The Bury Saints continued preparations for the 2016 season with a comprehensive 75-8 pre-season win over Oxford Saints at Thetford RFC on Sunday.

Bury, who were promoted after their championship winning 2015 season, jumped out to an early 7-0 lead when RB Cory Jenkins powered into the end zone from 10 yards out on their opening drive.

This was soon followed by a 26-yard hook-up between QB Fred Boyle and WR Aaron Wheatley and 15 yard run by RB Derek White to give the Saints a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

RB Jenkins ran in his second touchdown of the game before an interception by LB Chris Smith set up another QB Boyle to WR Wheatley scoring pass to extend the score to 34-0 at half time.

The Saints continued to dominate in the third quarter and extended their lead to 55-0 as RB Chris May added two scoring runs either side of RB White’s second touchdown of the game.

RB Cody Mowry, making his debut for the Saints, opened the fourth quarter with the Saints ninth touchdown of the game before Oxford finally got on the score sheet. A powerful run completed an excellent drive and the two extra points attempt was good to make the score 62-8. The home side responded immediately as QB Boyle hit WR Don Washington with his third TD pass of the game before RB Jenkins also completed his hat-trick with a 20-yard run and a 75-8 final score.

A cautious Saints head coach, Chris Wallis said: “Obviously I’m pleased with the win.

“But we need to keep our feet on the ground. It’s a long way to come for a pre-season game and we know Oxford weren’t at full strength.

“Clearly there are a lot of positives in a comprehensive win like this, but there is still much to improve on before the season starts in April.”