York City 0 Bury 2

BURY fan John Sharples did his best to shoot down the high-flying Shakers - and then tipped them for the top.

Sharples shone at the heart of York's stretched defence and came closest to scoring against his hometown club with a stunning late volley.

But he was powerless to deny Stan Ternent's men the victory their extra edge of quality deserved...and believes plenty more teams will be brushed aside by the Bury promotion bandwagon.

"They've every chance of going up," he conceded. "I'm a Bury supporter but this is my career and I was desperate to beat them to help our cause.

"It was the usual story for us, we dominated only to give stupid goals away. Bury are very solid at the back and don't concede goals easily.

"They've got three big, strong lads in defence and are extremely organised, very impressive.

"It is very even at the top but if they stay as strong as they are they'll be up there right to the end and if they do go up I'll be pleased." There is certainly better to come. This was a professional rather than polished performance with only Rob Matthews sparking any kind of excitement.

Without a win in five previous league games dismal York were there for the taking. But the job still had to be done and it needed commitment and composure to do it.

The guts came from the brilliant back three of Michael Jackson, Chris Lucketti and Paul Butler who served notice of their determination during York's early domination as they all threw themselves in crucial blocks and tackles.

And Lucketti and Jackson made their presence felt at the other end when the former headed on Dean West's 18th minute free kick for Jackson to slide in the opening goal from a yard.

It's a tribute to the ring of protective thrown around Dean Kiely that the keeper had to wait until the last minute for his first serious action, a stunning tip over to match Sharples' flashing volley.

Bury had a couple of lucky escapes when Nigel Pepper wasted a glorious chance to equalise when he got under a first half free header and when Neil Campbell blasted across the face of goal when it looked easier to score 20 minutes from time.

Good teams make you pay for that kind of generosity and Bury's response was immediate. Within 60 seconds substitute David Johnson's explosive first touch carved the perfect opening for Lenny Johnrose whose snapshot was expertly parried around the near post by Tim Clarke. But the keeper was helpless two minutes later when Johnson launched a long throw for John O'Kane to loop a header against the crossbar and Ronnie Jepson dived to nod in the rebound.

York should have been killed off earlier as the Shakers' more incisive attacks produced a glut of gilt-edged opportunities. Matthews, who caused his old club all sorts of trouble, could have had a hat-trick as he first got on the end of a thrilling move he started only to glance his header just over then twice fell victim to crucial saves by Clarke.

He turned provider with a typically darting run and cross planted inch-perfectly onto Jepson's head only for his close range effort to whistle inches wide five minutes before the break.

Ternent said: "It was nice to get a game after a two-week break and a very welcome three points.

"But we can still play a lot better than that. We created a lot of chances but we also let them have a couple of chances which we wouldn't normally have given them."

Kiely 7, West 7, O'Kane 7, Butler 8, Jackson 8, Lucketti 8, Johnrose 7, Daws 8, Carter 6, Jepson 7, MATTHEWS 8. Subs: Johnson 7 (for Matthews 70 mins), Armstrong (for Jepson 85 mins) and Randall. Attendance: 3,423.

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