Bury 2 Bournemouth 1

THREE controversial goals, an attack on the referee and enough incident to fill two notebooks . . . this was quite a home coming.

Seven weeks without a Gigg Lane Second Division match seemed an age but it was quickly forgotten amongst the extraordinary happenings of Saturday afternoon.

Extraordinary off the pitch that is, for much of the stuff on it was of the distinctly mundane variety.

The Cherries arrived in Bury with a winding up order hanging over their heads but with a praiseworthy 'waggons in a circle' mentality that had seen them go 313 minutes without conceding a goal and build a four match unbeaten run.

An off the field cash crisis obviously hadn't detracted from the players' performances and they were further strengthened by the knowledge that they'd won on their last three visits to Gigg Lane and hadn't lost to a Bury team in the previous seven encounters.

It was that kind of confidence that led the visitors to dominate the opening exchanges without ever really threatening to stretch Dean Kiely in the Bury goal.

Dave Town came closest to giving them the lead with a 20-yard shot that clipped the top of Chris Lucketti's head before looping over the stranded Kiely, kissing the top of the bar, and disappearing for a corner.

That was enough to shake Stan Ternent's men out of their early torpor and they soon got back into the swing of things. Perhaps, too, they remembered that they were defending the best home record in the Nationwide League and are not supposed to look second best on their own turf.

Lenny Johnrose did his best to put the Cherries in their place with a sublime through ball that sent Ronnie Jepson clear but the Bury skipper delayed a fraction too long and Jamie Vincent was able to make a saving tackle just inside the box.

Rob Matthews then saw his shot kicked away by Ian Cox and when Mark Carter just failed to connect with Matthews' far post cross, it seemed disappointment was about to turn to frustration.

Bury needed a break to crack an uncompromising and rigid Bournemouth defence and they got it in the 21st minute when Neil Young, for some inexplicable reason, tripped Carter as he headed away from goal and towards the corner flag.

There was no signal from the linesman (sorry! assistant referee) who was closest to the incident but referee Cruickshanks had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Carter resumed his role as penalty taker - having surrendered it while absent to Jepson - and made sure he kept the job by sliding the ball past Jimmy Glass's right hand for his 14th goal of another productive season. Having got themselves in front, Bury suddenly went back into their collective shell and were lucky to escape punishment in the 24th minute when Lucketti's back pass was an ounce short for Kiely who hit the charging Town with his attempted clearance and then watched with some relief as the ball bounced wide of an empty net.

Kiely was in action again moments later when he caught a spinning ball under his bar after Steve Robinson's long range effort had been deflected.

Carter might have doubled the tally in the 29th minute but after expertly taking the ball wide of the keeper he inelegantly slipped while trying to deliver the coup de grace from a tight angle. His unlucky fall brought some mirth to the 250 Bournemouth fans behind the goal but that turned to anger just two minutes later when the ball found its way into their net after an almighty scramble in which keeper Glass was hurt.

Mr Cruickshanks disallowed the effort for either a foul or handball - no one is quite certain which - and he was watching over Glass's treatment when he was attacked by a fan who burst out of the Manchester Road End.

The official pluckily carried on but then made himself unpopular at the other end when he adjudged that Paul Butler had deliberately handled an injury time free kick taken by Vincent that had been headed on by Steve Fletcher.

Kiely could do nothing to stop Robinson's well-placed effort taking the sides in at half-time on level terms.

Bury looked a better side after their traditional interval rebuke and Johnrose and Jepson both raised the temperature around the visitors' goal with efforts that only just missed their intended target.

Bournemouth's John Bailey was booked for a foul on John O'Kane, the Manchester United ace who continues to give the impression that he is far happier going forward than defending, and the Cherries paid a big price for the indiscretion.

Dean West hoisted one of his trademark free kicks deep into the Bournemouth penalty area and when the ball fell from between Jepson and two markers, Rob Matthews' right foot guided the ball home to further increase his rising stock among the home faithful. It was his first goal at Gigg Lane in a league match for twelve months.

Even then, there was some controversy with the Bournemouth players protesting long and hard that Matthews had handled before putting the ball in the net.

Undeterred by their visitors' protests, Bury went for the kill and Glass was almost shattered by Carter's long range effort that he just managed to help around the upright in the 62nd minute. Sixty seconds later the keeper was beaten but Russell Beardsmore was on the line to clear Matthews' header.

The managers then indulged in a bit of human chess with Bournemouth's Mel Machin making three changes and Stan Ternent two. The alterations in personnel had little effect on the general flow and Kiely, despite some huffing and puffing by the men from the South coast, did not have to make a second half save of any note.

There was almost another explosive incident in the last minute when a frustrated David Johnson appeared to direct his head towards a Bournemouth player on the touchline but neither the referee or the assistant referee seemingly had the energy or will dish out more punishment and Johnson, somewhat fortuitously, escaped uncensored.

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