Match Reports
Bury travelled to Southport this Saturday and came home with all 3 points and a clean sheet to boot after a disciplined performance against a very poorly disciplined Southport side.
Bury dominated the first half and should've had the 3 points wrapped up by half time but for some poor finishing i.e. firing straight at their keeper!
Keeper Fogwill had one "save" to make in the first half: a bouncing aerial ball that fooled both Dixon and Sheikh at the back that he had to meet at the top of the D and clear up the pitch.
Half time came with the scores at 0-0 but with Southport the more frustrated side. Bury knew the first goal would come and if they kept the work rate up and continued to protect The House they would take home a fully deserved 3 points.
Within seconds of the restart Bury had the ball in the net...James Larmett got his first of the
season with an easy tap in at the far post. Following a move that started at right back, moved
to the left and played across to the far post; he was left with the easiest finish he could've asked for.
Bury had finally got the goal their play deserved and only their own poor finishing denied them.
However, after this worst possible start, Southport's tempers broke and the verbals to the umpire
(along with 4-5 players surrounding the umpires) increased.
Credit to Bury (except Captain Sheikh, possibly...) for keeping their discipline. Bury used the rest of
the half to hone their tactics and passing game and keep a comfortable tempo to which Southport
struggled to keep up with.
With the last touch of the game Bury got a second from a clever short corner routine, borne from the mind of Simon Major, which left Sam Nicholson, this time, with the simplest of finishes.
This was a good, workmanlike performance from Bury missing regular players such as Dillon, Oakes, Plant, Bradburn and Howard. Johnson and Brown were called up from the 2s and put great shifts in and rotated substitutions well. Adam Friend finally made his league debut and made life difficult for the opposition defenders with his movement and bulldozing style. Ian Hillary, Bury's resident Bulldog, had a strong game: carrying the ball from D to D and generally hassling the opposition players into mistakes. Jack Dixon and Ahti Khan provided a solid foundation on which to build The House with James Berry beginning to find his feet for the first time this season.
The midfield duo of Major and Nicholson rampaged at will and spearheaded many of Bury's attacks. The two skilful players caused mayhem all game and played a huge part in Bury's win. Bury are still improving as a side but this was a feel good win thanks to the team effort that was put in.
Derby Day for both 1s and 2s next week as Bolton 1s come to Castlebrook and Bury 2s travel to Harper Green to take on Bolton 2s
The House That Ahti Built
Southport Mens 2s 0-2 Mens 1st XI
Bury Go Top after Away Day Victory in Ulverston
South Lakes Mens 1s 1-3 Mens 1s
Bury made the long drive to Ulverston this week, returning to the ground they were soundly beaten 6-0 at last season.
Bury knew this would be a tough game against last year's 4th placed and so the first half proved to be. Bury were slow and lacked communication in the opening stages.
12 minutes in and Bury were made to pay for some uncharacteristically slack marking: South Lakes' Hartley running through unchallenged and slipping the ball under Howard to make it 1-0 to the hosts.
Despite the score line Bury felt like they were dominating the play with South Lakes having only one more clear cut chance which 'keeper Johnny Howard cleaned up by rushing out and smothering the attack. Half time came and Bury collected their thoughts and talked about what they needed to do to open the game up.
Bury came racing out of the blocks in the second half and James Oakes half volleyed the ball into the back of the net within minutes of the restart, after good work by James Larmett.
The prophetic words of "next goal wins this lads" from Jack Dixon at half time ringing in their ears;
Bury pushed on aiming to get their, and Simon Major's, first points in Ulverston. Youngster
Dan Balding, in particular, seemed to be on a mission to torment the opposition's right back.
And then left back. On his return to the team, Balding has surely given Captain Sheikh a
welcome selection headache.
It was Major, fittingly, who got the vital second goal after a typical marauding run with a thunderous
reverse stick finish following good work from midfielders Hillary and Larmett.
Bury had passed the ball well throughout the second half and this paid dividends with their third and final goal:
another move which started at left back with James Dillon, made it's way to Captain Tariq Sheikh at right back
via Ahti Khan. Sheikh then disguised his pass to Larmett who rampaged into the D, fired the ball across the face
of goal for Sam Plant to score his first goal since his promotion to the 1st Team this season. The defensive pairing
of Bradburn and Khan drew deserving praise from their team mates: both were solid at the back putting in
commanding performances and keeping the South Lakes front line quiet. Both put in man of the match performances
and they ably marshalled the back line.
South Lakes' heads visibly dropped after this and Bury continued to pass the ball round and defend well against any late surges from the opposition and proceeded to see the game out and take home a hard earned three points from a difficult away match.
This was another encouraging performance from Bury who yet again employed a selfless attitude to substitutions and rotation which, again, proved successful. Bury welcome Leyland and Chorley to Castlebrook next week for their first home game of the season.
Starting as you mean to go on.
Lytham St Annes Men's 2s 1-3 Men's 1s
Bury started their season with an always tough trip to Lytham St Annes. In stark contrast to last season's early encounter here, Bury could boast a squad of 14 players as opposed to scratching around just to get 11 players on the pitch.
The benefits of having a squad which, for the most part, had played together since the end of last season, summer league and preseason was telling. Bury adapted to their new formation well and their passing and link up play was fluent and intelligent and immediately put Lytham on the back foot.
Ahti Khan, making his debut, was solid at the back in partnership with Bradburn and they kept the Lytham forward line at bay. Bury's first goal came on the counter attack with a trademark finish from James Oakes to open his account for the season.
This settled Bury even more so into their passing game, avoiding the crash ball (although it IS hard to resist), and frustrating Lytham. Tempers began to flare as Bury exerted their dominance and put Lytham under constant pressure but, frustratingly, could not find the final touch.
Not long before half time Bury got their second: the ball was played from back to front, right to left to Siraj Raza who took the ball past one defender pulled the ball back to Simon Major, just inside the D, who fired the ball at goal for the returning Sam Nicholson to dive full length and deflect the ball home. Bury entered the half time break 2-0 up and full of confidence.
Unfortunately, the second half did not start too well for Bury.
An aimless ball fired into the D from a Lytham free hit, hit something in the D,
the Lytham attacker peeled off in celebration and,
after the 2 umpires conferred, the goal was given.
This unsettled Bury slightly as they felt aggrieved at conceding such a sloppy goal.
2 green cards later and Bury were reduced to 9 men and Lytham pressed hard up
the pitch in an attempt to make their numerical advantage count. Bury, however,
stood strong and regained their full compliment 2 minutes later with the scoreline
still 2-1. Lytham had their tails up by this point and sensed an equaliser.
But after numerous short corners, which were dealt with by Bury's corner
defense of Dixon and Larmett, and their attacking point being focussed more and
more on their no.9 the scores remained the same as Major kept no.9 subdued and
Khan, Bradburn, Dillon and Sheikh picked off the direct balls through the middle.
Dan Taylor, in goal, was not to be out done either as he put in a strong performance to be a candidate for MOM with some sterling saves and clearances.
The roatation of the midfield subs was key as Bury's midfield remained fresh throughout. Again, this proved vital when Nicholson marauded forward and broke into the left of the D, had his first shot saved but then buried the rebound to cap a fine individual performance.
Hillary. Nicholson, Major, Larmett and Dixon showed their flexibility and rotated well between themselves keeping the midfield and backlines fresh. Unselfish play which benfited the entire team.
All in all Bury will be pleased to take 3 points from a tough away fixture. Still lots to work on but more positives than negatives to take from the game and into another tough away fixture at South Lakes, who beat Golborne 7-1 in their first fixture, next week
