Bury 1 Burnley 0 - Tony Dewhurst reports
SPIRIT, Endeavour, Vigour and Fight.
Bury manager Stan Ternent uttered these four words in his pre-match address - straight from the heart.
The former Claret meant every word as he launched a successful Division Two mission against the club he says he still adores.
Ternent lives in Burnley. But he has those four words carved into the Gigg Lane dressing room door.
They are etched into the psyche of the Bury players who go into battle for Ternent twice a week.
His game plan was simple. He knew he could rattle Burnley. He knew that if his team of terriers snapped and snarled at the heels of their illustrious Lancashire neighbours then Bury could force a result.
So did his 11, white-shirted dynamos.
The Shakers gave Burnley the full force of a furious first half Gigg Lane barrage - and that won them the contest.
The most worrying aspect was that a team who roll their sleeves up and hand out a "bit of physical" put Burnley out of step. For periods of the first half the Clarets just did not seem able to handle it when Bury turned up the heat to boiling point.
And, at times, it was men versus boys stuff as Burnley were upstaged by a team who were playing their football in the Third Division last season.
A Ronnie Jepson smash and grab raid settled this derby.
But, by then, Bury had got the measure of Burnley. The Shakers were in the driving seat and already revving up in third gear, heading towards the chequered flag.
But did Burnley want this enough?
That's a heck of an accusation to make but probably justified in the circumstances which surrounded this defeat.
It took a half-time rollicking from the manager and number two John Ward for the players to decide to make a contest of it.
Surely that can't be right in the passion and heat of a cut and thrust derby scenario.
With a following of 4,000 Burnley fans - over half the crowd at Gigg Lane - doing their level best to roar you to victory, what more motivation is needed?
Things did, however, improve dramatically after the half-time cuppa. Heath did not mince his words and rapped: "In the first half there were too many people waiting for things to happen.
"I thought Bury wanted it a bit more. I had to go crazy at half-time to make sure that we had a performance.
"That's the problem with us. We just aren't going to progress until people realise that it is a game of 90 minutes and not one of 45.
"I'm getting fed up of saying that.
"Whether it's the personnel or whether it's my fault, I don't know. But that's my problem as manager and I'll sort that out.
"We are just chasing things when we play like this.
"One or two will be a bit fortunate on Saturday that we haven't got as many people fit as we'd have liked."
Heath added: "I was pleased with the second half show. We showed a little bit more desire and willingness to want to go and win a game.
"Unfortunately, we had to wait until we had gone a goal down before we started to play."
Heath was so short of staff he even included himself as one of the three substitutes. Certainly, the Clarets line-up had a makeshift look about it.
Youngsters Paul Smith and Paul Weller were employed in unfamiliar territory, occupying the wing-back roles, while Gerry Harrison roared back into the midfield department.
Yet once Bury had the advantage - Jepson's third of the campaign - it was an uphill battle for the Clarets.
Bury exposed the back line and only some nervous finishing from the Bury attackers and a couple of reaction saves from Marlon Beresford kept the Shakers at bay.
The second half was a different tale though. Bury, highly-organised and effective, sat back and soaked up the pressure from the Clarets three-man attack.
It was all hands to the pump for Bury who saw Mark Winstanley go closest to grabbing a share of the spoils.
The defender's 25-yard shot smashed against Dean Kiely's cross-bar and away to safety.
But even the sight of manager Adrian Heath could not unlock the Bury door as Ternent's foot soldiers kept the Clarets at bay.
The Gigg Lane fortress door had slammed firmly shut on Burnley.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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