Bury St Edmunds have effectively fulfilled their mid-season target, of securing their National League Two South status, with four games to spare.

East Anglian Daily Times: Shaq Meyers, who rounded off the scoring with a try for Bury at Barnstaple to secure a winning bonus point. Picture: SHAWN PEARCEShaq Meyers, who rounded off the scoring with a try for Bury at Barnstaple to secure a winning bonus point. Picture: SHAWN PEARCE (Image: Archant)

But Gavin Hogg, Bury’s Director of Rugby, is determined to avoid this season ending “with a whimper” following last Saturday’s 29-3 win at Barnstaple.

The Wolfpack were just two points clear of the relegation zone, on the back of six straight defeats, going into this month.

But since then, they have completed a hat-trick of victories, over a trio of strugglers in Exmouth (33-28, home), Barnes (43-31, away) and Barnstaple.

That has opened up a gap of 15 points between themselves and the bottom three which, although not achieving mathematical safety, has to all intents-and-purposes guaranteed a third season in the fourth tier.

“I’m obviously delighted with the weekend’s display. The boys executed everything that we tried to put in place,” enthused Hogg.

“Our play without the ball, in defence, was particularly outstanding, which prevented Barnstaple from getting a foothold in the game.

“We played into a strong wind in the first half, so we were delighted to be 15-3 up at half-time. They had a player sent off, which obviously helped to swing things in our favour, after we had weathered a barrage in the first 10 minutes.

“That’s three wins in a row now, which replicates our set of results against the same three teams in November. They were always a run of games that we were targeting.

“We had looked to get a minimum of 10 points from these three games, but we’ve ended up getting three bonus point victories, which is a fantastic return.

“Some other results also went our way as well last weekend, so we’re in a good position.

“Our goal at Christmas was very much to stay in this league, and we’ve virtually achieved that goal. One more win will guarantee that.

“But I don’t want us to finish this season with a whimper.

“The lads are understandably high on confidence, but we’d like to pick up a couple more wins at least, targeting our two home games,” added Hogg.

Eleventh-placed Bury entertain sixth-placed Cinderford this Saturday.