Battling Bury run into red wall of defiance

RAMS’ promotion juggernaut powered on but they were forced to work over time to claim the points.

Bury got in the faces of the runaway leaders and trailed by just 5-3 at the break.

Rams got into their stride early, earning a couple of scrum penalties to gain territory before scrum-half Greg Illingworth forced his way over.

If the visitors thought they would kick on, Bury had other ideas. They defended for their lives and their persistence was finally rewarded when Jack Johnson landed a penalty.

The second half belonged to the Rams, whocommitted to the breakdown to slow the ball or, more often than not, steal it altogether.

Their fearsome forwards drove a lineout fully 30 metres, creating the space for Tom Humberstone to get in behind the defence. Bury thought they had escaped when stealing the ball on their own line but the Rams pinched it back and Humberstone ghosted over. He converted his own try for breathing space.

The score galvanised them, with Humberstone kicking deep to pen Bury back. Bury tried to counter but the attacks were repelled. Yet another turn over sent Ben Henderson away and his deft offload to Connor Corrigan created the space for Jak Rossiter to race away and seal it.

Bury pushed until the end but they could not break down a stubborn wall of red shirts.