Bury 0, Bristol City 0

PITY those brave souls who left their cosy fireside and the Saturday matinee Henry the Eighth and his Six Wives for shivering Gigg Lane on Saturday.

How the Shakers could have done with the sort of cutting edge that the mad monarch used on a couple of his womenfolk as a lack of firepower again cost Bury two more home points.

In a game that never reached Boleyn point and despite a number of below-Parr performances the Bury faithful will be hoping they Seymour penetration in future matches than was on view in this encounter.

To be fair the Shakers bossed a one-sided first half but just couldn't make the vital breakthrough against a Bristol City side that seemed happy to settle for a draw.

In a bid to freshen things up in the forward ranks player-boss Andy Preece dropped himself and Ady Littlejohn to the substitutes bench bringing back leading scorer Ian Lawson and Paul Barnes.

And it looked an inspired decision as early as the fourth minute when an astute ball down the inside right channel from skipper Nick Daws sent Barnes into the penalty area but his low angled drive was superbly pushed away for a corner by Billy Mercer.

The visitors showed absolutely nothing in attack in the first period and Shakers 'keeper Paddy Kenny must have been the coldest man for miles as the freezing wind and rain swept across the ground.

Kemajl Avdiu made sure Mercer wasn't allowed to seize up with a stinging shot that the Bristol man had to gather at the second attempt and it seemed a matter of time before the home side got themselves on the scoresheet. However, an indication of what was to follow arrived after 23 minutes when the lively Barnes again escaped his marker to pull a fine ball from the goalline into the path of Lawson.

With the whole goal at his mercy you'd have put your life's savings on the Shakers striker converting but he completely missed his kick and the danger was cleared.

Young central defender Danny Swailes again proved what an good prospect he is by nullifying the threat of Steve Torpey and found time to head a Paul Reid corner over the bar after 36 minutes but as the half progressed it became clear that the shivering spectators of both sides would be lucky to see a goal of any kind.

City opened the second half brightly and Micky Bell had the noisy visiting contingent behind the Manchester Road End on their feet when he curled a 25-yard free kick inches over the Bury bar.

Shortly afterwards a succession of corner-kicks tested the resolve of the Shakers defence but they held firm.

On the hour Matt Barrass played the ball of the game inside Hewlett for Avdiu to run on to.

The Balkan flyer raced into the box and hit a low drive that had Mercer well beaten but just ran inches wide of the far post.

Preece brought himself on for the tiring Lawson after 72 minutes and his physical presence began to pay dividends.

He tested Mercer with a couple of goalbound headers the best of which was a glancing effort from a Nick Daws cross that the City 'keeper did well to smother.

At the other end Robins' substitute Simon Clist had a goalbound shot saved by the legs of Kenny as the visitors countered on the break but the best chance of the game arrived ten minutes from time.

Another precision cross from Barrass found Barnes in the box, he headed the ball into the path of Reid who, amazingly, scooped his effort high over the bar from only five yards.

"It's disappointing because the three points were there for the taking," said Preece. "We weren't great today but the conditions were difficult and made it hard to play football.

"I think Bristol will have been delighted with the point, they set their stall out to hit us on the break but our defence was magnificent."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.