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 Match Report
Bury 1 Northampton Town 0
Nationwide League Division 2
Monday 30th August 2000
Can Darren Bullock resist returning to the wild side of football? Because, if Bury's only recognised hardman can draw a line under his Shakers career so far, a career of 12-minute, red-card brandishing debuts and rumoured behind-the-scenes bust ups, if the former Swindon and Huddersfield midfielder is able to start a new chapter in his Gigg Lane story, Bury fans can hopefully look forward to more games like this one. On only one occasion did Bullock's happy-go-lucky mask slip to reveal a simmering temperament below the surface - Bullock jabbing an accusing finger at the Northampton defender who caught him in the face in a careless collision. Otherwise, this game played host to a new Bullock - a Bullock who can battle with the best of them in the middle of the park, as well as get forward and grab some important goals.
Bury have a number of players in form at the moment, and while each player fulfilled a vital role in this afternoon's Bank Holiday win over Northampton Town, the line between plain victory and victory through total domination was crossed thanks to a select handful of Shakers stars. Adrian Littlejohn and Baichung Bhutia are offering exciting pace and skills up front, Chris Billy is working hard in midfield and Chris Swailes and Sam Collins are keeping the defence watertight with help from veteran Steve Redmond, and it proved an irresistible combination today as Bury played their way to all three points, and joint first place in the league table.
Bullock himself broke the lengthy deadlock with eighteen minutes. Following a sublime piece of trickery from Baichung Bhutia - slipping the ball past a defender and picking it up on the other side to pull a pass back for Adrian Littlejohn whose powerful shot was parried by Keith Welch, Bullock finished from close range with the open goal in front of him. However, as anyone would be hard pressed to dispute, a solitary goal did not reflect the balance of play in a match dominated by Bury. Confidence must be at a premium just now in the Gigg Lane dressing room, because it has been a long time since a Bury side had played with such attacking scope and, this afternoon especially, played some quality football.
Bury's first half pressure, structured into neat, passing triangles with an occasional incisive through ball feeding Adrian Littlejohn down the left flank promised much but a tough Northampton defence escaped unscathed at half-time. Littlejohn rattled the visitors' crossbar with a poweful shot after a clever turn made space for the effort. Then, in the second period, Littlejohn emerged from a one-two with Chris Billy in the corner before steering a left-footed strike goalwards, only for Keith Welch to produce a superb full-length save.
by Ben Walker
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