Bury 1 Stoke City 0 by Chris Hall

SHAKERS transcended a two-division gap to pull off one of the shocks of the Worthington Cup first round and send the Potters crashing out at Gigg Lane.

After coming through the miserable circus which surrounded the club during their spell in administration a matter of months ago, this result was priceless to the team's morale as they continue their push for an immediate return to Division Two.

But, far more crucially, the victory opens the door to a possible clash against a Premiership outfit in the next round and the revenue so desperately needed to keep hold of the loan players who have made nights like this a possibility.

Yet this was no ordinary giant killing. There was no hint of rigid, long ball tactics. No rough and tumble in midfield designed to rattle their opponents. No debatable penalty decisions and no scrappy winning goal.

The roar of triumph which greeted the final whistle was thoroughly deserved by the home side, who stood toe to toe against a supposedly fitter and stronger outfit throughout the first half, then set about dismantling them in the second with some dazzling midfield skills from the likes of Martyn Forrest and the tackle skipping Terry Dunfield, complemented by the incisive forward running of Pawel Abbott, Jon Newby and George Clegg.

Dunfield and Clegg were both unlucky not to break the deadlock in the first period, with both having fierce strikes blocked in the penalty area en-route to sending the net billowing.

But when the goal finally came on 56 minutes, it left no-one with any doubts over who deserved their name in the hat this Saturday.

The majestic team move began way back in the Bury half as they cleared another wasteful Stoke attack. Forrest worked tirelessly to keep the ball and his feet under the weight of some reckless challenges before Clegg took the move into the Stoke half and sent Newby racing down the right channel.

Newby, at full pace, then somehow managed to whip an instinctive cross over two bewildered defenders to perfectly find the forehead of rampaging full back Jamie Stuart, whose header was clinical in the extreme and sent the small but vociferous band of home fans into raptures.

There was plenty of drama to come with Danny Swailes seeing his fierce header rattle the crossbar, Stoke's Brynjar Gunnarsson being sent off for a rash challenge on Michael Nelson and Glyn Garner pulled off a magnificent point blank save from Chris Iwelumo in the dying moments.

But it was that goal which had Shakers boss Andy Preece in raptures.

"It was an unbelievable goal," he enthused. "I just hope that when it's televised, they show the move in its entirety because it started way back near our own corner flag. It was a dream goal to win a great match."

STAT ATTACK

Garner 7, Stuart 8, Swailes 8, Nelson 8, Unsworth 7, Forrest 8, Clegg 8, Abbott 7, Dunfield 9, Woodthorpe 7, Newby 8. Subs: Preece (Abbott 89) 6, Billy (Unsworth 45) 6, Redmond (Stuart 85) 6. Not used: O,Shaughnessy, George.

Attendance: 2,581

Referee: Graham Salisbury (Preston)