Bury's defensive resilience tested as clinical Rosslyn Park secure victory at the Haberden.

Bury St Edmunds 14–42 Rosslyn Park

Half-time: Bury St Edmunds 0–21 Rosslyn Park
Full-time: Bury St Edmunds 14–42 Rosslyn Park
Star Man: Rory Jennings (Rosslyn Park)
Attendance: 817
Referee: Jack Sargentina

Match Report

This promised to be a high-paced, high-octane encounter between two sides renowned for their attacking outlook. In reality, Rosslyn Park demonstrated their attacking prowess and ability to control play for long periods, while Bury, despite some truly outstanding defensive efforts, were undone by numerous unforced errors and costly indiscipline.

Rosslyn Park dominated the opening 20 minutes but were repeatedly repelled by resolute Bury defence. The hosts held firm until Charlie Coe finally broke through, showing his pace to race away for the opening try.

An exceptional piece of skill from Rory Jennings then created the opportunity for Coe to score his second. Shortly before half-time, Jake Cleet crashed over for the visitors' third try, with Jennings converting all three.

The half came to an end following a Bury infringement, with Rosslyn Park kicking the ball dead to take a commanding lead into the interval.

Half-time: Bury St Edmunds 0–21 Rosslyn Park

Rosslyn Park quickly picked up where they had left off, extending their advantage when Conor Byrne weaved his way through the Bury defence to cross the line.

Bury responded positively with a well-worked try of their own, Matt Hicks crashing over from a driving maul. Ben Penfold added the conversion to get the hosts on the scoreboard.

Bury St Edmunds 7–28 Rosslyn Park

Any thoughts of a comeback were quickly dispelled when replacement scrum-half Ewan Fenley crossed for the first of his two tries, with Jennings once again adding the extras.

Bury continued to battle, and Clarke Macfarlane produced a moment of individual brilliance to score a superb try. Penfold converted, giving the Haberden faithful a glimmer of hope.

Bury St Edmunds 14–35 Rosslyn Park

However, Fenley's second try perhaps summed up Bury's afternoon. A combination of unforced errors and a lapse in discipline allowed the replacement scrum-half to take a quick tap and race over for a relatively simple score.

Star Man Rory Jennings converted once again, completing a perfect afternoon from the tee with six successful conversions from six attempts.

Try as they might, Bury were unable to find any further consolation. Disappointingly, the match ended with another unforced error from the hosts, bringing a frustrating afternoon to a close.

Full-time: Bury St Edmunds 14–42 Rosslyn Park

Teams

Bury St Edmunds: Rees, Macfarlane, Hema, Kharbouch, Andrew, Penfold, White, Robinson, Hicks, Cilia, Sams, Bretag-Norris, Grigg-Pettitt, Riches, Williams.

Replacements: Jones, Cooper, Hill, Loose, Ashdown.

Rosslyn Park: Byrne, Trimble, Vaughan, Allen, Coe, Jennings, Redpath, Wade, Davies, Woodward, Ashton, Huis, Cleet, Hosking, King.

Replacements: Piper, Wheeler, Ellis, Fenley, Smith.

Scorers

Bury St Edmunds
Tries: Hicks (47), Macfarlane (62)
Conversions: Penfold (48, 63)

Rosslyn Park
Tries: Coe (22, 28), Cleet (35), Byrne (42), Fenley (51, 69)
Conversions: Jennings (23, 29, 36, 42, 52, 70)

Photo Credit: BeanstalkMedia

Full Match Gallery From Beanstalk Media available here.