IT was a day to remember for manager David Flitcroft after watching his players pay their own special tribute to Britain’s wartime heroes.

The Shakers boss told his side to wear their poppy armbands with pride.

And they did just that, taking part in an emotional Remembrance service before kick-off, then sweeping aside Wigan with a stunning display of force to storm into the second round of the FA Cup.

“It is an important day for me,” said Flitcroft. “When you witness the scenes that we saw at the start of the game and the people that fought for us, it is quite emotional for me.

“I said to the players don’t wear the armband if you cannot wear it with pride and wear it with honour.

“I have just watched a team (Wigan) capitulate wearing it.

“Don’t wear it if it doesn’t mean something to you.

“Make sure that you wear it with pride and with honour, and they did that fantastically well.”

The Shakers completed the cup double over the League One heavyweights after knocking Wigan out of the Capital One Cup earlier in the season.

That game hung on a knife edge until Leon Clarke sealed victory with a late penalty, but this match was all but over by half time.

Flitcroft’s men went into the break 3-0 up following goals by Tom Pope, Danny Mayor and fit-again captain Nathan Cameron.

And Leon Clarke came off the bench in the second half to round off the scoring as Bury inflicted Wigan’s first defeat in 11 matches.

"It was probably as good a performance since I have taken over,” added Flitcroft.

"The players carried the game plan off to an absolute T.

"For me every single one of them showed a team ethic.

"It wasn't about individuals. It was about how that team performed as one and they did that."

Bury were handed the lead on 18 minutes when Wigan keeper Richard O’Donnell made a complete hash of what looked like a regulation save from a Pope header.

From that moment on the Shakers played Gary Caldwell’s League One promotion chasers off the park.

Danny Rose headed just over after a great move down the left while Peter Clarke had a header saved and Tom Soares drilled a shot wide from 30 yards.

The second goal came in the 34th minute after Bury broke from a Wigan corner. Jacob Mellis drew in the covering Latics defenders and played in Mayor who powered a blistering first-time shot past O’Donnell.

Cameron added the decisive third goal on the stroke of half time, shepherding the ball over the line after Pope headed a Danny Pugh cross goalwards.

Substitute Leon Clarke settled it on 66 minutes, the club’s top scorer bundling in a Joe Riley centre shortly after coming on to mark an emotional return after missing the last match to be with his seriously ill mother.

Bury’s fourth goal was the cue for a mass exodus of the 1,300-strong travelling support, as home fans celebrated dismantling a team that won the cup in 2013.

"We're in the hat,” said Flitcroft. “To be in the next round was the key.

"It gets extra revenue into the club. That's what pleases me.

"We have got a chairman and board who work ridiculously hard for this football club and it gives them an opportunity to go into the next round. So I am delighted for the football club."

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Match stats and ratings

BURY (4-4-2): Bachmann 7; Riley 8, P Clarke 8, Cameron 8, Hussey 8; Mellis 8 (Burgess 6 85), Soares 8 (Brown 6 80), Pugh 8, Mayor 9; Pope 9, Rose 8 (L Clarke 7 61).

Not used: Kenny, Sedgwick.

WIGAN ATHLETIC (5-2-3): O'Donnell; Love, Daniels, Morgan, McCann, James; Perkins, Junior (Power 62); Grigg (Jacobs 46), Vuckic (Wildschut 46), Davies.

Not used: Jaaskelainen, Cowie, Chow, Barnett.

Scorers: Bury – Pope 18, Mayor 34, Cameron 45+2, L Clarke 66. Wigan Athletic – N/A.

Yellow cards: Bury – Cameron 37, Mellis 70. Wigan Athletic: Junior 15, Daniels 49, McCann 68.

Referee: David Coote.

Attendance: 3,856 (1,296 visiting).

Star man: Tom Pope – On a day that David Flitcroft called for pride in the poppy, Tom Pope yet again showed he is a man the Bury boss can depend on in the trenches. Wherever there is a battle to be won, the all-action centre-forward is always first in line, even going to war with his own team-mates if necessary. As he walked off at half-time, Pope was aiming friendly daggers at captain Nathan Cameron, who nabbed Bury’s third goal from him on the line. The former Port Vale striker may feel he should be higher up the scoring charts, but after putting his body on the line for the cause yet again, he is proving to be the side’s real unsung hero.