Shrewsbury 1 Bury 1

BURY underlined their promotion credentials - even if the scoreline doesn't suggest it.

The referee might not have gone as far as stopping the contest if this was a boxing match. But the judges would certainly have made it a landslide points win for the Shakers who were left rueing two points that got away.

"We had enough chances to win three games," grimaced manager Stan Ternent. "Territorially we were by far the better side. The lads did well to bounce back after going a goal down and while it's a good point away from home it's also a good sign that they are all so disappointed that they did not win the game."

Bury came out firing on all cylinders, Dean West bringing a smart seventh minute save out of Benny Gall after a defence-splitting pass from Ronnie Jepson before having strong penalty appeals waved away 60 seconds later after Paul Evans appeared to block Jepson's goalbound header on the line with his hand. From being in command, Bury found themselves behind two minutes later when ex-Shaker Dean Spink found Steve Anthrobus's head with a free kick and Darren Rowbotham acrobatically volleyed the giant defender's nod down over his shoulder into the top corner.

It was a classic sucker punch which swung the game in the home side's favour for their brief best spell of the match.

But with the defence unpenetrable as Andy Woodward slipped in confidently alongside the dominant Michael Jackson and intelligent Ian Hughes and the Nick Daws-inspired midfield gradually restoring its grip, Shakers keeper Dean Kiely might as well have taken the day off.

It was a different story at the other end where Gall saw the ball flying in all directions around his goal. Mark Carter lunged full stretch to turn a super Lenny Johnrose cross against the post, Matthews' finishing let him down badly after Daws won the ball and put the striker clean through in one movement and then Jepson finally escaped the close attentions of Anthrobus to half volley narrowly wide.

Just when it seemed like all their domination was going to count for nothing, Gordon Armstrong popped up on the stroke of half time to nod Jackson's knock-on home from five yards. "You shouldn't miss from that distance - although I have done in the past," smiled Armstrong as he reflected on his first goal for the club.

"It was important to get a goal after all the chances we had missed. When you get so many chances away from home you really should kill teams off.

"But one positive thing to come out of it is that if you keep creating so many chances then sooner or later they are going to go in."

Matthews will be kicking himself he didn't get a hat-trick. He was denied by an important block by Spink a minute after the break before his finishing again lacked conviction when he homed in unmarked on Armstrong's inswinging cross only to glance his header across the face of goal from six yards. They were almost made to pay for their wastefullness when former Gigg Lane poacher Ian Stevens wriggled free and volleyed his side's second and last clearcut chance inches wide before West went even closer to having the last word when he swept Jepson's quick free kick inches wide of the far post.

Kiely 7, West 7, Armstrong 8, Daws 8, Woodward 7, JACKSON 8, Hughes 7, Carter 6, Jepson 6, Johnrose 7, Matthews 6. Subs: Stant (for Matthews 74 mins), Rigby and Reid (N). Att: 3,238.

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