Bury kicked off the Suffolk Cup final against their close rivals Ipswich in front of a large and vocal crowd at the Greene King IPA Haberden.
The early exchanges were rather nervous with both sides making unforced errors And Bury conceding a string of penalties.
Bury settled and recorded their first try. A good line-out ball was used effectively by the backs for the mercurial Connor Roberts to sprint away, and Stephen Herlihy converted.

Bury 7-0 Ipswich

Ipswich hit back immediately and from a penalty kicked to the corner their forwards produced an effective catch and drive for Harry Butler to score, but the conversion was missed.

Bury 7-5 Ipswich

Bury almost scored again, good possession used well led to numerous phases and only a forward pass prevented a score. Ipswich failed to clear the ball and from a counter-attack, they conceded a penalty that Herlihy converted.

Bury 10-5 Ipswich.

Ipswich began to dominate possession for a period of time and great continuity from a line-out ball eventually led to a second try for Butler, Callum Murphy converted.

Bury 10-12 Ipswich

From the restart and subsequent Bury scrum, Ipswich were penalised, Herlihy stepped up and converted the shot at goal.

Bury 13-12 Ipswich

On the stroke of half time tempers flared with both sets of forwards providing a cameo of handbags for the crowd to enjoy!! The unflappable referee Darryl Chapman issued a stern warning to both teams.

HT Bury 13-12 Ipswich

The second half started rather scrappily however it was Ipswich that settled first and seemed to gain the upper hand.
Bury were making some decent line breaks but couldn't quite finish them off. One such break ended with an Ipswich penalty that was quickly taken, as they ran out of their own 22 Herlihy was penalised and yellow carded for an unfortunate foul play. Ipswich kicked deep into Bury territory and a ball off the top of the line out was taken on by Ali Bevan, his mesmerising run bamboozled several would-be Bury tacklers and he scored under the posts, and Murphy converted.

Bury 13-19 Ipswich

With the numerical advantage, it was all Ipswich and they were only denied by some excellent last-ditch defence with the excellent Alan Bells to the fore. As Ipswich pressed man of the match George Cain intercepted and sprinted away almost to the try line, Bury quickly recycled and captain Lewis Jeffery was on hand to score. Ash Clarke converted.

Bury 20-19 Ipswich

This signalled a change in momentum and from a line out Ryan Clarke made a break eluding a tenacious defence. He was stopped short however an Ipswich player illegally played the ball. Referee Darryl Chapman had no hesitation in presenting a yellow card for the miscreant and awarded Bury a penalty try.

Bury 27-19 Ipswich

In such a close game fine margins dictate the outcome and so this proved to be the case. A Bury attack was halted illegally and once again Mr Chapman reached for his yellow card dispatching a second Ipswich player to the bin. From the resultant penalty Bury opted for a scrum, the evergreen Chris Kent broke from the base and after a quick phase an outrageous pass found Fin Bonas in enough space for him to finish at a canter, the conversion was missed.

Bury 32-19 Ipswich

Ipswich were not yet done and they responded immediately Butler finishing off a notable hat trick, Murphy converted

Bury 32-26 Ipswich

The restart signalled the last play and a handling error brought proceedings to an end with Bury victorious much to the delight of the raucous crowd.

Full-time Bury 32-26 Ipswich

The Bury coaching team will be delighted with this cup victory particularly bearing in mind the squad was made up of 9 ex colts plus another U20 player, all playing their part.
Ipswich will reflect on the opportunities missed whilst they had a one-man advantage and will rue two yellow cards in quick succession.
For the neutral observer, this intense and thrilling match provided an excellent example of community rugby at its best, both sets of players and coaches should rightfully be proud.

Pictures from Beanstalkmedia.co.uk here