Very good retention and recycling helped Bury come from behind in the 2nd 1/2

Uncertain control of the clock may also have had something to do with it. The winners were certainly overjoyed at the whistle.

A shorter report omitting lots of errors and kicks from both teams to maintain readers' interest. In the first 15 minutes following the visitors' kick-off they were kept defending in their own half. A penalty then gave Barnes their first possession in opposition territory. This was kicked for a line-out just outside the 22, their second to be stolen. After four kicks they forced an error near halfway. From the scrum fullback O'Toole sent a good chip to touch 26 metres from the home team's line. Following the line-out an error at centre gave Barnes a scrum 15 metres out. They got a free-kick at that and their forwards ran the ball; it was recycled close 3 times before fly-half Williams-Davies sent outside centre Hersey forward. After a recycle wide they got to 3 metres out then a penalty that gained them a 5 metre line-out. The forwards drove over from there with no. 9 Crossland on the ball early in the second quarter and an exceptional conversion from O'Toole followed.

Barnes continued to have territory advantage after the score. From their scrum 13 metres from their line near touch Bury broke away at the blind side then with 5 phases got to halfway to an opposition put-in. The visitors soon kicked after that; Bury kept the ball recycling 3 times before they kicked to touch after taking the ball back into the 22. From this line-out Barnes started a drive that was held then released to centre where they were turned over. A very good touch kick took Bury to an opposition line-out 25 metres out. Barnes recovered from tapped ball and cleared to touch to 7 metres inside their half. Now they stole a line-out and advanced to stay in the other half towards the end of the half. Mistakes by Bury put themselves under pressure and held out close to their line before the whistle.

Barnes cleared the good restart to touch 17 metres inside their half. Bury kept ball in hand from the line-out with 8 varied phases to get a penalty 30 metres out near centre field and fullback Lyle kicked the points at 2 minutes.

The next 7 or 8 minutes were fairly even then from their scrum at their 10 metre line Bury put together an excellent set of 12 phases to advance to 24 metres from the visitors' line and get a penalty near centre field after 12 minutes and Lyle kicked the points to make it 6 - 7.

Bury dealt with the restart and soon launched an up-and-under and an error gave them the next scrum at halfway. From that they broke blind with fly-half Peres running to the 22 where the ball was recycled 4 times to get a penalty 12 metres out. The kick with a 30 degree angle at the 22 hit a post and slid by for a 22 drop-out. After the drop-out they put together another excellent sequence of 14 mostly close phases until penalised 20 metres out at the end of the 3rd quarter. The kick took Barnes just past their 10 metre line and after the line-out that was stolen the home team got a put in there. Again their recycling and retention was good and consisted of 5 phases. The defence forced an error to get a scrum just outside their 22. They got a free-kick at that and ran it before kicking to the other 22. Bury cleared to touch; Barnes took a quick throw-in; two kicks followed then at the next breakdown Bury got a put-in when Barnes did not get the ball out of a maul quickly. This was 26 metres from the visitors' line. From the scrum Bury tried wider ball and advanced with 3 phases to get a penalty 9 metres out after 26 minutes. Lyle kicked for the lead.

Three kicks followed the restart, the last into touch at Bury's 10 metre line. Barnes kept the ball after the line-out and recycled close 4 times before kicking into the 22. This was returned with interest to the other 22 then Barnes cleared to touch at their 10 metre line. The line-out was stolen and soon after Bury were penalised. The kick took the visitors to 16 metres into the other half. An error at the line-out gave Bury a scrum there at which they were penalised when it collapsed a metre nearer halfway. This was after 32 minutes and O'Toole regained the lead with a 20 degree angle kick.

Barnes cleared to touch at 11 metres from halfway. From the line-out Bury kept the ball in and when their maul went down they recycled twice close to get a penalty at the 10 metre line. The kick for the points missed with 5 minutes left.

Bury kept the ball from the 22 drop-out and recycled a couple of times then at the next breakdown the ball was judged unplayable resulting in a Bury scrum 14 metres into their opponents' half. From that they broke blind to the 22 then put together an excellent sequence of 17 phases almost all close until the defence forced an error to get a scrum put-in at their 22. The visitors cleared to touch just 29 metres out. The apparently Referee controlled scoreboard clock now showed 41 minutes. Following the line-out Bury's pack started a very good driving maul that went down 8 metres out. They retried and that went down again. They recycled 4 more times to get a penalty and man advantage for the last seconds of the game. Lyle kicked the points from the 22 with a 45 degree angle to win the match.

Persistent very light drizzle throughout, strengthening later; some wind, 100% overcast, dull & grey over a soft, rough pitch.