Bury Town 2 Lowestoft Town 3

Bury had been reduced to 9 men for the final ten minutes but an inspired performance by keeper Marcus Garnham seemed to have earned them a point until that late Lowestoft strike.

Bury had made the ideal start b y taking the lead inside two minutes. A long throw in from the left was not properly dealt with by the Lowestoft defence and when the ball reached Sam Reed at the edge of the area his excellent chip left Andy Reynolds helpless to put the home side ahead.

There was more problems for the Trawlerboys defence when Reynolds was penalised for picking up a Greg Crane back pass but John Kennedy’s drilled free kick from 12 yards deflected off the defensive wall and wide of the target.

Lowestoft gradually got into the game and a Reynolds free kick was nodded on by Matt Nolan but Garnham made the first of his many fine saves to thwart Chris Henderson. Nolan then took a return pass from Henderson but shot across the face of the goal and wide of the far post.

Lowestoft deservedly equalised in the 22nd minute when Robert Eagle’s excellent ball sent Henderson racing into the penalty area only to be brought down by Tom Bullard leaving the referee no option but to send off the Bury captain and award the Trawlerboys a spot kick. Despite the delay whilst Bullard slowly trudged off Dean Sinclair kept his nerve to drill the ball past Garnham.

Despite being a man short Bury responded positively and a tremendous 25 yard volley from Kennedy brought out an equally outstanding save from Reynolds. Bury were not to be denied though and regained the lead in the 28th minute when a cross from Danny Cunningham was headed home at the far post by Sam Nunn.

It was Lowestoft’s turn to hit back and a 25 yard free kick from Eagle was turned over the bar by Garnham. Lubo Guentchev was beginning to show some of his old form and went close from 25 yards before seeing a closer range effort blocked in front of goal before the first half came to an end.

Lowestoft equalised for a second time 5 minutes after the break. An Eagle corner was only partially cleared and played back into the area by Andrew Fisk for Sam Gaughran to turn into the net from close range.

The game then became the Garnham show as he made excellent saves from Nathan Stone, Greg Crane and Scott Mitchell twice. Any chance of snatching a victory by Bury were dashed as they were reduced to 9 men with Cunningham receiving a straight red card for a reckless tackle on Mitchell in the 83rd minute.

Sinclair and Stone both had ‘goals’ ruled out as Lowestoft pressed for a winning goal. Joe Francis put a close range header into the side netting and a Fisk long distance drive curled inches too high.

With three of the 4 additional minutes played Lowestoft netted a dramatic winner. Mitchell’s cross was headed back across the face of the goal by Stone for Guentchev to steal in at the far post to head home to the rapturous delight of his team mates and fans alike.

Terry Lynes