Barnes denied by best defence faced this season -

From the start Barnes' pack had an advantage in the scrums and Bury's three-quarter line looked dangerous. The visitors kicked off and most of the first half was played in Barnes' territory. A free-kick at a scrum got Barnes deep into the other half but a good clearing kick sent them back. Their second foray into opposition territory came from a penalty for offside near half-way. They kicked for a line-out after which they were penalised for not releasing. Bury kicked for a line-out at the opposition 10 metre line. Barnes stole the line-out and sent ball wide but dropped a pass 5 metres back. They wheeled the scrum and got the ball and broke blind; wing Howells ran half the pitch before hooker Crossley got the ball knocked down by a defender and scored near the corner at 18 minutes. McIntyre's conversion was very good.

Despite Barnes' advantage in the scrums there was often trouble getting the ball away cleanly from the base of scrums and rucks. Bury got the ball at the back of the first ruck after the restart and recycled 5 times to get a penalty 24 metres out near centre field. Ormrod went for the points but missed. From the 22 drop-out Barnes soon advanced into the other 22 and got to their line-out 13 metres out. Bury's defence was good and they got the ball and broke out to get a put-in 20 metres into the other half. They advanced from their put-in and recycled 6 times close to the forwards to get a penalty 20 metres out in centre field just before the half-hour and Ormrod kicked the points. Bury secured the restart and got the ball to fullback Stone who set off on a diagonal run to open space, he rounded Barnes winger Bevan who followed to make a try-saving tackle resulting in a penalty to Barnes 5 metres from their try-line, enabling the home side to clear. In the last minutes of the first half Ormrod and McIntyre added 3 points to their teams' scores.

Barnes regained soon after their second half restart and got a scrum at the opposition 22. From that they recycled close several times without being able to advance and Bury got the next put-in, still inside their 22. From the scrum a break at centre opened up Barnes' defence and sent them back into their own half. After some good recycling Stone was put through a gap to the posts after 2 minutes for the lead and Ormrod added. The next 20 minutes produced no scoring. First Barnes got to 8 metres out before being penalised for not releasing. Then a good attack took Bury to an attacking line-out 8 metres from Barnes' line. Barnes forced a turnover after Bury's drive went down and one recycle and they cleared to touch at their 22. Later when Barnes tried an up-and-under, Bury knocked-on giving the home team another scrum still 7 metres in their own half. From that no. 8 Sharpe made a very good break; Barnes recycled 3 times before chipping towards the corner. Bury had to take the ball dead giving the opposition a 5-metre put-in. The visitors were penalised at that and Barnes chose another scrum. At that Bury's no. 8 Edison came around to pick up the ball and run off with it, resulting in a Barnes' line-out 17 metres out. Rather surprising that Barnes didn't get a try from those 2 scrums. Barnes threw their line-out not straight; after the scrum kicks were exchanged with Bury making ground into the other half then they kept ball in hand and advanced to get a penalty 27 metres out early in the 4th quarter and Ormrod kicked the points.

Barnes regained the restart then after 2 kicks and 2 errors Barnes got a put-in near halfway; at the scrum; for a change Bury wheeled and got a penalty and 10 more metres from the Ref. Now from 10 metres into Barnes' half Ormrod kicked his last with 12 minutes to go. Barnes again regained their restart; kicks were exchanged before a Barnes' line-out. Bury defended well before Barnes next scrum then more good recycling after that was met by very good defence from the visitors. Barnes attacked more strongly from their next scrum and got to 5 metres out to get a penalty and a man advantage for the rest of the game. The ball was put into touch for a line-out instead of another scrum. Again Bury prevented the opposition from scoring. Barnes recycled 7 times before being penalised for not releasing. That was the end of Barnes' attacking. Twice they had good set piece possession 5 metres from Bury’s line and didn’t score. In the second half Barnes had a better percentage of the territory but Bury’s defence was top-class and their discipline at the breakdown meant that Barnes had few opportunities to build upon.

Conditions dry, cloudy, hardly any wind and the pitch firm.