HARWICH AND DOVERCOURT II 3

BURY IV 28

Eastern Counties League

division three south

HARWICH faced their toughest test of the season so far against a young, well-drilled Bury side.

Despite a strong performance, they could not prevent their first defeat of the season.

Harwich were forced to make eight changes from the previous week's starting line-up, due to injuries and non-availability.

This led to first appearances of the season for Grant Rayner, Rob Nicoll, Josh Newland and Ian Woodward.

The alarm bells were ringing right from the kick-off when the visitors failed to collect the ball.

The Bury winger was quick to recover it and terrorised a panicked defence with pace.

It took several attempts to stop him, with wing Lewis Kerley eventually bundling the Bury man into touch.

As both sides tried to settle into the contest, it was a real game of attrition and evenly matched as they competed in the centre of the pitch.

Both teams were forced into early changes, with Harwich losing prop James Mann.

The deadlock was broken 15 minutes into the game, when Craig Wilson converted a long penalty.

This narrow lead was held for most of the half until Bury came back with a converted try for a 7-3 lead.

The game was finally balanced and it would be the smallest errors that would be punished.

Missed tackles from Harwich saw a great individual effort from the Bury wing for an early try and the potential for the floodgates to open.

Harwich's centre pairing of Guy Williams and Sam Jewell stood rock solid, forcing Bury to change their tactics, switching to the kick and chase which suited a side full of running.

They were met with a robust resistance from the fatigued visitors, but they could not prevent two further converted tries, despite a terrific effort.

Team: M Sanders-Crook, G Rayner, J Mann, S Woodley, I Woodward, S Mills Snr, J Sciberas, R Nicoll, M Bow, C Wilson, L Kerley, G Williams, S Jewell, D Warren, J Newland, O Bray (captain), L Durrant, R Kemp, R Boyne.

On Saturday, Harwich are away to Essex University (3pm).