CARLISLE UNITED 3 BURY 2 (Full time 2-2, Carlisle win on golden goal rule) by Phil Thorp

BURY'S hopes of a money-spinning trip to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium for the LDV Vans Trophy final fell by the wayside in heartbreaking circumstances at Brunton Park last night.

The Shakers were just four minutes away from victory in this northern semi-final tie but contrived to let the Cumbrians off the hook then went out on the golden goal rule two minutes from the end of extra time.

It's a result that could have far reaching consequences for the club's promotion aspirations as the Gigg Lane hierarchy were praying for a timely cash boost, worth an expected £100,000, from a televised game in the next round.

A place in the final looked anything but likely early in a poor first half that struggling Carlisle dominated.

You would have been hard-pressed to say who were the team third from top and second from bottom of Division Three as the home side looked far more 'up' for the challenge.

It came as no shock when they took the lead in the 20th minute but what was surprising was the name of the scorer - Bury's Steve Redmond.

The evergreen central defender could only watch in agony as his attempted clearance of Richie Foran's header spun off his boot and completely wrongfooted Glyn Garner in the Shakers goal.

It was a different Bury team that took to the field in the second period as they, at last, took a stranglehold on the game.

With Terry Dunfield particularly impressive in midfield and Chris Billy covering every inch of grass, the Shakers poured forward in search of a leveller.

It almost arrived five minutes after the interval when Ian Lawson's right wing cross found Jamie Stuart in the box but the full-back's header was hacked off the line by Brian Shelley.

Five minutes later Glennon had to be at his acrobatic best to make a double save from Newby and Billy but on the hour the Shakers were rewarded for their persistence with a superb equaliser.

A Redmond free-kick was flicked on by Danny Swailes and, when the ball was only cleared to the edge of the box, Dunfield met it on the volley and cracked it into the top corner.

Ten minutes later the Shakers took the lead and, once again, it was a goal to savour.

Swailes - doing a passable impression of Rio Ferdinand - stormed out of defence with the ball and ran deep into the Carlisle half before releasing it to Lawson.

The former Huddersfield man crossed the ball in from the right where George Clegg volleyed powerfully past Glennon.

At that point a demoralised home side looked there for the taking but in the 85th minute, following a rare sortie into the Bury half, a hopeful punt into the box by substitute Mark Birch was met by Will McDonough who climbed between both Swailes and Redmond to convert.

It was a criminal lack of concentration and the frustration caused tempers to flare in the dying minutes culminating in Billy getting sent off two minutes into stoppage time when a reckless two-footed challenge earned a second booking.

The game looked set for penalties until McDonough's speculative 25-yard drive took a deflection to creep inside Garner's left hand post and end Bury's LDV dreams.