Bury...0 Scunthorpe Utd...0: IT WAS another case of home discomfort for the Shakers as they failed to produce the goods once again at Gigg Lane.

Bury have won just eight of their 22 home games to date and they let this one get away from them after dominating most of the game, but failing to come up with that vital commodity - a goal.

Shakers boss Andy Preece stood by the team that picked up three crucial points at Rochdale on Good Friday and they were quickly out of the starting blocks working the ball into the Scunthorpe penalty area within seconds of kicking off.

Colin Cramb was at the business end of things as a cross came in from the left and he fired in a first time shot that gave Iron 'keeper Tom Evans an early test.

The Shakers continued to press, but minutes later Scunthorpe gave them a warning of their attacking potential when Paul Hayes broke through the home defence and played the ball out towards Martin Carruthers on the right wing.

Bury were spared further pressure from this move when the linesman raised his flag to rule Carruthers offside.

David Nugent, one of Bury's adventurous three pronged strikeforce, got his name into the referees' book after seven minutes for a rather innocuous looking challenge on Lee Ridley.

Nugent continued to play his part more effectively as Bury pushed Scunthorpe back and Matt Sparrow came to the visitors' rescue when he raced back into his own penalty area in the seventeenth minute to boot away another right wing cross from Bury for a corner.

Scunthorpe's Spanish midfielder Alex Calvo-Garcia tried to work an opening for himself on the left hand side of the penalty area in the 23rd minute.

He moved the ball from one foot to the other, but overstretched himself and ended up merely poking a tame shot towards goal that Glyn Garner easily picked up.

Cramb had a great chance to give Bury the lead they had threatened since the kick-off when he burst into the penalty area and behind the Scunthorpe back line in a central position.

Sadly, he could only fire the ball against Evans' legs and it rebounded to safety.

Bury's plans faced possible disruption when Nugent was forced off on the half hour.

He limped away and midfield man Martyn Forrest came on in his place.

Nugent's removal did not stop Bury from pursuing their attacking policy and George Clegg moved up from midfield to help Cramb and Jon Newby keep the pressure on the Scunthorpe defence.

Newby got in another great cross from the right four minutes from the interval and Evans dived bravely at the feet of Clegg to punch the ball and keep the scoreline blank.

Bury continued to attack the Scunthorpe goal when the second half got underway and in the 48th minute Newby went desperately close to grabbing that vital first goal.

He dived in at the near post after Lee Connell sent in a cross from the right wing, but the Bury striker was inches away from connecting with the ball as Bury's luck deserted them once again.

Both sides tried a substitution in a bid to conjure up a much-needed goal.

Midway through the second period Scunthorpe took off Kenny Dalglish's son Paul and sent on former Manchester City and Stoke winger Peter Beagrie.

Bury answered that with player-manager Preece coming off the bench to add his experience up front at the expense of Cramb.

Just a couple of minutes after those changes Clegg was unfortunate to see his shot from the left blocked by Scunthorpe skipper Mark Jackson.

Bury lost their early impetus as the game wore on and it would take a brave man to bet on them having anything to do with the Division Three promotion shake-up on this form.

Although they were again unfortunate when Evans palmed away a dangerous cross from Connell as full time approached.

BURY: Garner 6, Connell 7, Stuart 6, Nelson 7, Redmond 8, Woodthorpe 7, Billy 5, Clegg 6, Nugent 6 (Forrest, 30, 6), Cramb 6 (Preece, 67, 6), Newby 7. Subs not used: Unsworth, Dunfield and O'Shaughnessy.

SCUNTHORPE UNITED: Evans, Jackson, Sparrow, Graves, Carruthers (Parton, 78), Ridley, Calvo-Garcia, Kilford, Hayes, Strong, Dalglish (Beagrie, 67). Subs not used: McCombe, Barwick and Capp.

REFEREE: Ray Olivier (Sutton Coldfield)

ATTENDANCE: 3,898