Over a long, hot and tiring day, Bury’s performances were as impressive as their stats might suggest:

• Played 6, Won 6
• Tries for 24, Tries against 4

The boys were well supported by friends and family and gave them, and the other players and supporters, a feast of attractive, running rugby, matched with a hard edge and passion with which the other sides just could not compete.

It was a strange start to the day as, with one of the development teams not showing (Eccles), the anticipated format of two pools of 5 teams each, with the respective winners competing for the Cup and runners-up for the Plate had to be re-thought. Bury were seemingly consigned (by virtue of being drawn “out of the hat”) to the “development” pool, of only 4 teams, to play for the “Plate” but with no opportunity of competing for the Cup (why do draws never seem to go in our favour?!) However, an appeal to the organisers saw a re-think and a further re-organisation to a development pool of 3 teams competing for the Plate and the other 6 sides (Sefton, Waterloo, Ormskirk, Glossop, Marple and Bury) playing for the cup, with 5 pool games plus a final between the two top placed sides.

I remember the hard, unforgiving, end of season grounds from my own playing days, which make each tackle as draining and wearing as two. Combine this with the stop/start nature of these tournaments, a total of 90 minutes of intense rugby spread over 6 hours in energy-sapping heat and you have a true test of character and commitment, which every single player, bar none, passed with flying colours.

Having been embarrassed at the hands of Sefton in a friendly match just weeks previously, it was no surprise that Sefton and their Merseyside neighbours were dismissive of Bury’s chances but Bury had a point to prove, which they did emphatically. The pool match against Sefton was the closest that Bury were pushed all day, which was won by 3 tries to 1. The final was won 5 tries to none.

I would run out of superlatives if I were to report on each match and the statistics do speak for themselves.

Standard rugby reporting protocol has it that try scorers are given special mention and I shall not fly in the face of convention. But that would not tell the full story, for this was a true team effort. The old adage says that it is the forward battle that determines the victors and the three quarters determine the scale of the victory, and so it was. The pack were lead from the front by a marvellous front-row partnership and performed heroically in gaining the “go-forward” and possession that allowed the 3/4s the opportunity to score 20 of the 24 tries and it is fitting that Hassall and, most of all, Lightfoot were the 2 forwards on the scorers list.

Tries: Millington – 13
Rose – 4
Hassall – 3
Kelly – 2
Norris – 1
Lightfoot – 1

Well done for a series of fantastic perfromances. Let's start next season how we finished this one!