Bury 1, Luton 1

SCOUTS at Gigg Lane watching highly-rated keeper Paddy Kenny witnessed a display of shot-stopping so brilliant they will be advising their clubs to write out a blank cheque pronto.

The cash won't be for Kenny though, but for Luton number one Nathan Abbey, who had the game of his life.

He was a one-man barrier against Bury and, in particular, Nick Daws and Ady Littlejohn, who both watched in astonishment as the Luton number one pulled off a dozen breathtaking saves.

Shakers' boss Andy Preece said: ''The keeper made some freakish stops. Some of them were out of this world.

''On a skiddy surface the one Daws hit along the ground, I just can't believe he kept it out.

''I'm absolutely gutted we didn't get the three points but when a keeper has a game like that you do start thinking it's not going to be your day.''

This was a pulsating match which went into overdrive when Bury took the lead a minute after the break.

Dean Barrick won a tackle on the left, poked it through to Littlejohn and the livewire striker finished superbly with his left foot curling it around the advancing Abbey.

For a moment there was silence, such was the shock that the Luton keeper had been beaten.

In the first half he had been magnificent, palming away a point blank Daws header and stopping a powerful Steve Redmond volley on the line amid a sea of players.

The best was a truly great save from a Daws 20 yard piledriver.

The ball appeared to have gone past Abbey but he leapt low to his right and somehow scooped the ball away, then stood up to block Paul Reid's follow up volley onto the bar though the second effort was ruled offside.

Littlejohn's goal was a vital breakthrough but it seemed to make the Shakers nervous and they went on the back foot.

Ten minutes of Luton pressure followed and it was no surprise when the visitors equalised.

Finnish international Petri Helin -- who played against England last month in the World Cup qualifying 0-0 draw -- holding off Dean Barrick and bundling the ball past Kenny on his debut.

From then on it was great end-to-end football as both defences went AWOL.

Bury had the best chances, nearly all of them falling to Littlejohn who had a personal duel with the Hatter's keeper, cutting inside and smashing left foot drives at Abbey half a dozen times.

The one time he did get the ball past Abbey on 77 minutes, the Bury striker's chip towards goal was headed off the line by Norwegian defender Kent Karlson, also making himself a hero on his debut.

In the final two minutes, both team's had great chances to win. Luton substitute Rocky Baptiste missed a sitter from six yards out and Baichung Bhutia strangely delayed shooting when put clean through, instead opting to slide the ball back to Littlejohn whose drive was saved by Abbey.

Preece said: ''If we had kept a clean sheet after we scored we would've won but we were wide open.

''It's disappointing because we've worked on not giving anything away." BURY: Kenny 7, Barrick 7, Daws 8, Collins 7, Swailes 7, Billy 8, Littlejohn 8, Reid 7, Preece 7, Redmond 8, Preece 7, Unsworth 7. Subs: Bhutia (for Barrick 72), James (for Unsworth 81), Forrest, Barnes, Jarrett

ATT: 2,861

REF: P Robinson 8.