But missed kicks let Ives off the hook

Conference East Division

St Ives Roosters 20

Bury Titans 16

ST IVES Roosters earned a hard-fought win after an absorbing contest with Bury Titans.

Two early penalties put Roosters on the front foot, and David Sykes crossed for the game’s opening try.

However, Roosters were dealt a swift blow when they lost influential centre Paul Ashbridge to a broken nose.

Both teams had chances to add points in an open game, and Chris Kent levelled the scores for Bury with a try from a quick-tap penalty.

The game settled down and it took until the half-hour mark for more points to go on the board, when Palmer crossed to give Bury an 8-4 lead. Crucially, the conversion was missed and a single score separated the teams at the break.

Roosters received a double boost at the beginning of the second half when a Bury player was sin-binned and Ashbridge returned to the field.

He soon made his presence felt with a try out wide, converted by Matt Dear.

The lead did not last long, and Will Aston touched down to nose Bury ahead 12-10, though once again the kick for the extras was passed up.

After that let-off, Roosters pushed forward again, with an Ashbridge off-load collected by Stefan Gallucci who touched down, and Dear again converted, to make it 16-12. Bury indiscipline set in as the game slipped away and James Sherman crashed through the line to give Roosters a decisive 20-12 lead.

With three minutes left, Bury notched a final try through Pete Alston, but Palmer missed his third kick of the day to leave Bury just short.

n Roosters host Bedford Tigers on Saturday June 19 at 2.30pm.