Bury 3 Cardiff City 0 by Steve Canavan

AT last, Bury are starting to show as much fight as their mascot.

Robby The Bobby was ejected from Wednesday's match for brawling with his opposite number - Barclay The Bluebird. And Bury showed just as much aggression - channelled the correct way - as they produced their best performance of the season to humble big-spending Cardiff.

The result lifted Bury off the bottom of the table for the first time since September 22. And it also lifted a huge weight from manager Andy Preece's shoulders.

"We've been written off but I've always stayed confident and this is a step in the right direction," said Preece. "This win means nothing though. There is still a long way to go and we need to beat Northampton on Sunday to really get our season started."

Bury were superb everywhere on the pitch, especially 18-year-old David Borley who made a fine full league debut. His excellently taken third goal capped off a dream night for the teenager and won him the man of the match bubbly.

"I've been doing loads of shooting practice in training and I always go the same way and it worked again for that goal," said the hero of the moment, who looked like a startled child standing in front of the media, though he handled himself as well in the press conference as he did on the pitch.

"The gaffer was over the moon when he came in the dressing room. He was singing all our names. Cardiff are a good side but we made them look really average."

As well as playing good football, the Shakers also got that little bit of luck which has eluded them all season. Jason Jarrett hit a 40-yard up and under into the box on nine minutes which bounced between Cardiff keeper Neil Alexander and defender Daniel Gabbidan and somehow ended up in the net.

It was a fluke goal but Preece was not complaining. "I'm not going to try and say it wasn't lucky but we've had no luck all season so perhaps we deserved it," he said. And there was certainly nothing lucky about the next two strikes. On 51 minutes Borley's drive was prodded in at the back post by striker Gareth Seddon and 12 minutes from time Borley got the goal he deserved, latching on to Jon Newby's precision pass and beating a a defender before confidently tucking his shot past Alexander in the Cardiff goal.

Defenders Danny Swailes and Michael Nelson were heroes too, thwarting every attack the visitors made and don't forget keeper Paddy Kenny.

He was superb, saving three times from dangerman Graham Kavanagh and making a wonderful point blank range stop from Leo Fortune-West's header. The result fully justified Preece's decision to make five changes from Saturday's dismal defeat at Port Vale, including axing skipper Paul Reid. "It was a tough choice to drop Reidy," said the manager afterwards. "But full credit to him. He was rooting for the lads and was one hundred per cent behind them from the bench."

BURY: KENNY 9. Unsworth 8, Singh 8, Swailes 9, Nelson 9, Redmond 8, Forrest 8, Jarrett 8, Borley 9, Newby 8, Seddon 8. Subs: Clegg (for Seddon 89), Lawson, Syros, Reid, Garner. ATT: 2,549.

REF: Graham Frankland 8.