National League Two South Taunton 50 Bury St Edmunds 0 Bury suffered a humbling defeat to the high-flying Titans in Somerset, writes Simon Lord.

A much improved second half performance could never repair the damage of a horror show first 40 minutes, when Bury shipped 36 points.

Having looked like they would be on the end of a cricket score, the visitors then held out until the 75th minute before finally conceding two tries in the dying minutes.

Taunton scored twice in the first 12 minutes through Mason and Hayler, and Bury were in disarray at the line-out.

They defended well, but Taunton went further ahead after 23 minutes, with Lee crossing to make it 19-0.

Perhaps the pivotal moment in the match came ten minutes later. Bury were lacking a cutting edge in midfield before finally Ben Leng managed to burst clear and get Bury into the home 22.

A desperate Titans defence conceded a penalty under the posts, which Bury elected to scrum rather than kick at goal. Bury attacked but when only feet from the line, fumbled the ball in contact.

The hurried clearance kick hung in the swirling wind and whilst two Bury defenders stood back and watched the ball bounce, Titans skipper Mason raced onto the ball, gathered and sprinted 60m for a killer try.

And before Bury knew where they were, they’d conceded two more tries before half-time, to go in 36-0 down.

If it were a boxing match, the towel would have been thrown in then!

The second half would be about damage limitation and restoring some pride. To that extent, Bury could rightly claim they achieved that.

They dug in and created a few chances of their own. Connor O’Reilly – who had a fine game – broke the Taunton line and then linked with Fin Sharpe, who had come in from the opposite wing. Sharpe was only denied by a fabulous last gasp tackle by full-back Kingdom.

As the clock ticked down to the final five minutes, a tiring Bury side were cruelly picked off. First, a fumble on the Bury 22 was kicked through for Toots to touch down. Then, with the last play of the game, Sam Prior crossed to bring up the half-century.