MANAGERS may come and go at Gigg Lane but one thing never changes. We can go from world-beaters one day to public enemy number one the next writes Andrew Buswell

After the high of beating Bolton, and the low of losing to Southend, no one could blame me for being pessimistic when Darlington went 2-0 up with 18 minutes to go.

Andy Preece had rung the changes with a three-pronged attack consisting of Jon Newby, Pawel Abbott, and Gareth Seddon. As a fan, it was exciting to see Bury line up with a trio of strikers, and to see them score would have been even better.

In the first half-an-hour we played excellent football and created chance after chance. Pawel Abbott turned and was brought down on the edge of the area. The resulting free kick allowed Dunfield to lay off Billy and with the goal gaping he sent it crashing wide.

However ,disaster struck on the 33rd minute when fullback Ryan Valentine surged forward unmarked and slotted the ball past Garner from 18 yards.

We went in at the break losing despite having played the better football.

We had played flowing football but there were too many wasted opportunities.

There were countless numbers of dead balls thrown into the danger zone by Terry Dunfield. They came straight back to him because there was no pressure on Darlington defenders.

Bury came out in the second half with a new sense of optimism, introducing the young David Nugent hoping to make a lasting impression.

I had given us fifteen minutes to score before I thought heads would go down and the game would be beyond our reach. However, even when Ian Clark converted a 72nd minute penalty for the visitors we still looked dangerous.

Andy Preece enters the game to a chorus of boos and jeers, only to instil a new lease of life in the side.

The Shakers were handed a lifeline on 87 minutes when a Jamie Stuart cross was magnificently headed into the top corner by substitute David Nugent.

Running on adrenaline it seemed, Bury pressed forward until finally the equaliser came. Preece gave a helping hand to Jon Newby's cross and Michael Nelson crashed the ball into the back of the net.

Andy Preece's substitution may not have been welcome at the time but we ended up "firing on all cylinders" fighting for what we deserved out of a frustrating match.