Bury 1, Burnley 0: By NEIL BONNAR BUZZING Bury snapped out of their early season slumber in style.

The uncompromising Shakers rose to the big occasion for once to clinch their first victory in seven games with a power-packed performance.

They've waited 50 years for this Lancashire league derby - but it was worth the delay as both sides went at it hammer and tongues in front of Gigg Lane's biggest league crowd in years.

The first half belonged to Bury far more than their one-goal lead suggests as they laid into their shell-shocked rivals with a stamina-sapping tempo. But there was no way they could keep that pace up and Stan Ternent's bravehearts had to dig deep and survive some anxious moments as Burnley fought back hard after the break.

With Chris Lucketti and David Pugh making magnificent returns from six-week injury lay-offs, there was no hint of last Saturday's suicidal tendencies as the defence stood firm, restricting Dean Kiely's workload to claiming crosses and a smart low save in the dying minutes which is bread and butter to the quality keeper.

"It was a good defensive performance," reflected Pugh. "They put us under the cosh in the second half and we defended better than we did at Walsall.

"The manager told us to buck up after that defeat and I think it showed."

The 14th minute decider was a gem worthy of winning any match, Ronnie Jepson's aerial power unsettling the Burnley defence and then his shooting power from 22 yards simply too hot for Marlon Beresford to handle.

Clarets boss Adrian Heath, who saw ex-Wanderer Mark Winstanley crash a thunderous 30-yarder against the bar and Paul Weller go agonisingly close with two efforts in three minutes late on, was far from happy with his side's part in Jepson's third goal of the season.

"We had chances to clear it and it should have been stopped at source."

His Bury counterpart preferred to look on the positive side. "Ronnie struck it beautifully," declared Ternent.

Bury had heroes throughout the side, none more so than the battle-hungry Lenny Johnrose who again proved what a magnificent athlete he is - while Lucketti proved why he is rated in the £500,000 bracket with a faultless defensive display after having just 30 minutes in the 'A' team to prepare for his senior return. "Chris is absolutely sensational," admired Ternent. BURY FORMGUIDE

Kiely 7, West 7, Pugh 8, Daws 7, Lucketti 8, Jackson 7, Woodward 7, Johnson 7, Jepson 8, JOHNROSE 8, Carter 7. Subs: Armstrong 7 (for Carter 62 mins), Matthews and Rigby. Att: 7,557.

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