BURY RUFC travelled to Eagle in Warrington for their opening fixture of the inaugural Lancashire League Division One season and came away with a 26-6 victory.

It was the visiting Rams who found themselves on top in the opening exchanges.

Dynamic running and good tackling had allowed some excellent phases of possession being run by the boot of fly-half Tom Smith, who was putting the Bury pack into some very good areas.

Eagle were holding strong, though, with their abrasive defence and straight-line attacking making it a good game.

Strong set-piece play from Bury allowed them a good platform to play from and the back line were enjoying some real go-forward ball and started to really stretch the Eagle defence.

It was about midway through the first half when Bury finally broke through and opened the scoring.

Quick ruck play saw the Rams punch holes down the right-hand side and when it was switched back left, Bury had a three-man overlap.

Quick hands through the pack gave hooker Alan Dobson space five metres out, which he took and slid over for the opening try.

Bury continued to press and were unfortunate to not score a second try but did very well to hold the score and not allow Eagle back into the game.

The tackling was very good throughout the game for the Rams – something vastly improved from recent seasons.

In the second half, Bury began to control elements in both the forwards and the backs.

The Rams stole a ball at the line-out and marched the bigger Eagle pack back 20 metres.

This buoyed the side and they started to play with more freedom.

The second try was created in the back line and finished off in the forwards.

James Sedman and Will Smith combined well in the centres, giving the ball in space to Dave Herbert and he put a delicate and precise kick towards the Eagle left flank.

A good chase saw Phil Mott drag the Eagle player into touch then a good line-out and set maul from the following play saw Tom Ogden look up from the back, spot a huge gap, break off and dot down himself to round off an excellent team try.

Alex English was the next name on the scoresheet, again after strong play in the forwards and tight scrummaging allowed him the space to pick from the back, dance through the line and touch down to extend the lead, unfortunately picking up a knock in the process.

Bury continued to push for a bonus point and thought they had it when an excellent break by Mike Quickendan in the midfield saw centre Smith with space 20 metres out.

It was only a fantastic try-saving tackle, where Smith was carried over the line and held up, which thwarted them.

But minutes later Bury did have their fourth try when a lovely wrap-around move, again featuring Quickendan in the midfield, saw the pack combining well and this fed James Sedman on the outside who just managed to evade the scrambling defence and slide over to seal the win.

The Rams face some tough opposition in the coming weeks as they welcome Clitheroe to Radcliffe Road on Saturday.

If recent seasons are anything to go by that promises to be a good game.