Lowestoft Town 2 Bury Town 1

The tone of the game was set in the opening minute with a fiercesome tackle by Scott Mitchell for which he was lucky to escape with just a stern talking to. No quarter was given by the Suffolk rivals with the better early chances falling to Bury. Bury’s Sam Reed twice had Andy Reynolds stretching to turn the ball around the post and at the other end Scott Mitchell’s effort was saved by Marcus Garnham.

Bury moved ahead in the 22nd minute with Danny Cunningham crossing from the right to Lee Smith who held off the attentions of Greg Crane before laying the ball off for Sam Reed to shoot home from 12 yards.

Lowestoft started to get a grip on the game and penned Bury back for long periods but without managing to create a clear opening.

The second half continued at a high tempo and a glorious through ball from Andrew Fisk sent Michael Frew clear but his side foot effort from the edge of the area was inches the wrong side of the upright. Keeper Garnham then had to stretch backwards to palm away a header from his captain Tom Bullard to keep Bury’s noses in front.

It was to be a short lived reprieve though as Lowestoft levelled the scores in the 54th minute. Mitchell took a pass from Lubo Guentchev but was impeded as he ran into the penalty area. There was a lengthy delay before substitute Dale Cockrill was able to step up to net the resultant penalty.

Just 4 minutes later Bury were reduced to 10 men with Bullard shown a straight red for a challenge on Frew. Despite being a man short Bury were close to regaining the lead as Reed again raced clear but saw his cross shot hit the base of the post with Reynolds beaten and Mitchell appearing on cue to clear the loose ball.

Bury were reduced to 9 men in the 77th minute with substitute Craig Nurse getting a straight red for a tackle on Fisk.

With a two man advantage Lowestoft pressed for a winner which finally arrived in the 84th minute. Adam Smith crossed from the left, Crane laid the ball back to Mitchell to drill the ball low to the keeper’s left and just inside the post.

Lowestoft Director of Football Craig Fleming thought it was a good competitive game with Lowestoft comfortable at the back despite giving away a sloppy goal and always looking to get forward at every opportunity. There was a lot of incident in the game to keep the 4 figure crowd entertained and a massive 3 points for the Trawlerboys to keep the pressure on the other sides at the top.

Terry Lynes