BURY'S failure to apply the killer blow, akin to a champion boxer with his opponent on the ropes, cost them two more points as fellow strugglers Boston came from behind to snatch a point at Gigg Lane.

And, ultimately, it cost Graham Barrow his job.

The Shakers, who are now only one place away from propping up the Football League, had been given the perfect platform for a knockout punch when Dwayne Mattis headed them into the lead.

But they were shaken at the death when the Pilgrims metaphorically raised themselves from the canvas and Lawrie Dudfield landed a sickening equalising blow with just seven minutes left on the clock.

It proved to be Barrow's final game in charge at Gigg as he was replaced by caretaker boss Chris Casper on Monday morning after having his contract terminated.

And the crowd, which numbered less than 2,000, were left ruing Simon Whaley hitting the post when clean through and only the keeper to beat.

Departed manager Barrow summed it up, saying: "We let Boston off the hook, we played quite well but there was a nervousness and a safety to our play, which we can put down to circumstances at the moment.

"I don't like tempting fate, but you always know with Steve Evans' teams, that they are not going to lie down for you.

"I thought we had seen off the real threat in terms of the better play and it was a set piece that they scored from, and we had defended them well up until then.

Boston fielded former top-flight trio Julian Joachim, Noel Whelan and Jason Lee in attack and Barrow said: "We knew they had a danger with the strikers they had out there.

"I thought the defenders were magnificent to keep three quality players out as long as they did."

The Bury boss was given a pre-match boost when Matthew Tipton made an unexpected return from injury to take his place in the starting line-up but it was sweeper Jake Sedgemore who tested the visiting keeper first when his shot from 25 yards was dealt with easily by Nathan Abbey.

It took only five minutes before Tipton was in on the action when he cut in from the left before putting his shot just wide of the upright and Boston's first chance fell to Ian Ross, whose shooting boots failed him at a dangerous looking free-kick.

Ross had another couple of chances as the two teams favoured long shot efforts rather than the more measured and patient approach.

Just after the half-hour Abbey made a double save after spilling Tipton's stinging shot and foiling Whaley at the follow-up. Bury were starting to boss proceedings and gained their reward when, at the near post, Mattis headed home Brian Barry-Murphy's 37th minute corner from three yards.

Whaley could have extended the half-time cushion when he failed to connect with John Hardiker's cross from the right but the interval scoreline was a fair one.

Instead of tearing into their woeful visitors after the break, Bury allowed the Pilgrims to attack for an equaliser and Neil Edwards, in the Bury goal, had to be smart to foil former Leicester City striker Joachim and Whelan, whose penalty area volley looked to be heading into the net.

The Shakers had the perfect chance to seal it when Sedgemore's stunning pass sent Whaley through on goal, with only Abbey to beat, but he curled his shot onto the post and left Bury fans facing a nerve-wracking finale to the contest.

Boston were rewarded for their pressure when super-sub Dudfield came out on top in a goalmouth scramble to draw the two teams level with just seven minutes remaining.

And, there were no more real chances of note as both sides settled for a point that does neither team's position in the table any good.

Barrow concluded: "It's disappointing but you have to say that over the last few weeks, we have made some progress.

"It's disappointing to lose two points so late in the game, and to get in front and not build on it.

"Hopefully, now we can get one or two strikers fit, and up and running over the next week for these games that we have coming up.

"Simon Whaley's intentions are right, he did well and had a couple of good breaks down the side.

"But, we needed a little more contribution from people. We can excuse Tippy because he hasn't trained all week, but we should have done better in our position."

MARC HIGGINSON