Bury produced a stirring display down by the River Thames to underline their National 3 credentials.
The West Suffolk side’s fifth straight win came on the back of a fantastic defensive display as they withstood the attentions of a very good Barnes team.
Barnes have established themselves as one of the top sides in this division, in fact in recent seasons they have dabbled with National 2, so Bury knew they would be in for a stern test.
Barnes had much the better of the first half, enjoying the lion’s share of possession, predominantly through their dominance at the scrum.
With key forwards Sam Bixby and Aaron Waters absent through injury the Bury pack were working hard to hold their larger opponents at bay.
However, despite generating several penalties and hence territory, they struggled to break down a mean Bury defence.
When the first score came it was not through the home side’s forwards’ work, rather some poor tackling on the flank from Bury. Barnes’ left wing Robson received the ball just outside his own 22 but three missed tackles saw him venture to within 5 metres of the try line, where Ormrod’s challenge could only divert the ball towards Crossley, who gleefully dived over.
Macintyre’s splendid touchline conversion made it 7–0 halfway through the first half.
As the Bury forwards began to establish parity with their rivals, the pace and power of the Bury three quarters began to cause Barnes problems.
Twice the home side were penalised for coming into the side of rucks, the second of which saw Ormrod land a penalty to make it 7–3.
Both sides traded penalties, Ormrod notching again for Bury, as the sides went in at half-time with Barnes leading 10-6.
A re-jig at the break saw Paske move to his more favoured fly-half berth and he instantly got the backs moving onto the ball with gusto.
Within five minutes Bury took the lead. A fine shimmy and break by Tanimo Samoa was taken on by Tim Mann and Mike Bellamy deep into enemy territory.
Ormrod zipped the ball away and full-back Casey Stone seared his way through to dot down by the sticks. The successful conversion made it 13–10 Bury.
Now Bury really took control, with youngster Sean Davis making a real impact when he came off the bench and James Mitchell’s move to loose head giving the Barnes No 3 a torrid closing 20 minutes.
Stone, probably Bury’s man of the match in a fine all round team performance, continued to be a thorn in the Barnes defence.
As Barnes began to creak ever more, Ormrod took advantage to land two more penalties, edging Bury to a 19–10 lead.
Despite Barnes throwing the proverbial kitchen sink at Bury in the last 12 minutes the maroon line stood firm with Ben Radmall, Beau Gibson and Samoa leading the defensive rear-guard action.
Demonstrating their collective spirit and determination, Bury duly held on for the victory.
Bury have a rest week now before they entertain Guernsey at the Greene King IPA Haberden.
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