Bury 2 Brentford 0 by Chris Hall

SHAKERS manager Andy Preece belted out a message of defiance to Bury's doubters after watching his side pull off one of their most unlikely victories of the season.

After defeat in the relegation six-pointer at Northampton on Friday, few would have tipped Preece's injury and suspension hit charges to take all three points from the automatic promotion-chasing Bees.

Even fewer would have backed midfielder Chris Billy, making his return to the starting 11 for the first time in around four months, to break his two-year scoring drought and then double his season tally!

But a magnificent team effort, highlighted by some outstanding individual performances from Lee Unsworth, Michael Nelson and Billy, simply shredded the form book and dragged Bury to within a point of escaping the drop zone. "I know for a fact that some people thought we were relegated last week but we just showed today that we are not for giving up,"said Preece.

"I never had any doubt that we could get out of this and now we have a real chance of doing that. If we can play like that and get results like that, then I'm sure we will be safe."

A stale first half produced little in the way of goalmouth action as Brentford were harried and hustled into abandoning their usual fluent passing style.

And the usual post-interval goal for once fell in Bury's favour as, two minutes into the second period, the ball fell kindly to Billy on the edge of the box and was immediately dispatched at a venomous pace into the top corner in a volley of awesome precision.

Preece, in a bid to turn the attacking momentum back in Shakers' favour, timed the introduction of 16-year-old prodigy David Nugent to perfection.

The young striker inspired a Bury resurgence and set up a match-winning second strike from Billy, who beat the advancing goalkeeper.

and a composed strike through a crowded six-yard box to send the Gigg Lane faithful home in disbelief.

Form guide: Paddy Kenny 7, Lee Unsworth 9, Chris Billy 9, Martyn Forrest 8, Lee Connell 7, David Borley 7, Phil Clarkson 8, Michael Nelson 8, George Clegg 7, Jon Newby 7, Ian Lawson 7. Subs: David Nugent 8, Andy Preece 6. Matthew Barrass, Nicky Hill, Paul O'Shaughnessy.