Bury kicked off this match looking to bounce back after tasting defeat at home last week.and after a rather frenetic start opened the scoring. Bury cleverly attacked Barnes on the narrow side and scored through 8 Craig Stephenson, 10 Charlie Reed converted.

Bury 7-0 Barnes

Barnes' first meaningful attack resulted in a penalty converted by 10 Simon Kelleher.

Bury 7-0 Barnes

Bury had a large amount of possession, their attack seemed to be fairly lateral and didn't seem to overly test the Barnes defence.

Barnes on the other hand attacked with menace and a clean break was halted just short. Bury had offended and a quickly taken penalty resulted in a try for man of the match 7 Ethan Harbinson, the conversion was missed.

Bury 7-8 Barnes.

Barnes maintained the upper hand and scored again with 14 Cam Roberts scoring, the conversion was missed.

Bury 7-13 Barnes

Bury's response was to hold onto the ball and to play a bit too laterally however a clever kick through could have gone anywhere, Bury missed the bounce and Barnes scooped the ball up and set about a counter attack. Unfortunately fisticuffs had broken out and referee Connor Boyle halted play and issued a red card to Barnes 6 Louie Kirkham.

Bury should have made the numerical difference count but couldn't find a chink in the Barnes defence.

HT - Bury 7-13 Barnes

The second half began with more purpose from Bury and an enterprising break from their own 22 saw 14 Mike Stanway chip ahead gather and score, Reed converted.

Bury 14-13 Barnes

Bury had a sniff of a try from a cross field kick however an unlucky bounce snatched the chance away. Prop Toby Hill made an unlikely break and in the rarefied atmosphere of space pulled off a move that could only be described as an abomination and he unfortunately knocked on.

Barnes set out their stall for the remainder of the match managing the game with intelligence and a degree of ruthlessness.

When attacking they kept Bury in their 22 and heaped the pressure on, such was the intensity Bury conceded penalties and eventually a yellow card. Kelleher converted one such penalty to regain a lead that would not be surrendered.

Bury 14-16 Barnes

Barnes seized on Bury errors and patiently attacked, eventually scoring through 13 Jordan Souter. Kelleher converted.

Bury 14-23 Barnes

As time slipped away Bury attacked from deep but were again punished by Barnes . Once in possession Barnes turned up the heat, keeping the ball for phase after phase, another penalty ,another yellow card and another Barnes try for 15 Connor Cross, the conversion was missed.

Bury once again played out of their 22 and a promising move ended with an interception that was returned with interest, Bury conceded another penalty converted by Kelleher.

Bury 14-31 Barnes

Play ended with a knock on and Bury's hopes of bouncing back fizzled out.

Bury will reflect on the possession they had without reward, not making the numerical advantage show and how often their errors were so ruthlessly punished by a team that is not second for no good reason.

Barnes will be delighted to have maintained their composure despite losing a player and to have come away from a tricky fixture with a bonus point win.

Referee - Connor Boyle
AR1 - Mark Lawrence
AR2 - Andre Van Zyl

Bury 15 Affleck 14 Leeson 13 Attfield 12 Hawkins 11 Stanway 10 Reed 21
Hall 1 Hill 2 McCartney 3 Cooper 4 Conquest 5 Brownes 6 Williams 7
Bursey 8 Stephenson 16 Kingdon 17 Jeffery 18 Kelland 19 Strath 9
Christie

Barnes 15 Cross 14 Roberts 13 Souter 12 O'Dell 11 Stegman 10 Kelleher
9 Davies 1 Short 2 Ruddock 3 Dean 4 Bloxham 5 Ashcroft-Leigh 6 Kirkham
7 Harbinson 8 Nixon 21 Devlin 17 Humphreys 18 Kassapian 22
McLean-Nelson 20 Lloyd

Crowd - 411

Star Player - Barnes 7: Harbinson

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