At a chilly Greene King IPA Haberden, this young Bury side once again raised their game and ensured they completed the Suffolk Cup competition unbeaten. With the cup already secured and the hard work having been done with five prior victories, a lot of teams may have taken their foot of the pedal and relaxed, but this squad is made of sterner stuff than that. The first half was a lesson in how to play dominant rugby and, although Colchester came back strongly at the start of the second half, the damage was done and Bury could deservedly celebrate a 29-17 victory.

From the kick-off Bury applied good early pressure across the field, also showing some nice handling to spread the play wide whenever possible. Early tries almost came through Finlay Blair and Vincent La Starza, but both were held up just short of the right-hand corner. Austin Dennis was playing well, linking play nicely and the counter-rucking was having some early success. After 10 minutes the home side’s pressure told – a strong scrummage from Bury put pressure on the Colchester backs who could then only kick clear up towards the 10m line. Billy Reid collected safely and after a short burst passed to Nico Marchini who carried it up to the Colchester 22m line. He timed his pass to the winger Luke Neal who still had a lot of work to do with at least three defenders converging. His feint to cut back inside sold two of these opponents and then his raw pace took him outside where, despite the close attentions of additional covering tacklers, he touched down in the left-hand corner for an excellent try.

Colchester tried to fight back but the intensity of the Bury defence meant that even when they had good possession they could not gain any territory. Home players were alert across the pitch, from the prop forward Alisdair Evans snaffling any loose ball at the breakdown, to the flanker Austin Dennis making the right decisions on when to pass and when to run, to the winger Finlay Blair knowing when to break down the line or cut back inside to support. When Colchester managed to counter-ruck and win the ball back Jack Griggs lined up their fly-half for a huge tackle which seemed to cause a wobble across the whole Colchester backline. As they fumbled the ball Nico Marchini drove over to win possession back and Luke Neal was on hand to see the space down the blindside and speed away to score under the posts. George Howard added the conversion to take the score to 12-0.

For the next 10 minutes or so Colchester had more possession but simply could not get out of their own half. The intensity shown by the home defence was very impressive, with some great tackling coming in from Charlie Burrows, Austin Dennis, Sam Green and Luke Neal (to name but a few). When Bury did win the ball back they were much more penetrating with their attacks; this was exemplified on 20 minutes when Jack Griggs broke down field before popping the ball up to a full pace Kai Tan. His excellent run was held up but he presented the ball nicely for a quick thinking George Howard to kick through deep into Colchester territory. Nico Marchini led the chasing pack, expertly nudging the ball into the in-goal area before catching and grounding the ball in one fluid movement for a skilful try in the left-hand corner. Colchester’s first serious threat to the Bury line arrived just before half-time, but once again great defence from the whole team kept them at bay. A half-time score line of 17-0 to Bury seemed like just rewards for an excellent all-round performance from the home side.

The second half kicked off with Colchester determined to make their mark on the game. Their increased intensity led to two tries in the first ten minutes and suddenly a match that had appeared over was back on again. Bury sensed the danger however and two minutes later Jack Griggs picked up from the base of a strong scrum and drove down the short side. George Howard wrapped around nicely and took the ball at pace before Jack Griggs collected again and drove over strongly from close range. Thomas Cornwall converted to stretch the lead back out to 24-10.

The game was opening up rapidly, with both teams attacking nicely and some end to end moves testing the fitness levels of all the players. Finlay Blair was proving a valuable nuisance around the scrum and breakdown, always alert to the various opportunities. William Hudson-White made some very determined breaks, repeatedly making more than 20m of territory and narrowly being denied a try after just failing to reach his own kick through. He was not to be denied however, as on 25 minutes he drove through at least three tacklers to score after good work from Kai Tan.

There was still time for Colchester to score a consolation try, but strong tackling from Nico Marchini and Harry Wooldridge along with some brave ball recovery work by Thomas Treneman prevented any further scores. Indeed, the match ended with Bury looking the more likely to add to their tally, as Henry Cain was twice denied in the clubhouse corner after making good runs. A final score of 29-17 was a fair result between two good teams played out in excellent spirits and capped what has been a highly impressive Suffolk Cup season for Bury. The cup presentation followed the match and it was heartening to see so many teammates who could not be fitted into the squad on the day turning out to deservedly celebrate together. This Bury team is a truly special one built on solid foundations of friendship, team spirit and camaraderie and the sky is the limit as they progress and grow together.

We are very grateful for Erik Marchini’s brilliant videoing of the full match – this will be very useful for analysis and to re-watch on the barren Sunday mornings ahead without any rugby. For Erik’s full match video please go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJLWWqAnVak
Congratulations once again to the entire squad and thank you for all your support this year. If this is to be the last competitive action of the 2019-20 season, then at least the team finished on a high and can be very proud of themselves. Please take care of yourselves and each other, and we’ll look forward to seeing you all again as soon as possible.

Man of the Match (Forwards): William Hudson-White
Man of the Match (Backs): George Howard
Most improved (Forwards): Kai Tan
Most improved (Backs): Ralph Cooper