Colchester Ravens 25 Bury St Edmunds 45

Colchester Raven’s first home fixture of the season saw Bury St. Edmunds visit Mill Road for what unfolded into an incredibly exciting local derby.

With Burys first XV in National League 2 South, Colchester expected a tough second-string side and the visiting Wolfhounds did not disappoint. The early pressure was on the home side and after nearly 10 minutes of continued pressure in the Raven’s half Bury scored the first try of the match, converting to take a 7 to nil lead. From the kick off Bury’s direct forward play marched Colchester back towards their 22 and after only another two minutes from the last, Bury touched down for their second. The Raven’s were struggling to contain the visitors’ in their own territory, and an improved defensive effort was Colchester’s priority heading into the second quarter. This came when some hearty tackling won the ball back when Bury were hot on attack with Raven’s scrum half Jamie Murray carving off some meters with what turned out to be one of many excellent box kicks to relieve the pressure on the home team. An area of the game in which Colchester dominated was the scrum, and from this set-piece pressure the Raven’s did some marching of their own, with a lovely threaded grubber from Fly Half Lewis Williams only just being touch down for a 22 drop out ahead of the onrushing Paul Summerson. From the resulting restart Bury managed to put Colchester back under pressure in their own 22 only for Murray to clear from the base again. The Raven’s defence won the ball back and after some good work by the forwards it was left wing Julian Chamberlain-Carter who dotted down for Colchester’s first try. Without the conversion it was Bury who led 12-5. Colchester’s kick off reception broke down from the restart and from the knock on Bury managed to score, converting this time to extend their lead to 14 points. Again the resumption of play had Colchester under pressure but with Murray's clearances pushing the Bury forwards backwards, Colchester strung the phases together with another cheeky kick from Williams sending Bury into their own 22. Unfortunately from the lineout Bury countered and from nearly 80 meters out managed to score the last try of the half; 26-5 to the visitors at the break.

Having put in a big shift for 40 minutes, Lock Wayne Munn took a deserved rest before the restart, which brought on Will Stanhope into Centre and a shuffle in the pack. With Blindside Patrick Murphy off after taking a knock just before half time, match-day Captain Andy Goodbourn moved from Number 8 into the second row, Leo Lewis from midfield to the flank with the back row being completed by Joe Cook and replacement Robert Pickard. The halftime talk was about speeding up the game and with the increased mobility from an extra flaker the Raven’s broke into their stride almost immediately. From the kick off Colchester recycled the ball through some quality phases before Lewis popped up and powered through the Bury defence. Excellent link play from Pickard, Cook and young lock Rory Miller took the Raven’s into the Bury 22 where more quick ball resulted in Goodbourn crashing over for Colchester’s second try. From the kick off the Ravens again fumbled the ball but from an impressive scrum and a barrage of meaty tackles, Colchester went straight back onto attack. The industrious Pickard got the ball rolling with another rollicking carry and with the home team strolling into Bury’s red zone, Ravens hooker Nic Woodhead busting over for Colchester’s third. With kick offs still causing Colchester some issues, Bury re-gathered and scored again almost immediately from the restart. This theme continued and Bury dotted down a further two times stretching the score to 45-15, the last being after an incredible lung busting passage of play where both teams went from one 22 to the other, and back again, over the course of a handful of minutes. With only 10 minutes to the match remaining the Raven’s kept up the pace and from a defensive lineout on the 40-meter line, Loose Head Prop Troy Palmer intercepted a pass to rush in for his third try in two games. With Murphy now back on for Miller, Colchester’s pack had five back rowers on the pitch and from some good pressure Bury had to set for a scrum 10 meters out from their own try line. As one, Colchester managed to hit low and drive, pushing Bury’s disintegrating scrum back over their line, winning a 5-meter scrum as the reward. From this solid platform the Ravens launched an attack and from only a few quick phases Chamberlain-Carter powered over for his second try of the match. Without the final conversion this pulsating 12 try match ended 45-25 to Bury St. Edmonds.

Although every man put in a significant amount of effort for the full 80 minutes it must be also be recognised that in Palmer, Woodhead, Miller, Cook, Murray, Williams, Lewis, outside back Jack O’Sullivan and replacement Will Tillet, the Colchester Ravens fielded eight 18 year olds yesterday; six of these coming through our Colts setup.