SHAKERS 4, SHREWSBURY 3: Four goals clear after 56 minutes, Shakers then gave themselves a fright by conceding three goals in eight minutes to a determined Nigel Jempson.

Two goal Jon Newby and other strikes from Abbott and Dunfield put Shakers in the driving seat for their second Gigg Lane win of the season, before veteran Jempson struck to keep them on their toes.

Full report and reaction from the Bury Times Sports Desk team on Tuesday.

SATURDAY: Hull City 1 Bury 1 by Phil Thorp: JAN Molby's Tigers started the season bookies' favourites for promotion from Division Three.

If that's the case, on the evidence of this showing, the Shakers will be a good bet to join them next May.

Once again Andy Preece's side had to settle for second best from a game they bossed from start to finish.

The boos from the home fans at the final whistle told their own story yet the Boothferry Park faithful should really have been thankful their side picked up a point.

They led at half time thanks to another Bury defensive slip-up, this time by the normally reliable Matt Barrass, but once Pawel Abbott restored parity after 64 minutes there was only one team going to win the match.

Only they didn't!

And that stuck in the craw of Shakers' chief Preece, who reckoned his team took their foot off the pedal after drawing level. In fact so incensed was the Bury boss that he admitted dealing his charges a verbal tongue-lashing on a par with the one he delivered after the Cambridge horror show two weeks ago.

"In football terms that was a massacre," said Preece. "Some of our football was a joy to watch.

"Hull were never in the game and while I am happy to come to one of the promotion favourites and get a point I am disappointed we didn't kill them off.

"At 0-0 we seemed to think we were 5-0 up and started showboating."

With loan star Terry Dunfield and skipper Martyn Forrest in commanding form in the middle of the park there was plenty to enjoy from a Bury point of view as the Shakers followed on from their impressive displays against Oxford and Swansea.

Always looking to get the ball down and play, the home side seemed mesmerised by the quality of the Shakers' football and soon had their sizeable home following on their backs.

Yet it was the Tigers that drew first blood after 35 minutes when a weak back header from Barrass left Glyn Garner stranded. The Shakers keeper and Hull's Simon Johnson arrived at the same time but the ball broke to the on-loan Leeds United youngster and despite the best efforts of Steve Redmond on the line he curled the ball into the net from a narrow angle.

Before that, all the home side's best efforts had come from distance and had been easily dealt with by Garner, meanwhile at the other end Jon Newby and Abbott were dragging the fragile looking City defence all over the place and only last gasp interceptions by Justin Whittle and John Anderson stopped both Shakers' frontrunners from levelling before the break. New signing Colin Woodthorpe replaced Barrass in the second half and the experienced former Stockport man made an impressive start to his Bury career.

The home side didn't seriously trouble the Bury back line and had Mark Greaves' goalbound header not been cleared off the line by Abbott the scoreline would have been a travesty.

But it was Abbott's work at the opposite end of the field that was to prove just as crucial when he grabbed his first goal for the Shakers.

Dunfield's initial effort was only parried by former Bolton keeper Matt Glennon and the Polish international followed up to blast the ball into the roof of the net from close range.

Seconds later another fumble by the increasingly nervous looking Glennon saw the ball fall to Dunfield again but his first time effort cleared the bar.

FORMGUIDE: Garner 7, Barrass 7 (Woodthorpe, 46) 7, Stuart 8, Swailes 8,

Unsworth 8, Forrest 8, Clegg (Billy 77) 7, Redmond 7, Abbott 7, Dunfield 8, Newby 8. Subs not used: Preece, Nelson & George.

Referee: Mr M. Ryan

Attendance: 8,806