Bury Town 1 Lowestoft Town 2

Att 589

Teams:-

Bury Town: Garnham, Smith, Dunbar, Kennedy (Bennett 67 mins), Clarke, Bullard, Wales (Allen 74 mins), Bailey, Brame (Roulston 83 mins), Cunningham, Whight
Subs; Bennett, Roulston, Allen, Fenner

Lowestoft Town: Jones, Jack Ainsley, Gleeson, Gaughran, Haynes-Brown, Eagle, Jarvis, Okay (Fisk 71 mins), Smith (Henderson 56 mins), Bammant, Reed (Frew 90 mins)
Subs; Henderson, Stuart Ainsley, Fisk, Frew, Jessup

Lowestoft Town beat Bury Town 2-1 with a Jack Ainsley double in a tense match on a very hard, dry and tricky pitch, to move into fourth place.

It was the fifth game in ten days for Lowestoft and as always it wasn't going to be an easy encounter with matches between these two rivals always being tough, fiery and at times frantic matches.
Lowestoft had been on the wrong end of results at Ram Meadow in recent times and were going into the game looking to reverse that form and to also strengthen their play-off chances.

A few players are understandably tired and carrying knocks and as a result Williams didn't feature and Henderson dropped to the bench. Smith started left midfield, with Eagle moving out to the right for Lowestoft. While Cunningham started for the home side in the number ten shirt.

The match got underway with Lowestoft all in white and football looking like it would be at a premium on a very dry, bobbly and cut up pitch.
The Lowestoft supporters behind the goal were in full voice right from the off but it was Bury who forced an early corner, seeing Cunningham send the ball back into the box and Bullard getting a head on it but sending it past the foot of the post.
In truth and as expected, it had been a pretty unattractive and tense opening ten minutes to the match, with the ball bouncing on the hard surface and proving difficult to judge.
An excellent midfield pass by Bailey looked to have put Whight away for Bury but at the crucial moment Whight slipped and the Lowestoft defence swept up.
At the other end, Bammant got himself down the left and found Eagle at the far post but he couldn't quite get enough on his effort; even though it was enough to force Garnham to save and push it away, with Bammant getting on the end and blasting over from a very tight angle.
There wasn't a huge amount coming in from wide for the Lowestoft front two but both Reed and Bammant were working hard up top and winning the ball, as Lowestoft rolled their sleeves up.
Goals were already looking like they would be hard to come by but on twenty minutes Lowestoft scored a goal that left the home keeper with no chance. An Eagle corner was cleared off the line and with it seemingly looking like nothing was on, Jack Ainsley strode onto the ball from just over ten yards out and smashed an unstoppable shot past the helpless Garnham and into the roof of the net for 1-0 (20 mins).
The bounce of the ball was continuing to prove very tricky to judge and control on a powder puff pitch but Lowestoft were looking comfortable and in control as the thirty minute mark passed.
Bury were struggling to see the ball for any length of time with the Lowestoft defence and midfield contained them well and Gleeson in particular looking right on his game again at the back.
Eagle was being asked to play out on the right and he was now cutting inside and getting involved in the play more often, resulting in Garnham having to get right behind a shot from the midfielder.
Lowestoft looked good for reaching the break in front but with their first real chance on goal, Bury provided a sucker punch and scored against the run of play to level things up. The goal came from Lowestoft thinking they had won a throw-in but with it going the other way, Cunningham was allowed to send a ball in from the left and with the Lowestoft defence not alert to quickly clear the danger, Bailey latched onto the ball inside the box and dragged it across goal and into the far corner for 1-1 (40 mins). It was a harsh leveller on Lowestoft, who tried to restore their lead in the final minutes of the half when Gaughran slung himself at an Eagle free-kick at the far post but the defence were tight on him and he was left needing treatment after putting his body on the line.
Bury also had a chance to test Jones and maybe snatch an unexpected lead before the break but with the ball coming across nicely to Wales in space, instead of taking the time that he had, he hit his shot first time and it flashed wide of the Lowestoft goal.

The second half started with Eagle feeding a good ball into Reed and with the striker looking like he was going to get away on goal, a great stretching tackle by Bullard cut the chance out and diverted the ball back to the home keeper.
Lowestoft had nearly beaten the offside trap on a couple of occasions in the early part of the second half early, as the Lowestoft supporters behind the goal continued to vocally get behind their team.
Apart from the quality deliveries from dead ball situations by Cunningham, Bury had offered very little as an attacking force and even when a long throw by Whight saw the ball bobble about in the box, Brame sent a very weak effort towards Jones, who claimed easily in the Lowestoft goal.
Smith had been brought in to play left midfield for Lowestoft but had struggled to get into the game in that part of the pitch and with just over ten minutes of the second half played, on came Henderson and with Eagle switching to his usual position on the left, Henderson moved to the right.
Lowestoft looked certain of a penalty when an Eagle free-kick from a central position saw Haynes-Brown practically have his shirt pulled off in the box and then Gaughran having his legs taken away from underneath him but the referee surprisingly waved the claims away.
Lowestoft then did get their reward of a penalty though, as Henderson went up against Dunbar in the box and went over with the referee immediately pointing to the spot. In fairness to Bury it seemed a very soft decision but in a way it was a penalty that had been won on aggregate, after the earlier penalty claims that seemed much more stuck on. Up stepped a calm looking Jack Ainsley to fire home his second penalty and eighth goal of the season to send Lowestoft 2-1 ahead (61 mins).
Bury made their first change as Bennett replaced Kennedy and were still in the game as a result of the danger possessed by Cunningham from a dead ball situation.
Lowestoft introduced fresh legs in the centre of the pitch as Fisk replaced Okay and a tense undercurrent remained for Lowestoft with Bury looking to get balls forward and into the box at every opportunity.
Fifteen minutes now remained and Lowestoft were starting to get pushed a little deep but were still working hard and defending really well whenever anything came in or around the area.
Bury had made their second and third changes from the bench but still didn't look like cracking the Lowestoft defence, which looked resolute under the ownership of both Gaughran and Gleeson.
The danger remained from a Cunningham delivery though and with the ex-blue sending in a corner, Lowestoft somehow survived a huge moment, as the ball crashed against the upright and then went right along the goal line before being cleared by the frantic Lowestoft defence.
The final few minutes of the match arrived and with Lowestoft making a final change and seeing those minutes and stoppage time out, the final whistle sounded and they had yet again dug out a huge three points.
The importance of the result was clear to see on the faces of the Lowestoft management and players, while behind the goal the excellent Lowestoft supporters continued to sing loud and proud long after the final whistle.

It was a huge result at a time when the whole squad are running on reserves and really feeling the effects of so many games in quick succession. Yet again the whole team dug deep in a game that wasn't overly pretty but saw Lowestoft get the deserved three points.
Jarvis was a rock in the middle of the pitch and Jack Ainsley scored a peach of a goal, while also showing a great level of calmness from the spot to score an important penalty under pressure.
My Man of the Match though was yet again the team captain Dan Gleeson. Him and Gaughran kept it tight at the back for most of the match with Gleeson backing up his performance on Saturday with another commanding performance, in which he won a very high percentage of every ball or header he contested.

Lowestoft have now moved up to fourth but still need a positive result in their last game of the season on Saturday at home to Harrow Borough, when a win could potentially see them finish in third spot.

Today's vocal support was excellent and the team will need that yet again on Saturday.

Terry Bullen