Second-half rally fails to save Bury

By MIKE BARBER

Clifton…………………..47

Bury St Edmunds..34

CLIFTON were convincing winners in a contest in which the scoreline did not reflect their dominance.

Having raced into a 35-5 lead at half-time, Cifton played some superb flowing rugby with Marcus Nel and Zak Ward causing problems for both sides of the ball.

Bury could find no way through and leaked points from almost every Clifton attack as the home side rampaged through their defence.

Luke Cozens, Alex Howman, Will Mortimore and Marcus Nel all went over early on for Clifton, with Dan Broady adding a further score before half-time, Cozens converting them all before.

Bury hit back through Oli Watson scoring their only points of the half, but the second half saw them come out fighting with Ruardhri Watson scoring before Brad Talbot went over for Clifton, Cozens again adding the extras.

Clifton began to fade away in the second half, seemingly having punched themselves out, and indiscipline cost them dearly as four tries from Leeson, Williams, Jeffery and Affleck, only punctuated by another Howman effort, helped Bury to close on the home side, although it was never enough to threaten Clifton’s lead.