Bury hosted Ipswich in the second round of the county cup on a wet, cold and blustery day. After Ipswich had been defeated in round one by Southwold, Bury expected the visitors to throw everything at the game to try and stay in contention for the cup.

It was a day for the forwards as the difficult conditions made an expansive game very hard to play. With a much bigger pack those conditions may have suited the visitors better than the hosts. The start of the game saw consistent pressure from Bury with Alex Van Der Plyum going close in the corner, and strong defence from Ipswich. Eventually the pressure told and after good work Josh Bullingham powered over for the first Bury try. Ipswich responded after Bury failed to clear their lines scoring with a very good finish down the blindside. The game ebbed and flowed before half time with Bury being penalised a number of times for offside and unable to build on their strong start. Charlie Upright was solid at full back and Rhys Parry Jones made some strong carries in midfield, but the sides went in at 5-5.

The second half saw much of the same with great defence from both sides as the forwards battled for supremacy. Eventually Ipswich broke the deadlock scoring out wide to take the the lead. Shortly afterwards they came close again knocking on just before the try line, a knock on sportingly indicated to the ref by an Ipswich lineside official.

Bury fought back and really took the game to Ipswich. Josh Bullingham was illegally pulled back after kicking through with no-one between him and the try line, after the Ipswich 3/4’s fumbled. He was too far out for the ref to call it a penalty try and the Ipswich fullback was properly given the benefit of the doubt and subbed for a period rather than sin binned.

The commitment of the Bury pack shone through as they stood their ground and kept the Ipswich pack on the back foot as the second half continued. Bury really had their tails up with Josh Wallis, Scott Mcinery ,Ryan Bourne and Hari Lally in particular leading the pick and go charge from the forwards and after battering the Ipswich line Sam Heutink found a way over for Bury to level the scores. The conversion from Stuart Adam into the wind fell agonisingly short. Ipswich launched a final attack which Bury repelled on their try line with Archie Murrell making the tackle of the day.

A draw was a fair result as both teams gave it everything in a physical and compelling encounter in atrocious conditions. Bury live to fight on for the cup with the next game against Southwold being a winner takes all match. Final score BSE 10 - 10 Ipswich A