DAVID Flitcroft has challenged his players to bounce back from Saturday’s defeat after the clinical edge that powered Bury to the top of League Two deserted them in Devon.

Grecians substitute Jimmy Keohane capitalised on a late Rob Lainton fumble to hand Exeter an unlikely victory after a second-half strike from Shakers midfielder Tom Soares cancelled out Matt Grimes’ early opener.

Exeter were opened up at will, before and after Soares’s equaliser, but a combination of inspired keeping from home stopper Christy Pym and poor decision making in the final third cost Bury dear.

Wins for Burton and Wycombe ensured maximum punishment for the Shakers, who dropped down to third place in the table after spending just seven days in top spot.

“We have got to 20 points now after 10 games and we will challenge the group to go again,” said Flitcroft, as his attention turned to Saturday’s home game against Tranmere.

“We’ve had a lot of chances – enough to win two games – but were just missing that last bit, that clinical bit.

“I’m looking at a team that have done it all season. In the big moments they have come good and been calm and precise in that last bit, but today, even though we have had so much going forward, for some reason we have rushed the final pass – failing to miss the first man or pick players out.”

Bury were forced to chase the game from the fifth minute after Grimes wrong-footed Lainton with a sweetly struck free-kick across goal.

Yet it seemed only a matter of time that the visitors would be back on level terms, but time and again Bury’s incisive attacking play was let down by the final ball or errant finishing.

Danny Nardiello twice elected to shoot rather than pass to team-mates unmarked in the box, while Danny Mayor missed a golden opportunity to equalise from six yards.

And when Ryan Lowe eventually received the ball with a clear sight of goal, Pym was equal to his effort.

It was eventually left to midfielder Soares to level on 60 minutes, beating Pym at his near post with a 25-yard shot that seemed to deceive him for pace.

Pym made up for his mistake by tipping over a dipping shot from substitute Duane Holmes, who replaced Nicky Adams at half time, before turning a deflected Craig Jones cross behind.

But as Bury pushed for the winner, Exeter started to look dangerous on the break and Lainton had to be on his toes to palm away shots from Keohane and Alex Nicholls before being beaten seven minutes from time.

The Shakers stopper looked to have gathered Jordan Moore-Taylor’s looping header into the box from a free-kick, but dropped the ball after colliding with team-mate Pablo Mills and Keohane was on hand to slot into an empty net.

“Rob took it and caught the ball, but the ball has bounced off Pabs’s head and it’s come loose,” explained Flitcroft.

“Somebody has got to take leadership in those situations. You have got to take 100 per cent control to get a positive outcome.

“Rob’s handling from crosses for the last four or five games has been exceptional and he’s been really positive with that so it is something we will look at in detail, break it down and try to see how we could have done it better.”

Danny Rose put a header over the bar in stoppage time to cap a frustrating close to the game, which consigned Bury to their first defeat since the opening day of the season.

But despite his obvious disappointment, the Shakers boss was philosophical in defeat after outplaying a side that had won back-to-back games going into the fixture. “There’s a lot right, but it is galling losing games,” he said.

“We open teams up for fun, there is not a problem with that. I think we created more chances today than we did against Burton (the previous weekend) and we obviously beat them handsomely.

“We have come up against a good side in Exeter who are in good form – they have now won three on the bounce – and they have given us a good game.

“It was a good game for the neutral I think, it was a real good advert for League Two, but we have just been missing moments of quality when we really needed it.”

EXETER: Pym; Butterfield (Nichols 75), Ribeiro, Oakley, Moore-Taylor, Davies; Sercombe, Grimes; Bennett, Nicholls, Cummins (Keohane 75). Not used: Hamon, Dawson, Wheeler, Riley-Lowe, Tillson.

BURY: Lainton 6; Cameron 5, Mills 6 (Platt 89), McNulty 6; Jones 7, Etuhu 5, Soares 7, Mayor 6; Adams 6 (Holmes 7 45); Nardiello 5 (Rose 6 56), Lowe 7. Not used: Jalal, Tutte, Hussey, Sedgwick.

Goals: Exeter 2 (Grimes 5, Keohane 83) Bury 1 (Soares 59).

Yellow cards: Exeter – Davies 34. Bury – Mayor 45+3.

Referee: Stuart Attwell.

Attendance: 3,215 (254 visiting).

Star man: Tom Soares – It was good to see the midfielder take responsibility to score after a rare off day for Bury’s in-form forwards. Soares was one of only two players picked out for praise by manager David Flitcroft after the game, along with Ryan Lowe, who put in a spirited shift without getting the good fortune in front of goal. But Soares made up for that with a powerful strike that beat the Exeter keeper for pace and he will be hoping that his second goal of the season will trigger an extended scoring run.