They say there’s only one stat that matters in football. Unfortunately for Rovers, it’s not the number of corners.
An aggressively mediocre first half saw few chances for either side. Despite the barrage of corners hailing down on the Bury box, the game’s first clear cut chance fell to the Shakers as John O’Sullivan bore down on goal. A fantastic save from Remi Matthews kept the score at 0-0.
Moments later, Matthews made another instinctive save, only this time with his face rather than his hands. Still reeling from the blow, he was replaced by Thorsten Stuckmann just before half-time.
The second half was a feistier, rainier, affair, with Rovers increasingly desperate to get on the scoresheet. A misplaced pass gifted Andy Williams an opportunity to score his first goal since January, but he could only hit the empty seats of Gigg Lane.
Shortly after, from Rovers’ 93rd corner of the game, Williams found the net with a glancing header that was subsequently disallowed – James Coppinger’s mild obstruction of the goalkeeper apparently enough to warrant the ominous raising of the linesman’s flag. Offside.
Bury broke the deadlock in the 77th minute with a swift counter-attack. Despite Richard Chaplow’s feckless attempt to cynically bring down the Bury winger, he wriggled free and delivered an inch-perfect cross for Leon Clarke to volley home. The only consolation for Rovers was that Clarke’s celebratory knee-slide was comically bad, and actually looked quite painful.
An almost instantly forgettable game of football finished 1-0 to Bury.
by Paul England
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