DESPITE the 23-46 scoreline, Bury St Edmunds could take plenty of positives from this match against Cambridge.

Powergen London League Division Three North East

Bury St Edmunds 23 Cambridge 46

DESPITE the scoreline, Bury St Edmunds could take plenty of positives from this match.

Bury took the opportunity to rest key players and allowed youngsters to have a run but Cambridge were an experienced and much larger team.

However, the home side applied all the pressure from the start, played with great confidence and did not allow the opposition any time with the ball.

Despite this, Cambridge took a shock lead when a penalty was awarded before the visitors gave away a penalty of their own and young James Oakes slotted the points to level things up.

Mulama had to leave the field for Bury but his replacement Petherrick made an instant impact as with one of his first touches he found a gap and jinked his way to the line for a fine try, which Oakes converted.

But Cambridge came back with purpose and the forwards soon crashed over to bring the game to 10-8.

Bury's next try came after a great period of play that saw the ball go through many sets of hands before Matt Redgrave dived for the line.

Oakes was a constant thorn in the visitors' side and he was involved in the next score as he sliced through the Cambridge defence to put Jack Hallett away, who went over in the corner.

The half was brought to a close when Bury were awarded a penalty close to the halfway line and Oakes kicked it with ease to give the hosts a 23-8 advantage.

Cambridge made some telling changes in the second half and started to dominate the game through strong running and high levels of skill.

Despite one or two sterling Bury performances, Cambridge took the game by the scruff and the home side ended up chasing shadows. The crowd were treated to a rush of points with five tries, all of which were converted and a drop goal - all for Cambridge.

The coaching staff at Bury felt the game was a worthwhile exercise with Saturday's match against Harlow looming.

The first half performance was most encouraging and, with the future in mind, James Oakes performed well above expectations. Saturday's must-win league game kicks off at the Haberden at 3pm.