DAVID Worrall dedicated Tuesday night’s stunning match-winner against his former club to the memory of baby son Noah, who died last month 45 minutes after being born prematurely.

The one-time Shakers favourite silenced the majority of the 8,400 crowd – the biggest gate at the JD Stadium for 18 years – with a 74th-minute free kick that sealed a 1-0 win for Southend and put a serious dent into Bury’s chances of automatic promotion.

The Shrimpers survived a first-half onslaught before stealing all three points, which moved them into fourth place, two points clear of Bury and level with Wycombe in third, with two games remaining.

“I went to my son’s grave this morning and I told him I was playing back at home,” said Worrall after the match.

“So it was emotional, I felt like crying when I scored. It was for him - he was looking down on me.”

Worrall was missing from the Shrimpers squad for the original fixture on March 28, which was abandoned after six minutes due to a waterlogged pitch.

He has since played a handful of games as substitute, but only revealed the personal tragedy that had kept him out of the side after making his emotional return to the JD Stadium.

The 24-year-old midfielder was introduced 10 minutes after the break, along with striker Jack Payne, as Southend manager Phil Brown tried to wrestle back control of the game.

The ploy worked as Payne was brought down by Bury skipper Nathan Cameron and Worrall stepped up to take his first ever free kick for a club he joined from Rotherham in the summer.

“Barry Corr let me have it but told me if I didn’t hit the target he would beat me up,” said the Droylsden-born winger.

“As soon as I hit it I knew it was going in. It was my best goal for Southend, but I was here at Bury for four years and was captain, so I didn’t want to celebrate.”

While even the hardest of hearts in the Bury camp would have begrudged Worrall his goal, there was no justice in the result.

David Flitcroft rated his side’s first-half display as their best of the season, and it was impossible to argue.

Just shy of 8,000 home supporters – who had taken advantage of chairman Stewart Days’s offer of free entry – were given everything but a goal to cheer in the opening 45 minutes.

Danny Mayor, this week voted the League Two player of the year, drifted inside off the left to devastating effect, terrorising the Southend back four while also opening up the space for full-back Chris Hussey to run into.

And he gratefully accepted the opportunity to fire in cross after searching cross, but the ball never quite fell for Bury in the box as a Shrimpers defence that had not conceded for six consecutive matches stood firm.

Ryan Lowe had the first shot on goal, benefiting from an intelligent ball inside from Hussey but his effort was charged down and Andrew Tutte blazed over.

Southend midfielder Will Atkinson spotted the danger early on and was rightly booked in the 11th minute for a sliding tackle on Hussey.

Cameron came closest to scoring for Bury with a header from a Hussey corner that whistled just the wrong side of the post.

Mayor was the next to benefit from a clever pull-back from the defender, picking up the ball inside the box, but the Shrimpers defenders scrambled to deflect his shot wide.

And Tom Soares had the final effort of the half, again just missing the target with a back-post header.

There was a nagging feeling at the break that Bury could rue their missed chances, just as they had done in recent home defeats against Oxford and Morecambe.

Southend striker Jake Cassidy served warning with a glancing header that drifted just past the far post, but Mayor quickly responded with a deflected shot that had Shrimpers keeper Daniel Bentley back-peddling before landing on the top of the net.

Brown’s double substitution changed the flow, however, with Worrall’s pace down the left stretching the Bury defence.

The home side seemed to tire as Southend started to play the ball around with more confidence and while Cameron’s contact with Payne for the free kick that led to the goal was minimal, it did look like a weary challenge.

The Shakers skipper was booked and Worrall stood up to drive the dagger home, placing his 25-yard strike into the top corner.

Flitcroft went for broke, ending the match with more forwards than defenders on the pitch after introducing Tom Eaves, Danny Rose and winger Craig Jones in search of the equaliser.

Rose had a good run into the box checked by a defensive blitz, and at the death Cameron and Ryan Lowe somehow between them failed to find the target after breaking the offside trap.

Perhaps expecting a flag, Cameron was unable to get the ball from under his feet and Lowe’s follow-up was charged down by the Southend keeper.

It was the last act of a desperate finale as Bury’s promotion fate was cruelly ripped from their control.

BURY (4-4-2): Pope 7; Riley 8 (Eaves 6 79), Cameron 8, El-Abd 8, Hussey 9; Soares 7, Etuhu 7 (Jones 6 65), Tutte 7, Mayor 9; Lowe 8, Nardiello 7 (Rose 6 65).

Not used: Adams, Sedgwick, O'Brien, Lainton.

SOUTHEND (4-4-2): Bentley; Leonard, Bolger, Barrett, Coker; Atkinson (Weston 79), Timlin, Deegan, McLaughlin (Payne 55), Corr, Cassidy (Worrall 55).

Not used: Smith, Hurst, Binnom-Williams, Pigott.

Goals: Bury 0 Southend United 1 (Worrall 74).

Yellow cards: Bury - Soares 60, Cameron 73, El-Abd 90+4. Southend United – Atkinson 11, Deegan 45.

Referee: Tony Harrington.

Attendance: 8,396 (529 visiting).

Star man: Chris Hussey – Spectators attending their first Bury match may have been forgiven for assuming Hussey was a midfielder rather than a defender, the amount of time he spent in Southend’s final third. The full-back rained in a succession of crosses, especially in the first half, that deserved to be put away. A little more fortune in the box and Bury could have gone into the break 3-0 up. He continued to provide an attacking outlet after the break while also guarding against the counter attack.