Bury v littleborough

Radcliffe road had an autumnal feel to it on Saturday as Bury welcomed Littleborough for a match which would see top of the league against bottom. Bury have struggled to get going this season and were in for a tough match against the league leaders who have scored over 100 points in October against teams in the top 5 for the loss of only 8 points.
From kick off the away side, full of confidence, took the initiative and securing the ball when in possession, and disrupting Bury possession at the breakdown allowed them to show some early domination to take the lead strongly within the first ten minutes.
Littleborough were looking good for their early lead when dangerous play gave Bury the penalty which was safely kicked over by Tom Smith to peg back the away side. However the early pressure the away side was putting on to the Bury team was telling as Littleborough continued to extend their lead throughout the first 20 minutes.
Bury showed some fight for the second part of the first half and showed glimpses of what this young side could be capable of. They were knocking on the door but the away team defence stood strong. Good interplay amongst the forwards and then the backs was just not enough and at the turnaround Bury knew they needed to have converted some of their pressure into points.
The Rams were to feel even more stretched when George Kelly left the field injured leaving the home side having to reshuffle bringing on James Swinburn shifting Jonny Allen out into the centres.
Littleborough continued their domination of the game in the tight and the loose, out scrummaging the Bury pack well throughout the game. The defence was creaking and good play in the backs from Littleborough allowed the winger to start running in tries. The game was well and truely lost when a high kick saw the ball bounce kindly for the away sides front row who managed to keep him momentum up to run in the last try of the game.
Bury were disappointed with their performance and will be hoping the weekoff for the world cup final will allow themto get a number of their injured players back. They will be hoping to at least see the return of Joe Kelly, Andrew Peacock and Luke Cleary for the trip to North Manchester in two weeks time.