Bury produced a storming performance to take the points at Woodford, and continue in their quest to retain third position in the London North 2 league.

Woodford 20 Bury 29

Bury produced a storming performance to take the points at Woodford, and continue in their quest to retain third position in the London North 2 league.

Player-coach Brown is now sidelined with a broken arm so Westy moved into inside centre, with Tim Mann outside him. Bury started strongly, the pack winning good regular possession and with Ant Lavea enjoying a return to form at scrum-half he kicked through to secure an early penalty which was missed by PD Terblanche. Bury continued to pressure and from a line out won by Martin Rebdale a straightforward miss move in midfield saw Stuart Turner over in the corner, Terblanche hitting the upright with his conversion attempt.

Woodford responded and won a penalty for offside with they kicked to reduce the deficit to two points. Bury quickly replied, Marius Van Den Berg making a great break in midfield,offloaded to Terblanche who slipped the ball to Mann, who broke through two tackles to score a fine try under the posts.

Woodford continued to try to break through, but outstanding defence from the whole Bury team, led by man-of-the-match Ben Geatches, denied the hosts any scoring opportunities. On the stroke of half-time Van Den Berg put in a fine cross-field kick that was brilliantly picked up by Turner, at full pace, to score, Terblanche successfully converting to give Bury a17-3 lead at the break.

The second half saw Bury continue to perform strongly, showing great defensive skills which turned to impressive fast attacking rugby when in possession. There were no further scores until midway through the half when Brad James made great ground down the wing, and from the resulting five-yard scrum Ashley Parkes dived over to extend the lead. Bury continued to dominate, and with Charlie Birrell enjoying his best game of the season, he gained possession in midfield, it was quickly recycled and Lavea romped over to score, Van Den Berg converting to extend the visitors lead to an impressive 29-3.

The last ten minutes saw Morgan Cross yellow carded for a pointless body check that saw the Woodford prop leave the field injured and the match reduced to uncontested scrums. Woodford finally showed why they are the leagues second-highest points scorers with three quick scores against a tiring Bury defence. However, Bury took the victory, with a scoreline that flattered the home team, and the coaching staff will be delighted the way the team bounced back from the disappointment of losing the chance to gain promotion with their recent loss at Eton Manor