Moving up to Youth rugby with shirts and ties, full pitches and longer games, took a bit of getting used to for Bury U13s but through trial and error, hard graft, and teamwork all came good in the end.

Having had some success in the minis and having blown away Hadleigh in the first outing of the season, the U13s were shocked to find themselves well beaten by Colchester, drawing against Cambridge and trounced by Wymondham in the following three games. Clearly some changes were needed. There were, however, some real positives…Archie Harris, returning to the front row after a year’s sabbatical/ judo, was a revelation, Valentin Moraru, in only his second season of rugby was showing real talent and Ellis Kilbane having been missing in Romania for two years had returned to the fold. Gregor Stewart, Noah Cooper and Hugh Simmons also showed that they could more than hold their own in junior rugby front rows. A “big” difference was that for the first time ever we seemed to have got some genuine size in our squad in the shape of Valentin, Luke Saffery, Joel Clifford, Jordan Dunkerley, the fire-breathing Fergus Vickery, and new recruits Charlie Cowell, Liam Sullivan and Ewan Stiddard.

So, with nothing to lose and the odd injury to force our hands, the U13’s reshuffled the cards – some things worked and some things didn’t but gradually the U13s began to take shape as a team… Max Harding, Ethan Quilliam, Sam Roper Docherty and the effervescent Danny Hale showed their abilities and desire by playing in a raft of different positions. We ended up with a Suffolk Cup starting line up where only the props (the mobile and technically brilliant Ollie Rowe and George Barker), one second row, and the No.8 were playing in the same position as they had last year. Second rowers were on the wings, a hooker at scrum half, a wing forward in the centre and a full back into the pack…but it worked. The pack “clicked” with Max Derbyshire thriving on the openside flank and Jordan rediscovering his intimidating charges; Oliver Thompson and Paddy Mountford marshalled the troops from half-back; rock solid Captain Jack North and the slippery and clever Jaden Barry made sure that the midfield broke the gain line on every attack, the back three, Valentin, Charlie and Harvey Williams were clinical in their finishing, and the wizardry of Harvey “Hempo” Hempstead was deployed in every single backs position.

A very close Cup victory against Sudbury set up the season’s turning point, a resounding 31 -15 Cup victory over an unbeaten Ipswich YM. A thumping 48 – 0 win against Colchester gave Bury the Suffolk Cup. Every fit player in the squad played a part in this Cup success. Bury U13s were now on a roll and the unbeaten Cambridge Cup winners, Saffron Walden, were swept aside 0 – 17 to set up an Eastern Counties final between Bury and the Norfolk Cup winners Wymondham, a team that had beaten the U13s three times already this season and one that we had been unable to score against…No Problem! Bury U13s took the game to them and won more convincingly than the 7-12 scoreline suggested. Eastern Counties Champions 2014/15!

The Bury boys have also caught the eyes of the selectors this year with 11 being chosen for the Saints’ programmes and one for the Tigers’ programme.

Forward of the Year: Jordan Dunkerley
Back of the Year: Valentin Moraru
Players’ Player: Paddy Mountford
Coaches Award: Jack North