Blackheath kicked off this eagerly awaited clash of the divisions two in form teams and set off at a rate of knots scoring after two minutes. After only a phase or two Blackheath 11 Andrew Denham was put in space and made a clean break sprinting to the line to score the opening try converted by 10 Tom Ffitch.

Bury 0-7 Blackheath.

Only a few minutes later Blackheath scored their second try. A promising Bury attack ended with a penalty. Blackheath attacked and a clever chip kick was taken into touch by Bury.
Blackheath attacked from the lineout 12 Markus Bircham passed to man of the match 13 Jake Hennessey to score, the conversion was missed.

Bury 0-12 Blackheath.

The impressive Ewan Evans making his debut claimed the restart and set Bury on the attack however several waves of attack were rather too lateral and well organised aggressive defence kept Bury at bay.

Blackheath took their turn at attack and were able to cross the gain line with each phase putting the Bury defence under increasing pressure. Evans shot out of the line to make a strong tackle but unfortunately injured himself in the process ending a promising debut.

Bury were kept under pressure and eventually conceded a penalty that Ffitch converted

Bury 0-15 Blackheath

Blackheath maintained their attacking persistence and |Bury's defence held out bravely until another penalty was conceded. Ffitch stepped up to convert

Bury 0-18 Blackheath

Bury continued to batter away at the Blackheath defence to no avail, their play tended to be forced laterally and often backwards by an impressively hard working Blackheath defence.

The half ended with a series of turnovers and penalties with Blackheath seeming to gain the upper hand and at 0-18 the Bury faithful could only hope.

HT: Bury 0-18 Blackheath

Bury kicked off the second half seeking to find a way into the match. They gained possession and had a number of phases of attack whilst an energetic set of players entertained the large crowd to a bout of handbags. A chapter of erroneous play including a penalty to Bury and knock on ended with Blackheath exiting their 22m. Bury came again and although their attacks were often lateral and lacked penetration some space began to appear in the 5m channels. Bury's attack was often met with extremely stubborn and patient defence. Blackheath soaked up the pressure and awaited their chance to gain penalties. This theme continued until Bury managed to get some quicker ball and most importantly front foot ball. The space in the 5m channel was exploited and 11 Ciaran Leeson scored in front of an enthusiastic and packed grandstand. 15 Charlie Reed added the conversion.

Bury 7-18 Blackheath.

From the restart, play hung around the middle of the pitch with neither side able to cast off the shackles of a defence-dominated phase of play. Unfortunately, Bury conceded a penalty that Ffitch was only too happy to convert.

Bury 7-21 Blackheath.

So attritional was the next sets of play three players ended up on the ground requiring treatment, a testament to how brutal the attack and defence proved to be.

When play resumed Bury continued to batter away and Blackheath were happy to let them until their patience was rewarded with a turnover penalty. From the resultant lineout Blackheath made a clean break and only brave last ditch defence held them out. From a 5m defending scrum Bury's attempt at playing out was halted illegally. Referee Jack Sutton awarded a penalty and dispatched the culprit to the sin bin.

As time ticked away Bury remained on the attack, a rare missed Blackheath tackle presented Bury with a line break and further penalty. Referee Sutton demonstrated his displeasure by issuing a second yellow card.

Bury ran the penalty and were able to gain ground with some positive phases, a clever crossfield kick by Hawkins found Reed in space to score. Unfortunately, the conversion and bonus point was missed.

That brought a pulsating match to a fitting end.

Bury 12-21 Blackheath

Bury will be disappointed that a slow start cost them the opportunity to push the league leaders harder and also that they didn't secure a losing bonus point. However to compete for so many periods in such a high class match will provide some comfort

Balckheath will consider this a job well done against an in-form team that could have derailed their impressive run of form. The coaching staff will feel the tactics were spot on and never gave Bury the opportunity to counterattack at any stage.

See the matchday and crowd-cam images from Beanstalk Media, here.

Referee Jack Sutton
AR 1 David Stronge
AR2 Steve Milligan

Starman - 13 Jake Hennessey Blackheath
Crowd 613

Bury 15 C Reed 14 M Stanway 13 W Attfield 12 E Evans 11 C Leeson 10 K Hawkins 9 W Christie 1 T Hill 2 F McCartney 3 B Cooper 4 R Conquest 5 Y Browne 6 R Williams 7 M Bursey 8 C Stevenson 16 E Kingdon 17 L Jeffery 18 B Kelland 19 A Strath 21 H Hall

Blackheath N Foster 14 J Lloyd 13 J Hennessey 12 M Bircham 11 A Denham 10 T Ffitch 9 J Daly 1 A Holland 2 O Walker 3 A Boye 4 K Paul-Pearce 5 E Taylor 6 T Stradwick 7 F Owen 8 T Baldwin 16 A Witchell 17 L Jeannot 18 J Catt 19 C Bell 20 A Harris