Walsall 1 Bury 2 TREMENDOUS Bury breached fortress Walsall and grabbed all three points - but boss Andy Preece was left reflecting on what might have been.

The Shakers were full value for their superb 2-1 victory as they became the first team to win at the Bescot Stadium this season.

Skipper Nick Daws and assistant boss Steve Redmond scored with 20 yard piledrivers to take all the points but Preece could only think about the mid-season slump which destroyed the Shakers promotion push.

''The disappointing thing for me is that this should have been a top of the table clash,'' admitted the Bury boss. ''Instead of just celebrating three points tonight we should be celebrating going for promotion but that bad run we had killed us.

''At the end of the day the league table doesn't lie and we have paid for being a little too careless at times and making too many mistakes.''

But for the time being let's forget the past and concentrate on this.

How those loyal supporters who have travelled to watch Bury lose to Swindon, Bristol, Northampton and Wycombe deserved this day in the sun in the West Midlands.

It was a match completely turned on its head by a sending off on the stroke of half time which allowed Bury to dominate after the break. And the winner, when it arrived, was no more than they deserved.

The Shakers were ahead in just four minutes, Daws smashing a long range shot into the roof of the net to leave the home fans - and most of the away ones - stunned.

Walsall, clearly upset, raced forward and finally broke Bury's resistance with a peach of a goal. Alone on the left wing and 30 yards from goal Darren Wrack produced a sublime curling chip which Paddy Kenny didn't seem concerned about until the moment it flew over his head and into the net.

Seconds after young central defender Danny Swailes limped off with possible ankle ligament damage, the game's major turning point duly arrived.

Daws tackled Walsall midfielder Gabor Bukran who jumped from the ground and swung an elbow at the unfortunate Paul Reid, who just happened to be running past.

The ref saw it and off Bukran went to an ear-bashing from his furious manager Ray Graydon.

And those of us who thought the one man advantage wouldn't make much of a difference could not have been more wrong.

The home side, despite being second in the table and pushing for automatic promotion, dropped every man behind the ball and were content to defend, seemingly happy to go for a draw.

It was suicide tactics and allowed Bury to push forward and dictate the game.

Daws hit a free kick just too high and an out of sorts Baichung Bhutia missed a free header at the back post.

Walsall had only one real chance when on 68 minutes Portuguese forward Jorge Leitao turned Nicky Hill and Steve Redmond inside out but fired a shot over.

It was a costly error. Two minutes later Redmond tried his luck from the edge of the area and the ball bounced over suspect keeper Jimmy Walker and into the corner.

The home side didn't really threaten to level, forcing their one and only corner of the game in the last minute. In fact their fans were more dangerous, hurling abuse and the odd coin at Shakers keeper Paddy Kenny.

But it didn't alter the result leaving Bury - who beat Walsall at Gigg back in September - to complete their first double of the season.

''It's a tremendous win. We came here thinking a point would be good so to get all three is great,'' Preece added. ''It was a great team effort and I felt we deserved it.''

BURY: Kenny 7, Billy 7, Armstrong 8, Redmond 8, Collins 8, D Swailes 8, DAWS 9, Reid 7, Bhutia 6, Preece 6, Newby 7. Subs: Hill 8 (for D Swailes 43), Littlejohn (for Bhutia 65), Forrest (for Preece 75), James, Jarrett. ATT: 4,839.