IF the previous week’s victory by two points should have been greater, Bury Broncos’ 32-30 win at Bold Miners was barely deserved.

It was a sub-par performance that could easily have ended in defeat.

It started well when Jonno Taylor sent Billy Glossop in but Bold responded with a converted try after strong running from their forwards. The Broncos scored next after Jack Malin’s kick was tapped down by Warren Bluer, Taylor on hand to kick on and show good pace to make the score 10-6.

The rest of the half was a nightmare for the Broncos, who let conceded penalties and missed tackles against the big pack and they ended the half 18-10 down.

Soon after the restart a typical Sean Kelly show-and-go brought them back within four points but more penalties allowed Bold to move 24-14 up with 20 minutes left.

The next Broncos try was created by Kelly’s footwork as he beat four defenders for a great individual try, Blake Roberts’ kick making it 24-20. When Roberts ran in another score from 30 yards he kicked the extras to put Bury 26-24 ahead. But Bold scored almost immediately to once again lead by four points with 10 minutes left on the clock.

The final score came when Taylor found Liam Sixsmith from out wide and the second row went over in the corner to level the scores at 30-30. Roberts calmly converted from the touchline to give the Broncos a slender two-point lead.

With five minutes to go, Bold threw everything at the Broncos, and were awarded a kickable penalty. It seemed they would get the draw their efforts deserved. Instead, they opted to go for the win and though they battered the Bury line the Broncos defence finally came good, on several occasions holding up the man over the line, before a breakout allowed them to run out the clock and take the victory.

The second team also won by two points, beating Bolton Mets 34-32 thanks to Cameron Bagnall crashing over for the vital winning try late on.