Exeter City 1 Bury 2 by Phil Thorp: COMETH the hour, cometh the man they say - and for the Shakers Jon Newby might just be about to hit the scoring trail at the right time.

The former Liverpool striker has had a torrid time in front of goal recently but he put his barren spell firmly behind him with what turned out to be the winner at St James' Park.

With five games remaining a return to scoring form would be invaluable as Andy Preece's men go in search of a quick return to Division Two.

Newby's first of 2003 will have done his confidence no harm at all and after he set up Chris Billy for Bury's opener it turned out to be a great afternoon's work for the Shakers leading scorer.

Billy's strike after 24 minutes and Newby's goal six minutes later gave the Gigg Lane men a 2-0 half time cushion, the least they deserved from a spell of football Preece described as 'irresistable'.

To prepare right, the players had paid their own hotel bills for their overnight stay in Devon and it was certainly money well spent as they ripped into the bottom-of-the-table Grecians.

The home side hit back with a Steve Flack goal just after half time but the determined Shakers - aided by some fine saves from Glyn Garner - weren't to be denied and went on to fully deserve their vital three points.

"I'm delighted for Newbs because he really needed that," said Preece.

"He's worked his socks off again and easily could have become despondent after seeing a first minute effort well saved and having a goal disallowed for offside minutes later."

The chalked off effort was a shot from distance that crept past Kevin Miller however a referees assistant flagged complaining that Lee Connell was in an offside position.

It was a harsh decision to say the least but one that wasn't allowed to take the wind out of the Shakers' sails.

"On other occasions we might have let our heads drop but I told the players that if there were any signs of that they'd be

substituted," added Preece.

"We were superb and just kept pushing forward like we'd planned. We got the two goals and really should have been further in front at the interval."

That they weren't had a lot to do with the form of Exeter keeper Miller.

The custodian - who has been in a rich vein of form for the struggling side recently - pulled off two magnificent saves from Danny Swailes and Michael Nelson in the space of a minute to foil the Shakers.

After weathering the storm the home side had the better of the final minutes of the first period and Flack and Sean Devine were both left cursing the agility of Garner as the Welshman proved his worth.

Exeter fielded a more attacking formation after the break and kept Bury on the back foot for the opening spell of the half.

Flack reduced the arrears with a close range effort that Preece reckoned looked offside and it had the hallmark of another backs to the wall operation for the Shakers.

However, apart from a Devine shot and Flack follow-up effort that Garner did well to block there was little to worry the travelling fans with the Shakers always looking to get forward quickly and in numbers.

"We knew they would come at us at half time," said Preece.

"They changed their system and we struggled to cope for a while but we stood strong and could have sewn the game up on the break.

The three points only moved the Shakers up to ninth in the promotion chase but they remain only one point from the play-offs and three from the all-important third automatic spot.

With his goal drought over, Preece will be hoping Newby can now finish the season with a flourish and his firepower could be just what the doctor ordered in the final five games.

Formguide: Garner 7, Nelson 7, Swailes 7, Woodthorpe 7, Connell 6, Clegg 6 (Stuart, 21) 5, Billy 7, Forrest 6, Nugent 6 (O'Shaughnessy, 80), Newby 8, Cramb 6 (Preece, 84) Subs not used: Redmond and Dunfield. Referee: Mr P. Crossley (Kent). Attendance: 3,338.