Stoke City...4

Bury...0

THEY say you make your own luck - Bury had better learn how it's done quickly or else they are in for as torrid a time on the field as they are currently having of it.

At half time they could have considered themselves desperately unlucky to be going in a goal behind yet it ended in a 4-0 routing as circumstances conspired to leave them, once again, pointless in the Potteries.

The game possibly hinged on an injury to defender Steve Redmond at the end of the first half as prior to that Andy Preece's side had more than matched Gudjon Thordarson's cosmopolitan collective.

Yet, within seconds of the evergreen former Manchester City man leaving the field with a suspected hernia the home side went a goal up.

The minor defensive shake-up proved catastrophic for the Shakers as Chris Iwelumo slammed home a close range effort after Dion Burton had met a cross from Wayne Thomas.

The Bury boss blamed that opening goal on slack marking and to bear him out his defenders gave a masterclass later in the game.

The Scot might have opened his account a few minutes earlier when Redmond inadvertantly headed a clearance against the big striker but after racing clear he could only fire wide with only Paddy Kenny to beat.

The Shakers went for the jugular from the kick-off and should have taken the lead as early as the fourth minute following an exquisite move that ripped the tottery City defence apart.

George Clegg showed some superb skill before releasing Jon Newby down the left. Newby switched the ball inside to David Borley who cut inside and hit a low drive that fizzed inches past the post.

Jason Jarrett also fired in a powerful effort that Neil Cutler did well to parry away and a goal then might have had a demoralising effect on the Potters who had failed to score in their previous three matches.

However they were to make up for that barren spell in the second period.

Once again the Shakers carved out the clearest cut opening early in the half and this time Gareth Seddon - for whom little went right all night - was the guilty party.

Paul Reid, a half time replacement for the concussed Jarrett, and Newby combined well to set up the former RAF man who had time and space to round City keeper Cutler but only succeeded in blasting his effort straight at Jurgen Van Deurzen on the goalline.

Five minutes later the magnitude of that miss became all to apparent when a slip by Sam Collins let in Iwelumo who fired an angled drive in off the post for his and Stoke's second goal.

Michael Nelson almost pulled a goal back only to see Cutler push away his fiercely struck effort for a corner then Lee Unsworth became the third Bury player to leave the field injured when a thigh strain forced him out of the action.

Player-boss Preece replaced the full-back and as the Shakers pushed forward in search of a leveller in the final 20 minutes they began to look ragged and vulnerable at the back.

The game was effectively put out of their reach when Dutch winger Peter Huikstra's left wing cross was somehow headed through the legs of Martyn Forrest by Iwelumo leaving Van Duerzen the easiest of chances to head past Kenny.

Then, six minutes from time, Bury's misery was complete. The unmarked Mike Flynn was first to a corner kick and he directed the ball into the path of Icelandic substitute Stefan Thordarson who had time and space to lash the ball past Kenny with almost his first touch of the ball.

"Injuries once again have gone against us but we had chances to score before Stoke got into the game," said Preece.

"They have been under a lot of pressure of late and we said we'd try and take the game to them and get an early goal.

"We were positive and had a go at them but we only have ourselves to blame.

"Gareth's chance could have been the turning point, if that had gone in who knows where we'd have gone from there.

"It's a travesty, there was no way that was a 4-0 game, we just lost our shape in the final minutes when we were chasing the game."

As the curtain came down on the match Stoke's fans roared their signature tune, it could have been written for the Bury fans who made the trip. . . "Forgive me Delilah, I just couldn't take any more!"

BURY FORMGUIDE: Kenny 6, Unsworth 6 (Preece, 71, 6), Stuart 7, Collins 6, Redmond 6 (Seddon, 44, 5), Nelson 7, Jarrett 6 (Reid, 45, 7), Forrest 6, Borley 6, Clegg 7, Newby 7. Subs not used: Connell and Garner.

REFEREE: Mr P. Walton (Winwick)

ATTENDANCE: 9,635