Peerless Reed too good for weakened Raiders

By ANDREW HERLIHY

Bury St Ed's…… 45pts

Guernsey………..28pts

Guernsey battled hard despite the absence of 16 regular first-team players following the rearrangement of this fixture.

Coach Jordan Reynolds took this as a chance to blood some youngsters and provide some fringe players with an opportunity to experience life in the National Leagues.

And after the match he was pleased that those gave a good account of themselves and helped the ninth-placed club secure a four-try bonus point.

But the victors were Bury St Edmunds, now seventh in the table after a tenth win of the season.

Their coach Jacob Ford was pleased with a job well done and singled out Charlie Reed for his peerless display, as well as mentioning the contribution of Shaq Meyers, winning his 100th cap, and the returning Tom Brown.

Ford also reflected on his side's ability to counter attack with ruthless effect despite what he thought was a slow start and Raiders' tactic of trying to slow play.

The game started rather slowly for Bury and it was Raiders that took the initiative. After a couple of phases Hugo Culverhouse opened the scoring with Callum Roberts converting.

A further Guernsey opportunity came to nothing when a promising attack faltered with a pass into touch, and a subsequent Bury counter attack took play into the Raiders 22 where a lineout catch and drive resulted in a try for home favourite Ben Cooper, converted by Reed.

Raiders made good ground and should have provided an attacking platform, but a lost line out presented Bury with an easy out.

Raiders' attempt at countering led to some side-to-side play, a Bury turnover and excellent counter attack provided Tom Brown with a chance that he took with a strong finish as Reed added the conversion.

From the restart man of the match Charlie Reed smashed a 50/22 and following a sustained period of attack Samir Kharbouch crashed over, Reed making it 21-7.

Following a Raiders scrum and a number of phases James Burger hit back, Roberts adding the conversion. Bury laid siege to the Guernsey line at the end of the first half, settling for a Reed penalty that made the score 24-14 at the break.

Raiders errors at the start of the second half contributed to further Bury pressure and the dancing feet of Reed made inroads before he skipped his way across the line for an excellent converted score.

Run in: Charlie Reed scores for Bury St Edmunds

PICTURES: Max Magillivary

Bury attacked once again from the restart with the peerless Reed once again to the fore. His efforts were halted with a penalty, from which came a play that saw Craig Stephenson score for 38-14.

The next try was a Guernsey one, Sam Boyland sniping from a scrum, but then a turnover led to a ruthless Bury counter attack and Harry Hall finished an attractive score.

Raiders came back strongly and finished the game with a Tony Armstrong consolation.