team. Despite the conditions, both teams tried to keep the ball alive and make plays where possible but it was a penalty from 15 metres out that gave Bury their first score when Trevor Clough took the ball through an unprepared defensive line to crash over. Jamie Cooke then kicked an excellent conversion to give Bury a 7-0 half time lead. Bury continued to try and keep the ball moving and, despite being under increasing pressure at the set piece by the strong Wymondham forwards, they managed to extend their lead through an excellent backs move which lead to debutant Matt Hunt touching down for the second try. Wymondham never gave up though and they were able to score one of their own when the winger out ran the Bury defence to score in the corner. Despite some great attacks by Bury, Wymondham’s defence held firm and the final whistle blew with Bury deserved 12-5 winners.
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