Bury 2 Wycombe Wanderers 0

TWO gloriously constructed set-piece goals killed off resilient Wycombe and let everyone know that Bury's promotion bid is for real.

This was no Easter extravaganza but the Shakers put behind them a dismal first half performance to destroy the visitors with power and poise in the last 20 minutes.

And victory was made even sweeter for the Gigg Lane men by the fact that 5,400 of their own supporters crammed in to see them - the best home turnout of the season.

However, a fifth successive win and clean sheet wasn't all plain sailing.

The battle of Brentford appeared to have taken its toll as weary Bury began sluggishly.

Wanderers, statistically the worst away team in Division Two, have had one foot dangling through the relegation trapdoor for most of the season but they were quick to exploit the gaps left by the sleepy Shakers.

Having had Tony Battersby booked for a foul in the 25th second, there was almost an even bigger wake-up call for the Gigg Lane men in the second minute when Jason Cousins floated over a right wing corner and rugged ex-Brentford centre-half Terry Evans bundled the ball into the net.

Fortunately for Bury - unbeaten in twenty home league games stretching back exactly a year - referee Butler had spotted some pushing by the giant number five.

Four Bury corners in a row livened up the massive home contingent who had taken advantage of the spring sunshine but Martin Taylor in the Wycombe goal was rarely under pressure as he plucked a succession of hopeful crosses out of the air.

The Wanderers keeper had a little more trouble with Gordon Armstrong's hanging, sixteenth minute punt, and was happy just to touch it off Paul Butler's head.

It was, though, turgid, scrappy stuff with neither side showing the slightest sign of cohesion.

What little football there was came from the fourth-from-bottom visitors and Chris Lucketti was forced into a timely 18th minute block when Keith Scott threatened. So poor was Bury's passing that boss Stan Ternent spent much of the half shouting at his troops from the touchline but it made little difference, as Wycombe continued to force what little pace there was and Dean Kiely was brought to his knees by Jason Kavanagh's 34th minute shot.

The increasingly anxious league leaders failed to muster a single effort on target - or off it for that matter - in the first 45 minutes as Wycombe bamboozled them with a slick offside trap.

Glum silence from three sides of the ground told its own story with the Wanderers fans drowning out the home supporters who must have been wondering what had happened to their Jekyll and Hyde side since Saturday's epic performance in London.

It was left to David Johnson to try and inject some life into a stagnant contest but he was stopped in full throttle by Steve Brown who, amazingly, escaped without a caution.

The free-kick was, like much of the rest of Bury's first half performance, aimless.

Wycombe's ambitions were dented by a 42nd minute injury to Scott who was stretchered off the field, seemingly in agony, but returned after a three minute visit to the dressing room - a remarkable recovery entirely appropriate for the time of year.

Bury's half-time 'chat' didn't seem to do them a lot of good as Wycombe forced three corners in as many minutes.

And there was more bad news in the 49th minute when Chris Lucketti clashed with Evans and left the field with a heavily bandaged right ankle.

Ian Hughes replaced him at the heart of the defence.

Hughes' entrance was almost dramatic as he played a backpass to Kiely's wrong foot and the keeper somewhat luckily managed a 360 degree turn before Mark Stallard could take advantage.

Still without a shot after 56 minutes Ternent decided to remove Adrian Randall and send on 15-goal leading marksman Mark Carter.

Three minutes later the ground erupted when Battersby chested down Woodward's long free-kick and Nick Daws took one touch before sweetly volleying into the bottom corner from 15 yards.

Bury almost made it two in the 64th minute when Armstrong's 22 yard free-kick deflected off the Wycombe wall before spinning inches wide of the post.

The free-kick had been awarded when Evans upended Johnson and received a yellow card. Bad-tempered Wycombe were forced more and more out of their shell to look for an equaliser and Bury were quick to exploit the gaps.

Johnson's curling, 72nd minute effort from the end of the box sent Taylor scurrying high to his right to tip it over for a corner and then as the home pressure mounted Carter flashed a shot inches wide from 15 yards.

At last Bury were showing the kind of fluency and ball-winning aggression that has taken them to the top and Paul Butler made the points safe seven minutes from time when he rose highest to Gordon Armstrong's free-kick and looped a header over the stranded Taylor.

That led to the same kind of standing ovation that had greeted the Shakers' arrival at 3pm and if they play for the rest of the season like they did in the last 20 minutes their ought to be more of the same before the end of the campaign.

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