National League 3 London & SE Bury St Edmunds 39 Westcliff 14 Bury ran in six tries despite the atrocious weather conditions to humble lowly Westcliff.
This was only Bury’s second home game of the season and any hopes of the Haberden faithful witnessing an open free flowing game were dashed due to the game being played in a constant downpour.
It was a day made for the forwards and the Bury pack were in superb form from start to finish to dominate their opponents. The Westcliff scrum was shunted backwards all day long and in the loose it was a similar story.
Westcliff, without a win all season burst out of the blocks, anxious to get confidence-boosting score.
However the Bury defence stood firm and when they finally got their hands on the ball, scored with their first move of the match.
Openside flanker Charlie Precious scored his first try for the club. Sage was to find the slippery underfoot conditions difficult for place kicking and his conversion of the try was missed.
Bury doubled their lead on 20 minutes when Loma Kivalu proved unstoppable from close range after his forwards drove him to the line. Again Sage could not convert but he did land a penalty on the half hour to put Bury 13–0 ahead.
Westcliff, despite having to play on the back foot, rallied before the break. Jack Jones landed two penalties from Bury indiscipline to make the half time score 13–6.
The horrible conditions showed no signs of letting up after the break but Bury went on to score four more tries.
Westcliff were the first to put points on the board however, when Jones third penalty went over via both posts! Now 13 points to 9 and Westcliff had hope.
Bury however had other ideas and within two minutes scored a fine try as centre James Soloman dived over and Sage added the extras.
Five minutes later and the game was put to bed. A fine team move involving several players was finished off by Kivalu up in good support for a front row player. Sage again split the posts and with 50 minutes on the clock Bury led 27–9.
With such awful weather it was never going to be a spectacle, yet Edison and Scott Lewis were superb at mastering the conditions to ensure the Bury backs were given a constant supply of possession.
The threequarters did not disappoint and skipper Chris Snelling was on the end of an overlap to score out wide.
Westcliff battled on till the end and the dangerous Bannister deservedly scored a try for the visitors after 30 minutes of the second period. The conversion was missed leaving it 32–14 to Bury.
But the day belonged to Bury and with three minutes remaining full-back Tristan Rawcliffe rounding off a move that began just inside the Bury half and ended with him slithering over.
Sage notched up his third conversion, leaving the final score 39-14.
The win moves Bury up to fourth in the table but they face a tough trip to second-placed London Irish Wild Geese this Saturday.
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