L&Y 1st XV 46, Bury St Edmunds III 24

L&Y kept themselves in the hunt for the EC1 Plate trophy with an improved display against the side that beat them 43-24 away just a fortnight ago. The notable difference was the selection of three new starters in the back line and who all gave excellent performances. Local teacher and ex-league player Tom Zirbel grew into the game and controlled affairs superbly from flyhalf, despite it being his first start in a game of rugby Union. Louis Smedley showed excellent pace and drive on the wing, and Kieran Williams showed enormous grit and power in the centre. Young Syd Butcher also swapped from his wing role to start at open side flanker and put in another feisty display.

L&Y got the scoring underway with the first two tries. From a midfield scrum captain Ray Hauraki broke right and sent Smedley off down the wing. Some great interplay featuring Butcher, Alfie Webber and Josh Williamson led to a penalty underneath the posts which was quickly taken by Andy Harding for Zirbel to send Alex Marshall in for the score. L&Y maintained the pressure and some more structured build up play forced a penalty on the Bury 5m line, again taken quickly and Hauraki unloaded for Webber to barge over.

Bury showed their main attacking threats when their powerful 13 and elusive 15 ran hard into the L&Y 22. An excellent L&Y turnover gave the chance to clear but a chargedown allowed Bury the time to hoist a high kick and their 15 collected the loose ball to canter over for a converted score. L&Y were obviously struggling to settle with the new combinations and they were making simple errors; kicks not going 10m; communication mistakes at line outs; turnovers; defensive errors in midfield. However they held their line and kept Bury out, then worked their way back into the Bury half.

A blatant knock-on earned a yellow for the Bury left wing and should have led to a penalty try but L&Y didn’t take long to take advantage of the superior numbers and Williamson rolled over from the back of a driven maul after 35 minutes. Bury hit back immediately with a second score from a clever kick into the L&Y 22, then a lovely touch finder by Reece Monk gave L&Y the position to drive a lineout towards the Bury line and Hauraki peeled blind for the bonus point try.

The wind advantage in the second half didn’t count for much to start with as L&Y conceded penalty after penalty to give Bury easy territory and possession. To cap it, Marshall went to the bin for a deliberate knock on. However, from nothing, a switch in the centres saw Monk cut back through the forwards and free Smedley down the right hand touch line, where he floored the pedal and raced away for an excellent 60m score which Zirbel converted.

As L&Y tried to force the game, an unnecessary unload gifted possession to Bury who kicked long and after a series of strong attacks, and some hefty defensive tackles, the strong 13 cut through for a deserved converted score. Following a quick water break, L&Y moved away again when Monk found touch on the Bury 22, a set of drives involving Richie Hyde, Webber and Smedley all made ground, and big Jordy Yeates drove over for try six which Zirbel again converted for a 34-19 lead. Whether it was his conversions but the Australian flyhalf seemed to find his mojo and he dominated the remainder of the game. Two lovely diagonal kicks earned some decent territory and a third down the middle sent the Bury 15 scurrying back into his 22 only to be cut down in possession by Zirbel chasing his own punt. Hauraki scooped up the loose ball and sauntered over for a try which Zirbel duly converted.

Once again Bury hit back when a bit of ping pong down the left bounced their way and their flyhalf juggled the ball but held on to sprint over. However L&Y finished off the game when Alfie Tiffen and Callum Barber combined to win yet another line out on the right, Zirbel gave Monk enough room to chip wide left for Lawler to collect and sprint into the corner and complete the scoring.