Bury relinquished a 25-12 lead to slump to a disappointing defeat in front of a large home crowd. The opening 20 minutes saw the game off to a slow start, with neither team able to gain sufficient quality possession to be able to mount worthwhile attacks.

Bury 25 Letchworth 33

Bury relinquished a 25-12 lead to slump to a disappointing defeat in front of a large home crowd.

The opening 20 minutes saw the game off to a slow start, with neither team able to gain sufficient quality possession to be able to mount worthwhile attacks. Letchworth broke the deadlock after 25 minutes, a five-yard scrum that saw Bury miss two tackles to allow the scrum-half Howman to dart over the line. The conversion was missed. Letchworth then extended their lead to 12 points when their centre McClutchie burst through more poor Bury defending to score under the posts.

Bury then responded in fine style with two quick scores, the second try from flying winger Alston then converted by Beukes to narrow the score to 10-12. The eighth minute of injury time saw Bury extend their lead, a fine chip from scrum-half Edwards leading to Brad James collecting and scoring to give the home team a seemingly comfortable lead.

The second half saw the Letchworth flanker Johal binned for a high tackle, and constant Bury pressure was rewarded when club captain Tim Youngs went over in the corner to score for the 2nd successive week. With the lead extended to 25-12 Bury appeared to relax, and with Letchworth enjoying the lion's share of possession, and with a dominant pack, the visitors stormed back to take a 25-26 lead. Bury responded with a drive that was clearly scored by James, but the unsighted referee denied the home team the score.

A late tackle from Greyling saw the Bury centre binned, and the final minutes saw Letchworth extend the winning margin when they burst through a tiring home defence. Coach Dwain Brown, who returned from injury to play at full-back, knows there is plenty of work to be done with the Bury squad, sponsored by Frames Conservatories Direct, this week travelling to high-flying Civil Service.