Colchester Colts defeat Bury in Eastern Counties Cup

Taking place at the third time of asking, Colchester entertained local rivals Bury in their last pool fixture in the Eastern Counties Cup and emerged victorious in a very competitive game notable for the fact that the the Bury side kept going right until the end (showing character and effort for their coaches and supporters).

Colchester started the game energetically and took an early lead when flanker and captain Sam Lines forced his way over from close range after some strong forward play moved the ball towards the Bury line (5-0). The lead was doubled shortly afterwards when centre Jonah Varela raced away from inside his own half, beat the fullback and touched down under the posts. Colchester's structured play continued with the backs showing their worth, moving quick ball along the line to give winger Ollie Eves the opportunity of touching down out wide (15-0). The away side responded and with their first period of real pressure earned their first points with a close range penalty chance (15-3). Colchester, showing good interchanging between forwards and backs, were soon back on the attack. Hooker Jon Lynch was unfortunate to be called back when touching down (having received a forward pass) but the resultant scrum was turned over and fly half Sam Borges exploited a gap and touched down, converting the try himself (22-3). Just before half time, winger Ben Simpson took advantage of some further effective back line play to touch down in the corner; rounding off a sound first half display (27-3).
Half Time Score: Colchester 27 Bury 3

Bury came out of the blocks very quickly in the second half and were rewarded with a terrific try by their winger who ran three quarters the length of the pitch to touch down in the corner (27-10). Soon afterwards, as the home side seemed to lose a little structure, Bury scored in the other corner to make the scoreline more interesting (27-15). Back came Colchester with Eves and Borges interchanging to release second row Nathan Linscott to put the ball down for a score (32-15). Winger Ollie Eves scored his second and third tries as the half progressed; showing great pace in touching down close to the posts and again out wide (42-15). Number 8 Josh Clarke was unlucky not be be awarded a charge-down try (in touch) before winger Simpson ran his for his second score a little while later (47-15). To their great credit, Bury did not give up and had the final word when scoring the final try of the game right on full time (47-22)
Final Score: Colchester 47 Bury 22