Wrexham 1 Bury 1
LUCKY Bury emerged with a point to go second - but with a much bigger one to prove after suggesting for the second time in four days that they are forgetting how to win.
After apparently doing their utmost to avoid victory on Saturday, the sloppy Shakers looked a gift horse in the mouth last night.
High-riding Wrexham's unbeaten home record was there for the taking after goalkeeper Andy Marriott was carried off with a suspected fractured jaw following a 20th minute collision with Paul Butler and replaced by central defensive substitute Barry Jones.
But Bury barely kept his hands warm until they shook themselves out of their lethargy in the last 15 minutes, earning an angry rap from manager Stan Ternent who described the inept display as "our worst performance of the season by far."
Defeat would have meant humiliation for the shot-shy Shakers and seen Wrexham - beaten only once all season - leapfrog them into second spot. And it would have been secured but for two smart reflex saves by Dean Kiely, scooping Steve Morris' powerful 25-yarder around the foot of the post one-handed in the first half and matching the same player's unmarked far post header in the second. Kiely was left helpless, however, when Bryan Hughes escaped his marker to meet Martyn Chalk's cross with a perfectly judged glancing header on 62 minutes.
Even that failed to jolt Bury into action and it was left to substitute Tony Rigby to begin the response with their first shot on target 15 minutes from time; an impeccably weighted chip which brought a fingertip save out of Jones under the crossbar.
When Phil Stant missed the target with an eight-yard half volley 60 seconds later and Jones confidently clutched another glorious Rigby strike from 30 yards, Bury seemed about to get what their performance deserved - until the linesman and rookie keeper failed in their duties to gift Ternent's men a point a minute from time.
Dean West was yards offside when sent to the by-line by John O'Kane and his harmless looking firm, low cross was fumbled over the line by the luckless Jones.
Bury were happy to ride their luck but in no mood to paper over the cracks.
"We know we were let off the hook," admitted Kiely. "We're not stupid enough to think we earned the point and performances like that will see us drop down the league quickly. "If an outfield player goes in goal we should make his life hell. But we never went near him."
His manager echoed: "We're the luckiest team in the world to get away with a result.
"Everything our game is based upon was missing. We lacked cohesion, defended too deep, the midfield was never at the races and we never threatened their goal often enough."
It could have been a different story but for a crucial clearance by Hughes during the melee that saw Marriott carried off and away to hospital with a suspected double fracture of his jaw or if Stant had matched the quality of O'Kane's cross with his header eight minutes later.
Kiely 7, West 6, Pugh 6, Jackson 7, Lucketti 7,
BUTLER 8, Daws 6, O'Kane 6, Hughes 6, Stant 6, Carter 6. Subs: Johnson 6 (for Jackson 65 mins), Rigby 7 (for Hughes 70 mins) and N.Reid. Att: 3,895.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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