Match report - Bury St Edmunds U17s, sponsored by the Servest Group

London and South East Shield semi final V Bishops Stortford home 18/03/12

Bury edged out by a strong Bishops Stortford side

Bury St Edmunds 0 – Bishops Stortford 12

The opening exchanges were even but played in the Bury half with Bury absorbing Bishops Stortford pressure from their huge pack by putting their bodies on the line. The first half remained scoreless with neither side able to break through.
Bury gained confidence in the second half with Sean Davis and Trevor Clough attacking but not able to break the Bishops Stortford defence. Bury winger Josh Hollingworth then crashed over the line but was held up. Bury attacked again and the last pass was intercepted by Bishops Stortford and the player was brought down near the line by a great covering run from Cameron Ramsay. This proved to be the turning point of the match with Bishops Stortford finally breaching the Bury defence after 53 minutes. Bury continued to attack but one of the enormous Bishop Stortford props breached the line to seal the win in the 67th minutes which was converted.
Although Bury lost the match it could have gone either way and was an enthralling match with both side wanting to play rugby. This is the furthest a Bury U17 side has got in national competition for 6 years and the coaching staff were impressed by the hard work and commitment of the team.