Late tries give scoreline a harsh reflection

London One North

Tabard 5 Bury St Edmunds 26

TABARD slipped to second from bottom in London One North after being condemned to defeat by Bury St Edmunds in their final home league game of the season.

Tabard put in a strong performance on Saturday, keeping themselves in the game until the final quarter but Bury finally got the better of them to win 26-5.

Once again Tabard’s pack played really well, not allowing Bury any leeway both in the tight and the loose and once again the second row of Darren Kidd and Dan Calnan pushed well above their weight. When Bury did put some moves together, the Tabard defence was strong with good tackling in the centre from Andy Mead and Henry Mitchell and especially good covering from flanker Joe Ruston.

Bury had the edge to start with but Tabard soon showed they were in the game and quickly put the pressure onto their opponents but a couple of penalties put Bury into a good attacking position and they eventually overcame the Tabard defence by sheer weight of numbers to allow second row Walker to score close in giving stand off Kramme an easy conversion.

The rest of the half belonged to Tabard who did everything but score. Stand off Chris Van der Vlugt came close, one of the Lake twins actually forced his way over the line but could not get the ball down and flanker Cam O’Connor was pulled down just short. Towards the end of the half Tabard were really dominating and a succession of line out drives were thwarted by Bury pulling the maul down but, even after five penalties, no penalty try was awarded and Tabard had to be content with a 7-0 half time deficit.

The second half started with Bury in the ascendancy but that didn’t last for long, as Tabard once again ground their way upfield and tried to put points on the board.

This time they were more fortunate. After pressure close in Van der Vlugt grubber kicked through and the Bury defence fumbled the touch down enabling Van der Vlugt, pursuing his kick, to touch down for the score and put Tabard within two points.

Tabard then continued to keep the pressure on but then, in the final quarter, a long kick ahead saw the Bury winger, Turner, outpace the Tabard defence and touch down in the corner.

This signalled a bit of a Bury recovery and they upped the ante. Tabard were performing well in defence though and from a Bury attack close in Tabard turned the ball over and Van der Vlugt came away with the ball and the length of the pitch to run. He nearly succeeded but was caught just short. Although Tabard re-cycled quickly the defence was back and the moment was lost.

In the dying minutes Bury scored two quick tries, one from centre Ball and the other from No.8, Lang, both of which were converted to bring the final score to 26 points to five against Tabard.

Next week Tabard travel to Letchworth for the final game of the season.

Tabard: Hopcroft (Brundell 80), Roberts (Ashcroft 75), Mitchell, Meade, Davis, Van der Vlugt, Gough (O’Neill 77), B Lake, Hart, W Lake, Calnan, Kidd, O’Connor, Ruston, Stoba.