TETLEY BITTER VASE ROUND TWO

Bury 12 - Sefton 28

IT is some 12 years since Bury played Sefton at 1st XV level in a competition when Bury, led by then captain Chris Caloe, also succumbed to a very competent Liverpudlian outfit.

Bury had to make several changes, the most notable being at half back and in the centre.

The absence of Tippett and Leeming meant that Ian Webb moved into the inside centre berth and Peter Stokes, who normally plays on the wing, moved in as his partner, with Mark Livesey at scrum half and Glynn Smith moving to out half.

For the first 15 minutes Bury enjoyed good possession in broken play, but failed to exploit the width of the pitch, prefering to play a confined game based on ruck and maul rather than releasing the threequarters.

The home side opened the scoring after 12 minutes when Webb was given the option of of a penalty from some 25 metres out, which he easily converted.

Sefton could have replied three minutes later when they were awarded a penalty in a similar position, but were unfortunate enough to hit the upright.

Sefton were enjoying an inordinate amount of line-out ball, both on their own put-in and Bury's, employing an unusual tactic of the scrum half standing in the hooker's position and the jumper at scrum half.

Before the ball was put in the jumper, deemed to be the scrum half, advances to join the line and be lifted, withe the scrum half retiring to allow him to take possession.

This seemed to disorientate the Bury jumpers, who made little capital throughout the match.

Sefton were gaining in possession and when Bury were penalised in the 30th minute for deliberate wheeling of the scrum, the resultant penalty was a fast tap and four passes saw the centre score under the posts for an unconverted try.

They were to add seven further points with only five minutes remaining of the first half. A simple passing move outflanked the Bury cover and in the absence of any serious tackling by the defence, Sefton scored a converted try.

Five minutes prior to this score, in an ugly incident, Sefton's second row forward was sent from the field for deliberate violence, having kicked flank forward Bernard Robinson on the head when neither player was involved in play, reducing Sefton to 14 players.

Bury turned 11 points in arrears and the game should not have been out of sight. Some tactical replacements involved Sammy Kelly moving to hooker in place of Whitehead and Smithson going into the second row to allow Martin Freschini to take up the number 8 berth.

The arrival of veteran Freschini usually sparks some life into a sideand after seven minutes Bury narrowed the gap with a penalty some 35 metres out, which centre Webb easily converted.

Another three points were added after 10 minutes of the second half had elapsed when Sefton were penalised for handling on the floor and Webb again did the honours.

With the gap now down to only five points and 25 minutes of the half remnaining, Bury were still in with a chance, but Sefton had a liveliness and inventiveness in their play which was sadly lacking in the home side.

The visitors, reduced to seven men in the scrum, were to suffer even more at the hands of the Bury front fivewhen McCloud was replaced by Dave Shimminsat tighthead prop.

One thing that Bury did not lack was possession from the set scrum, both on their own put in and that of the opposition. But. again, they seemed incapable of converting this possession into points.

Changes

Despite the changes of personnel and positions, the pace of the wings, Mark Fielding and Daryl Stott, was not used and it was the paucity of ball released to the threequarters from the forwards which was to blame for this lack of vision.

The ball moved fast to the flanks, with the opposition a man down, would have allowed more opportunity to pressurise Sefton in their own 22, but this was not to be and the visitors , in almost a mirror image of the first half scored a converted try in the 38th minute.

In what everyone assumed was the last gasp of the Bury side, Ian Webb, converted after 79 minutes of normal time had elapsed.

The referee's interpretation, however, bore no relationship, and in the 82nd minute Sefton, following a good scrum and second row drive, yet again added another converted try, putting the match beyond Bury, despite 48 minutes being played in the second half.

But Bury really had no answer to what was a very lively, and very vocal side.

BURY: McCloud; Whitehead, A Smith, Huxley, Robinson, Smithson, Blenkharn, Livesey, G Smith, Fielding, Webb, Stokes, Stott, Boyd. Replacements: Kelly, Shimmins, Freschini, Kennedy.

This Saturday sees Eccles visit Radcliffe Road in the league (kick-off 3pm).