Bury St Edmunds head coach Ben Penfold looks for repeat of stirring second half against Canterbury at National League 2 East leaders Tonbridge Juddians

Despite a frustrating home loss to Canterbury in their centenary fixture, Bury St Edmunds head coach Ben Penfold believes they can harness the character shown in a stirring second half to try and upset leaders Tonbridge Juddians again.

The Wolfpack make the trip down to Kent tomorrow (3pm) against the side in pole position in National League 2 East as one of only three sides, along with Old Albanians and Barnes in both the previous two weeks, to have defeated them.

And having come from 31-7 down at half-time at the Greene King IPA Haberden on Saturday before losing 40-38 to Canterbury, Penfold is encouraged for what his ninth-placed side can achieve tomorrow at a side they beat 32-21 in November.

With the fly-half having watched the Canterbury game from the sidelines as he recovers from a shoulder injury set to keep him out for several more weeks, he said: “I think it showed great resilience from the lads to pull it back from 31-7 down.

“But like we said, the great character was just a little bit too late; we can't start a game being that far behind.

“Fair play to Canterbury, they disrupted us a little bit; we didn't really fire many shots in that first 40 minutes.

“But the character from the boys was huge with regards to being positive for going forward this week.

“And obviously it's a tough test going down to Tonbridge, but we're going to throw the kitchen sink at it with a nothing-to-lose attitude with regards to getting the four tries (bonus point) and then try and win the game.

“And we turned them over at our place and we're one of only three teams to do it, so we've got massive confidence with that.”

Bury found themselves three converted tries and a penalty down on Saturday before James Harrison crashed over after a kick to the corner with Callum Hall converting.

But the visitors were able to get another try before the break to leave the Wolfpack with a 24-point deficit to make up.

Two Fin McCartney tries, sandwiched between the visitors’ Frank Reynolds putting another penalty over, gave the Haberden crowd hope before Alex Earnshaw darted in to bring it back to 10 points.

Reynolds stemmed the green tide with another penalty before an opportunistic break by debutant Billy Reid allowed captain George Grigg-Pettitt to score with Hall converting.

The six-point margin became nine as Reynolds landed another penalty but a superb break from Grigg-Pettitt and excellent support resulted in a try for George Loose, converted by Hall.

From the restart Bury went in search of the winning score but it was not to be as another penalty allowed Reynolds to tap and kick dead to end a pulsating second half.

Front row Kiwi Paddy Robinson was named the coaches’ man of the match on a day that saw him lead out the team on his 100th cap.

“With how he plays the game at his position it’s just a massive testament to get 100 caps for one club,” said Penfold. “He's probably one of the best props I've coached and played with, with regards to how he plays the game, rather than just the set-piece and throughout.

“Also, he's a great bloke to have around the club, a person that a lot of people look up to and speak to, and I think it's a massive testament to him and his family.”