NIGEL Worthington again declared his commitment to Blackpool Football Club after a 0-5 trouncing at Bury on Saturday (Oct 16).

The Shakers looked more than shaky for the first 20 minutes of a match which finished with the Seasiders routed and a number of fans chanting for the sacking of the manager.

One fan was so incensed with the display he ran from the top of the stand to the back of Worthington's dug-out, slamming it repeatedly with his arm.

A bottle of water was thrown on to the pitch followed, around half an hour later, by half a seat.

Police officers were called to the dug-out and four stood guard, sentry-like, for the remainder of the match, making sure matters didn't get out of hand.

But on the pitch, that's exactly what happened.

Swailes opened the scoring just minutes after Redmond hit the post from a free kick - begging the question where was the Seasiders defence?

The Tangerine heads began to drop and the visitors raised their game.

Two minutes after the break, amateurish defending from Pool allowed Bullock to head in and on 60 minutes, Chris Billy stormed into the box - unmarked - and nodded home the third. The ex-Seasiders teamed up for Bury's fourth with Andy Preece powering through the midfield, placing the ball perfectly for Ian Lawson to tap home under Tony Caig. 4-0.

And the arrival of Barnes from the bench was always going to be bad news for the Seasiders - he's scored against the Tangerines in his last four meetings with the club.

A Woodward cross on 87 minutes was all he needed to keep his record going.

After emerging from a spell in the boardroom straight after the match and being asked if he was still manager of the club, Worthington said: "That is still the case.

"For the first 25 minutes, we had all of the possession but as soon as they put the ball in the back of the net it all went downhill.

"They've scored five goals which weren't the hardest. It's another bad day at the office.

"But Bury are entitled to the result because our performance was poor.

"I can understand the frustration from the fans but we are as we are. If I can tell you why we played so bad today, we wouldn't be like this now. The performance was fine against Chesterfield.

"When Bury scored, you could see their confidence drain away. Bury scored three goals which were there for the taking.

"It's difficult to accept, but it's a fact of life and we have to get on with it.

"We have youngsters and injured players coming back and that's it.

"We have to battle along. There has got to be a big improvement."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.