Bury 0 Rotherham United 0

IT'S not for us to guess what Sam Collins got up to on New Year's Eve . . . but one thing for certain is that he should do it more often!

For the Shakers' central defender had one of his best games in a Bury shirt, and somehow metamorphisised into sprinting champ Maurice Greene during one second half incident to appear from nowhere and save a certain goal.

Indeed, he could have capped his star-man performance with a goal in the dying seconds, but his firm header struck the upright and went wide.

Boss Andy Preece reckoned it was two points dropped, but, in the end, a draw was probably the right result.

High-flying Rotherham were solid at the back and had the better of a dour second half. Former Manchester United striker Mark Robins in particular will hope to find his shooting boots before the Yorkshiremen take on Liverpool in the FA Cup tomorrow.

But Bury can be satisfied with the result which continues their recovery after a two-month slump and bodes well for the remainder of the season. The match might not have been the best spectacle in the world, but it wasn't helped in the slightest by referee Phil Dowd, whose New Year resolution must be to blow his whistle every minute.

It was a full-blooded contest, but never too dirty, though Dowd booked six players, four from Bury.

He was inconsistent too, giving yellow-carded Rotherham striker Alan Lee at least four final warnings -- though Steve Redmond too must have breathed a sigh of relief after escaping with a clumsy challenge moments after being booked.

Bury had the best of the first half. Adrian Littlejohn was a constant thorn in Rotherham's side, but he failed to convert his chances, squandering at least three good opportunities.

His first effort came after just seven minutes, cutting in from the right, but only finding impressive Rotherham keeper Ian Gray, formerly at Stockport, with his low shot.

The best Bury move came after 19 minutes. Paul Barnes found Jason Jarrett, who spotted the tireless Chris Billy overlapping on the right. Billy was clean through, but delayed his shot a moment too long and the visitors' Stewart Talbot managed to block. Littlejohn had another good effort on 23 minutes, turning well on the edge of the area, but hitting his right-foot shot narrowly wide.

Four minutes before half-time, the Shakers' striker should have broken the deadlock. He was put through by Billy, but Gray -- wearing a shirt so bright he would have been visible to oncoming traffic on the darkest of dark nights -- smothered the shot and Jarrett volleyed the rebound wide of an open net, though the young midfielder was spared embarrassment by a raised offside flag.

It added to the unusual statistic that Bury have scored the least number of first half goals throughout the division. They've struck just four times during the first 45 minutes all season, compared to 15 times after the interval.

Rotherham, meanwhile, apart from a spell of early pressure which saw defender David Artell head straight at Kenny, did little to impress, though they started to put that right in the second half.

Giant defender Guy Branston forced Kenny to save under his crossbar with a header on 47 minutes and then striker Paul Warne volleyed inches wide from 20 yards.

But the best chance - and Collins' New Year party piece - came just after the hour.

Martyn Forrest played a terrible back pass straight to Robins who ran 20 yards, rounded Kenny and then, big Sam, like Superman when that little kid fell off Niagara Falls, arrived from nowhere to save the day.

It was great individual defensive play, but it was also, as Preece pointed out later, that bit of luck that the Shakers wouldn't have got a few weeks ago.

Preece, Unsworth and James replaced Barnes, Forrest and Redmond as Bury pressed for a win, but it was only in the last five minutes that the dreadful second period finally livened up. Preece tested Gray with a curling 25-yard free kick, Collins hit the woodwork and claims for a ''some would've given it'' penalty were waved away after Paul Reid was seemingly bundled over as he was about to take aim from eight yards.

Afterwards, as Collins accepted the man of the match prize from both the sponsors and the press box, Preece did his best to make sure the big defender kept his feet on the ground.

''I thought he was a bit shaky in the first 20 minutes and not playing well,'' said the manager, ''but he came back strong.

''Sam could have stood there and watched when Forrest hit that backpass, but he chased back. That is the kind of spirit we need ... players who are prepared to get others out of trouble.

''In the end, I'd say it was two points dropped because we created so many chances and the only chances they had were from our mistakes.

''But the pitch was difficult and it was a battle for both sides. They are a big, strong compact side and they came at us in the first ten minutes. But we came back and we had the chances in the first half to get in front and finish them off."

Rotherham boss Ronnie Moore just couldn't believe that Robins -- once a £1m player when he played for Leicester -- failed to tuck away his chance. "If you want anyone to have that chance it would be him," reflected Moore. "Hopefully, he'll bounce back in time for Liverpool."