Grimsby Town 0, Bury 0
BURY travelled east in search of three vital survival points, but it was a certain Mr West who saved them from returning empty-handed.
Ever-alert Dean was the hero of the hour, twice clearing net-bound efforts in a 'stop-start' match which frequently promised a goal but failed to deliver.
The workaholic winger, enjoying a more forward role in Neil Warnock's 4-4-2 formation, was at the back when it mattered in the 10th and 44th minutes, his quick reactions denying a certain Paul Groves goal and a threatening drive from Kingsley Black.
With the exception of a piece of brilliance from goalkeeper Dean Kiely, who got down well to palm away Wayne Burnett's 21st minute rocket-launcher, that was just about all the action the bulk of Bury's travelling supporters missed.
Two coach-loads of frustrated fans arrived at Blundell Park 60 minutes into the game after getting caught behind a series of accidents on the slushy M180.
After last week's heroics at Oxford, they had hoped to be greeted by a Bury lead. Against a side floating contentedly in mid-table, with seemingly nothing to play for, perhaps they should have been!
But Alan Buckley's men were in no mood to lie down and produced enough of the Bury-like grit to keep their second clean sheet of the week. Try as they did, the battling Shakers could not grind down the Mariners sufficiently to find the back of the net, not even with an extra man for the last 18 minutes following Richard Smith's second yellow card.
After scoring sensational goals against Sunderland in midweek, midfield pairing Nick Daws and Darren Bullock failed to produce a repeat performance with Bullock, in particular, firing high and wide on numerous occasions, although none could be classed as 'sitters'.
His first chance arrived on three minutes but he shot wide following a neat combination between Laurent D'Jaffo and Derek Lilley.
Skipper Chris Lucketti set up his next, nodding down only for Bullock to volley into the back of the stand.
The 'Bulldog' then turned provider for D'Jaffo whose header missed the target. Minutes later, the Frenchman's tame long range shot bounced three times before 'keeper Andy Love gathered with ease.
Bullock came close again before the half-time break when he attempted a clever lob over Love, but the 'keeper got back in time to catch the dipping ball.
Lucketti and Lilley had half chances at the start of the second half and D'Jaffo headed over the bar from Daws' cross.
Then came the Mariners' best chance of the game as Groves criminally headed wide of an open goal from a pin-point Lee Ashcroft cross.
Fully aware of the need to score a goal of their own, the Shakers showed signs of frustration with D'Jaffo taking exception to an order from the bench and conducting a full-scale argument on the touchline.
When centre back Smith received a second yellow card for a foul on flying substitute Adrian Littlejohn, Bury surged forward in search of a winner.
Bullock almost grabbed it but volleyed over the bar with 92 minutes on the clock and Grimsby stubbornly held out to deny the visitors their second double in the space of eight days.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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