HALSTEAD TEMPLARS 39 BURY ST EDMUNDS IV 0

Friendly

HALSTEAD Templars secured survival in Eastern Counties League division one south in the worst possible way - by accepting a concession from bottom of the table Brightlingsea.

That victory, in the final game of the first phase of the season, means that Brightlingsea, along with Harwich & Dovercourt seconds, will play next season in division two and Halstead will continue their growth in the Eastern Counties' top tier.

With no league action, though, the Templars were still keen for a game and Bury St Edmunds fourths, who play two divisions lower than Halstead, offered to come over for a friendly match in front of visiting Essex RFU president, Ivor Smith.

While the hosts had the lion’s share of possession, Bury looked threatening when the ball reached the centre pairing who ran straight and strong and were a handful for Josh Grimwood-King and Matt Harwood in the heart of the Halstead defence.

However, the tackling of the Templars was such that it made for an excellent match up for the duration of the game.

The game ebbed and flowed as both sides found their feet and got accustomed to the conditions, occasional forays into opposition territory were snuffed out by both sides with some good solid defence and more than a few handling errors.

The scrums were evenly-contested, a testament to Bury’s development over the last 12 months, but the Templars dominated the line-out, with Seb Wehmeyer securing good ball from the home side's set pieces and stealing the opposition's throw-ins.

It took 15 minutes for the Templars to get on the scoreboard and it came from some excellent pressure applied to the visiting scrum-half by Josh Donaldson as he pounced on his opposite number from a scrum, wrestled the ball clear before heading for the try-line and dotting down.

Jack Pawsey extended the lead to 12-0 when he converted his own try and it became 17-0 at half-time after a crunching tackle from Ben Bird allowed Craig Trevain to steal the ball and set up an attacking move that was ended by a try from Matt Harwood.

Halstead rang the changes at half-time and they were quickly back on the scoreboard as Pawsey kicked wide and Harwood chased before cantering in for his second try.

Halstead’s second of the half came from a Bury error at their line-out and Ryan Rainer was the first to react diving on the ball after it bounced over the line to move the score to 27-0 without the conversion.

A superb off-load by Ed Pawsey was then collected by Ed Merry and he didn’t break stride as he scored under the posts, before converting his own try with a drop goal and a seventh try soon followed when Merry broke through and allowed Harwood to complete his hat-trick for a 39-0 lead.

Bury didn't let heads drop and kept pushing, but Halstead defenders put their bodies on the line to prevent a score and the match ended with the Templars holding on to their lead.

Halstead are in Suffolk Cup action at Essex League division one side Clacton on Saturday.