National League Two South Barnstaple 24 Bury St Edmunds 39 Bury produced their finest display of the season to run in seven tries away in North Devon, writes Simon Lord.
The Wolfpack took the lead as Sam Bixby was driven over from a five-metre line out.
Within two minutes Bury had doubled their lead. The try was a real team effort as Collen Smith drove down the middle, Liam McBride then threw a fine miss pass to Bixby who broke one tackle to set Chris Lord free and he slipped the ball to Tui Uru for a glorious score.
Murphy landed a penalty for Barnstaple before the hosts then enjoyed their best spell in the match, scoring two tries to take a 17 10 lead, both by left wing Speare.
Bury got back on terms thanks to an incredible break by Chris Lord, who befuddled five defenders to score in style.
Harry Anderson–Brown was back in the 9 shirt for Bury and he was instrumental in getting them back in front as a fine 50-metre solo break was finished off when replacement prop Scott Brown was bundled over from close range to make it 22-17 at the break.
A cagey start to the second period burst into life when Stapleton ran over the top of a ruck and stormed downfield. Again Bury stayed patient forcing Barnstaple into conceding a penalty and this time it was Smith who was driven over by his fellow forwards from a close range line out.
15 minutes into the half and Bury notched up their sixth try as Stapleton squeezed over by the corner flag to make it 32–17.
But Barnstaple were given a lifeline when Bury gifted them a simple try. Uru had the ball ripped from his clutches as he tried to drive the ball away from a scrum 10 metres out. The ball was quickly passed to Barum No 8 Bayet who could not miss from close range and it was 32-24.
Try as they might, there was no breaking through the Bury ranks for Barnstaple and as the clock ran down, inevitably one forced pass too many allowed Bury centre Guillane Duplenne to show commendable football skills to dribble through and touch down his own kick.
McBride’s second conversion was the final act of the match, a fine showing from Bury.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here