Bury Town Under 18s finished off the season in style with a stunning second half display to land a convincing victory over Downham Town Under 18’s.
It was the visitors, though, who took the initiative in the first half with George Harnwell having two early chances which were both well saved by Cameron Revens. Bury’s first chance came on 15 minutes when Owen Lavery found Theo Piggott whose shot was well saved by Toby Evans.
Downham continued to have most of the possession and they were rewarded on 31 minutes with a stunning goal by Olly Cazot, curling an unstoppable shot over Revens to give The Saints a deserved 1-0 lead.
Bury came back strongly towards the end of the half, though. On 40 minutes, a foul on Owen Lavery was harshly judged by the referee to be just outside the area. However, from the resulting free kick, Lavery’s cultured left foot found Sam Armitage and the Bury forward deftly nodded it in to make it all square at the break.
Thomas French, Noah Blake and Luca Enderby all came on for the second half and there was an immediate upturn in the Blues’ performance. First Evans saved well from Seth Garza’s strong shot on 48 minutes. Then, on 52 minutes, Enderby whipped in a cross finding Lewis Morley who fired it past the keeper to make it 2-1.
From then on, it was all Bury, with the Blues’ one-touch passing too much for the visitors. Tyler Baxter was a strong presence at the back, Lavery controlled the midfield, and Piggott and Beardsley continually caused problems up front.
On 64 minutes, after great build up play from Owen Lavery and Oscar Beardsley, Thomas French scored the Blues’ third of the night. On 78 minutes, Piggott’s pinpoint cross was headed in by substitute Giles Attfield to make it 4-1. A fifth goal for Bury followed on 84 minutes when Thomas French’s cross found Oscar Beardsley who slotted the ball home. And two minutes later, Lavery, Enderby and French combined well to set up Oscar Beardsley to score his second of the night and Bury’s sixth with a looping header that gave Evans no chance.
There was still time, on 90 minutes, for Bury to make it 7-1. From far out wide on the right flank, Theo Piggott received the ball from Noah Blake and set off for the Downham goal. After dribbling past three Downham defenders, his shot was parried by Evans but Blake fired in the rebound.
On the final whistle, the young Bury players celebrated a fitting finale to a successful league season where they only lost one game, the same as the eventual champions Histon. With talent in all positions, it looks promising for the 2026-27 season.