Bury 0 Boston United 0: IF ever Bury needed a reason why an immediate return to Division Two was a necessity, then this was it.
In their first visit to Gigg Lane, the Pilgrims proved they have not strayed far from their non-league roots by restricting the flow of the game to little above walking pace and leaving both goalkeepers more at risk of catching frostbite than a hold of the ball.
But their miserable lack of creativity is so typical of just about every Third Division team to take on the Shakers on their home turf.
Couple that with their rivals' negative draw-hunting tactics, born out of Bury's rise to prominence among the promotion contenders, and you are left with a season of fixtures so bereft of excitement that even the most ardent Shakers fans will find hard to stomach for too long.
Bury should share some of the blame, of course, after failing to produce any shot, on or off target, for 63 lame minutes.
But the poor entertainment factor is a product of their environment, rather than their own efforts and manager Andy Preece's next major test is to find a key to unlock these stubborn unambitious basement dwellers to play the flowing football which floored their relative giants in Bolton, Stoke and Tranmere.
"I said to the lads before the game that teams are going to come here and try to frustrate us. Credit to Boston, they did their homework on us and managed to stop us from playing," said the Bury boss.
"It's frustrating that this is how it's going to be for the rest of the season but that's the sort of respect we have earned and it's up to us to work out how to break these teams down.
"Nobody should be down about this result. We have everything to be proud of. There's now a three-point gap between ourselves and the play-off places.
"Hopefully, as the games go on, we can make that gap bigger."
Shakers' only realistic chance of scoring fell to defender Danny Swailes, who saw his looping header palmed over the bar by Boston 'keeper Paul Bastock.
But it was Bury's own shotstopper, Glyn Garner, who pulled off the play of the day, brilliantly pushing Stuart Douglas' point blank header on to the post on the hour mark.
In the end, a remarkable string of results elsewhere kept Shakers comfortably in the automatic promotion spots but Bury must find a new spark to stop more Boston stranglers from choking the life out of them.
Bury Form Guide:
Garner 8, Swailes 7, Nelson 6, Redmond 6, Unsworth 6,
Woodthorpe 6, Clegg 6, Dunfield 7, Lawson 7, Newby 7, Nugent 6. Subs: George (for Lawson 56) 6, Stuart (for Woodthorpe 73) 6, Preece (for Nugent 73) 6. Not used: O'Shaughnessy, Whaley.
Referee: George Cain (Bootle)
Attendance: 3,024
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