MATCH VERDICT: Charlton 1 Bury 1 (From The Bolton News)

MATCH VERDICT: Charlton 1 Bury 1

5:20pm Thursday 2nd February 2012 in Bury FC By Nick Jackson

RICHIE Barker was left to rue the Shakers’ bad luck after a spectacular Dale Stephens strike deep into injury time cruelly denied his men a memorable victory.

The Gigg Lane men were just seconds away from inflicting the first home defeat of the season on the League One leaders following Lenell John-Lewis’ opener just before the break.

It was an unlikely scenario given Bury’s performance in the 3-0 defeat at Rochdale 72 hours previously, which drew heavy criticism from the manager “We needed a bit of luck and, unfortunately, that strike wasn’t the luck we needed,” said Barker.

“For Bury to come to Charlton, who are top of the league, and take three points is not possible on ability alone, but we have come such a long way.

“We had specific things we wanted to do in terms of defending, and, without being too negative, we knew we were going to spend a lot of time defending because they are not top of the league with an unbeaten home record for no reason.”

Barker paid tribute to his players, who redeemed themselves following their disappointing capitulation at Rochdale on Saturday, with Efe Sodje, making the 500th league appearance of his career, marking the milestone with a solid performance in a resolute Shakers defence.

“We worked on things, and, to be fair to the players, they took it all on board extremely well and put it into practice excellently, so I was extremely pleased, and we passed the ball really well.”

Giles Coke had Bury’s first attempt in the third minute, firing just off target from 20 yards as the Shakers tried to snatch a shock early lead at the home of the division’s outstanding side.

But, as expected, the visitors came under plenty of pressure and they nearly went behind on 15 minutes when Coke was dispossessed by Addicks skipper Johnnie Jackson.

His low pass put Leon Clarke clean through on goal and only a quick reaction save from Cameron Belford prevented the Londoners getting their noses in front.

Peter Sweeney fired straight at Ben Hamer from 10 yards as Bury began to threaten, but his side were almost undone on 31 minutes when Jackson’s cross picked out Yann Kermorgant, and the French striker’s header had to be pushed behind by Belford.

There was confusion from the corner when a mix-up between Belford and Lenell John-Lewis in the six-yard box saw the Bury keeper drop the ball, but, fortunately for him, the danger was scrambled clear.

John-Lewis headed just over the crossbar after connecting with Steven Schumacher’s free kick, but the Bury striker was not to be denied moments later when he gave the visitors a shock lead.

Ryan Doble flicked the ball invitingly into John-Lewis’ path, and he smashed a powerful shot past Ben Hamer from 15 yards to give the Shakers an interval advantage.

Schumacher’s 46th-minute volley was deflected behind for a corner but Charlton should have equalised eight minutes later as Matt Taylor headed over from Danny Green’s ball in.

Chris Solly had a decent penalty claim ignored when his 74th-minute volley looked like it might have been handled on the line by a Bury defender.

But the Shakers’ valiant resistance was finally breached in stoppage time.

Michael Morrison’s shot was saved by Belford, only for the loose ball to fall invitingly for Stephens 20 yards out, and his shot flew into the back of the net to break the Gigg Lane side’s hearts.

Bury: Belford 7, Picken 7, Skarz 7, Sodje 7, Hughes 7, Sweeney 7, Schumacher 8, Coke 7 (Eastham 86), J-Lewis 9, Amoo 6, Doble 7 (Worrall 58 5, Bishop 85). Subs not used: Williams, Bishop, Carrington, Eastham.

Charlton: Hamer, Morrison, Taylor, Wiggins, Solly, Jackson, Green, Stephens, Hollands (Pritchard 84), Kermorgant, Clarke (Haynes 73). Subs not used: Sullivan, Cort, Hayes.

Referee: D’Urso.

Attendance: 13,264.