Bury St. Edmunds 33-28 Henley Hawks 

By Alistair Beynon

An injury time Sam Lunnon try saw Henley come away from a bruising encounter in Suffolk with two points for their efforts, which could prove vital in their bid to retain their National 2 East status next season.

Trailing Bury 33-21 with the clock ticking over into the red, it looked as though Henley would come away empty handed, but Lunnon's late effort saw the Hawks swoop in to seal both losing and try bonus points at the death.

Judging on league form, there weren't many people who would have predicted Henley to come back from Suffolk with much, but the Hawks played with real character and resilience, taking the game to the much-vaunted opponents. However, with the win, Bury have edged closer to the league title in what is proving to be a fascinating conclusion at both the top and bottom of the league table.

Played out in spring sunshine and on a very hard deck, the home side hit the ground running and took an early lead after just two minutes when hooker Matthew Hicks powered his way over the whitewash following a driving maul. Ben Penfold converted, and it was 7-0 to Bury before Henley even had time to draw breath.

The Hawks slowly got a foothold in the game and had an opportunity to level the scores shortly afterwards, but the Bury defence did very well to bundle the Henley driving maul into touch.

The game became an arm wrestle with neither side able to gain much of an advantage. However, it was Bury who slowly asserted their authority on the match and doubled their lead on 22-minutes when wing Clark MacFarlane did well to dot down out wide following sustained pressure in the Henley 22. Penfold added the extras and the Suffolk side had pulled clear to a 14-0 lead.

That lead was extended further just a minute later when Bury ripped straight through the heart of the Henley defence from the restart. The ball was kicked through into the Hawks 22, and centre Matthew Hema took advantage of Toby Howe's slip to gather the loose ball and dive over under the sticks. Penfold's conversion made it 21-0 and Henley were all at sea.

To their great credit, they refused to lie down, and pulled a score back almost straight away when Will Benning cut a great line to finish off Leo Webb's break. Howe converted, and Henley had got themselves onto the scoreboard at 21-7.

However, frustratingly for Luke Allen's side, Bury secured their try bonus point just before the interval when prop Patrick Robinson powered his way over from close range. Penfold was off target with the extras. 

The home team had another opportunity with the clock in the red, but they were held up over the line giving the Hawks a reprieve. However, they had built a commanding 26-7 lead at the break which looked for all the money in the world that Henley would struggle to come back from. 

Whatever was said in the changing room at halftime clearly had the desired effect, as Henley looked a different team in the second half. They grabbed their second of the afternoon with just a minute gone when George Wood took a lovely inside ball to weave his way through the Bury defence to dot down. Howe converted and it was now 26-14 to the home side. 

And this suddenly became a one-score game ten minutes later when Webb took a great offload from Ben Elsey to crash over under the sticks. Howe added the extras and it was suddenly 26-21 heading into the final quarter. 

Henley thought they had grabbed the lead, only for the referee to judge that Oscar Busby was held up over the line. And agonisingly for Henley,  Bury showed why they are top of the league when they pulled two scores clear following flanker Trystan Andrews' converted effort with just over ten minutes remaining. 

However, Henley kept working hard, and they were rewarded with Lunnon's close range try in injury time, which saw them come away with a deserved two points. 

It was an excellent effort against a formidable opponent, and the Hawks will undoubtedly take a huge amount of confidence from their performance. They will now need to go one better, and make sure they come away from the London Welsh game on Saturday with a full five points to keep the pressure on Esher just above them. 

Henley Hawks 

15. Howe, 14. Busby, 13. Cunningham, 12. Leach, 11. Gordon, 10. Snook, 9. Webb, 1. Fakatou, 2. Hayhow (c), 3. Shpylka, 4. Elsey, 5. Lunnon, 6. Brown, 7. S. White, 8. Benning 

Replacements: 16. Kinniburgh, 17. Bailey, 18. Taylor, 19. Wood, 20. O. White