QPR 0, Bury 1
BURY pulled out all the stops at QPR on Sunday to book another season in Nationwide League Division One.
After three months chasing manager Stan Ternent's 50-point survival target, they delivered right on cue at Loftus Road to secure a 17th place finish in the table.
As more than 1,300 vociferous visiting fans will testify, every single player fought like their lives depended on it, controlling the game from start to finish.
Had they been asked to play for another 90 minutes, QPR would still have finished goalless.
On such a crucial final day of the league campaign, Bury could have been forgiven for suffering a few jitters - they still needed one point to be sure of mathematical safety.
But there was no such display of nerves. The fact that they went all-out for victory said everything about the character and will-to-win within the ranks at Gigg Lane.
This was to be Bury's day. Events elsewhere, which could have relegated them if they had lost at Loftus Road, were the furthest things from the players' minds.
The same could not be said of the fans, however, whose ears were pinned to portable radios for news of their relegation-threatened rivals.
The Shakers had Gordon Armstrong to thank for this unexpected but thoroughly deserved victory.
His 22nd minute header stunned the home crowd into silence. The Rangers supporters, like the players, had underestimated their opponents.
The sweeper's crucial goal came from a set piece with Mark Patterson's corner met at the far post by the outstanding Chris Lucketti. He headed across the face of goal for fellow defender Armstrong to nod into the back of the net.
Scoring opportunities were at a prime. Indeed the total number of realistic chances throughout the entire 90 minutes could be counted on one hand. QPR saw their best effort magnificently thwarted by the otherwise untroubled Dean Kiely.
With 23 minutes remaining, Tony Scully launched a fierce drive from the edge of the box which the Bury 'keeper acrobatically blocked with his right hand.
That was Rangers' only shot on target, although Gavin Peacock might have done better with the chances he had, firing off the mark on numerous occasions.
Bury's cause was helped early on when on-loan Liverpool hard man Razor Ruddock limped off with hamstring trouble, but that had little or no affect on the outcome.
There was still another famous 'tough guy' for the Shakers to deal with.
Vinnie Jones, however, failed to live up to his reputation and was kept quiet all afternoon, failing to intimidate a single Bury player before being substituted on 77 minutes.
Manager Ray Harford blasted his men after the game, saying: "They played with complacency and arrogance. They thought they were just going to go out there and win.
"We always shoot ourselves in the foot at home, particularly against teams down near the bottom."
Bury might well have been 'down near the bottom,' but this superb victory lifted them above the Londoners in the final league table.
It was a fitting end to a great season in which Bury have been a credit to Division One.
To survive against all odds in a year when Manchester City, Stoke and Reading have all been relegated is no mean achievement.
On the evidence of this season, Bury look set for a lengthy spell with the big boys in Division One.
This might just be the start!
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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