Bury 2 Northampton 1 by Steve Canavan of the Bolton Evening News

BURY keeper Paddy Kenny should think about running 30 yards off his line and kicking the opposition centre forward up in the air more often.

His rush of blood - which resulted in a red card - was the catalyst for the Shakers to start playing some decent football and within minutes they had overturned a one-goal deficit and chalked up their fourth home league win on the trot.

But until Kenny's 68th minute moment of madness, Bury had been poor. It was a typical bottom of the league dogfight with both teams desperate for a win. The Shakers could not reproduce the glorious form they showed in midweek against Cardiff but they stuck doggedly to their task and in the end got their reward.

Manager Andy Preece was relieved but realistic enough to admit his team were not at their best. "I'm delighted we got a win because to be honest we were terrible," said the Bury boss.

"Too many of our players had an off day and just didn't perform. But it is nice to be able to stand here and say all that and still come away with a win. Perhaps

our luck is changing at last."

Give anyone in the crowd a fiver to bet with at half time and they might well have put the money on spotting Elvis in the crowd rather than backing a Bury win. The Shakers were just not at the races, falling behind on 11 minutes to Richard Hope's fine strike after a clever overhead kick from the hard-working Paul McGregor.

And the visitors had plenty more chances to add to their tally, McGregor, Marco Gabbiadini and Chris Hargreaves all wasting good openings. Even when Hargreaves was harshly sent off for reacting angrily to Lee Unsworth's clumsy challenge, the visitors were still the better team.

The second half was even more frustrating as Bury had all the possession but didn't have a clue what to do with it, constantly moving the ball sideways across the back four instead of going forward. It wasn't until Kenny scythed down Northants substitute Sam Parkin as the striker broke clear that the home side finally began to play.

They went on to the offensive and equalised on 77 minutes when Ian Lawson - on for Steve Redmond - rose bravely to head home Harpal Singh's pinpoint free kick. Four minutes later and the amazing turnaround was complete as Singh's corner was met in the six-yard box by Danny Swailes who couldn't miss.

Newby and Seddon had chances to extend the lead in the closing minutes and at the other end a good Lee Unsworth challenge denied Parkin. It finished 2-1 though, three points in the bag and a feeling of overwhelming relief. Bury are now out of the bottom three and are at last looking capable of climbing away from relegation trouble.

"We've taken another big step today but it is nothing to get carried away with because we were poor," added Preece. "But we kept our spirit and belief and considering we've got 12 players injured, what we did today was no mean feat."

BURY: Kenny 6, Unsworth 6, Swailes 6, Redmond 6, Nelson 7, Stuart 6, Jarrett 6, Forrest 7, Singh 7, Newby 7, Seddon 7.

SUBS: Lawson 7 (for Redmond 54), Garner 6 (for Kenny 68), Reid (for Jarrett 75), Clegg, Syros. ATT: 3,539.