Out for the County!

WHEN the spine of your team has a collective off day there is usually only one result - defeat with a capital D.

That was the case for Bury as Paddy Kenny, Chris Swailes, Steve Redmond and Ian Lawson all had games they would rather forget. They were not alone and consequently Notts County cashed in to the full.

It could have been even worse as, at times, in the first half in particular, County were given the freedom of Gigg Lane. Only their finishing and the woodwork stopped them wrapping the game up by half-time.

They got off to a dream start when executioner-in-chief Clayton Blackmore sharpened up his axe with a shot that hit both posts before pinging back out to Mark Stallard ten yards out right in front of goal. Thank you very much, and Bury were a goal down before they had time to draw breath.

They were rattled and it showed as County launched raids on the Shakers goal to such an extent that at times it resembled a cavalry charge throughout the rest of the half.

A Stallard cross caused panic in the Bury goalmouth in the tenth minute and it was an anxious few seconds before the ball was hacked away with the emphasis definitely not on finesse.

Nine minutes later Andy Hughes broke clear of the Bury defence, but fortunately for Bury put his shot wide.

Barely two minutes later Stallard hit the bar after County had once again roamed the Gigg Lane pastures at will.

The only respite amidst all this mayhem came in the 21st minute when a Chris Billy shot was cleared for a corner before it got anywhere near goal by County's on loan Manchester City defender Nick Fenton. County had sent substitute Alex Dyer on for the injured Stallard in the 29th minute, but if Bury thought that was going to help them they were sadly mistaken as Blackmore crossed for Dyer in the 40th minute for what would have been a killer goal.

The former Huddersfield man hadn't got his range quite right yet and put his header wide when it seemed far easier to hit the target.

Another let-off for the Shakers then and, when the second half got under way, it appeared they were going to respond in the right manner at last.

Motivated, no doubt, by a few quiet words in the right ears from manager Neil Warnock over the half-time cups of tea, they left the apprentices to pick up the pieces in the dressing room and fairly ripped into County from the re-start.

They didn't have long to wait for their reward. A 49th minute Nicky Daws cross-shot ran on to Chris Billy with the help of a deflection and Billy gleefully bundled in his first goal for the Shakers.

Bury threatened to take County apart after that as they entered their best spell of the game.

Lawson should have capitalised on that when he was allowed to go on despite the linesman flagging, but in a one-on-one with County keeper Darren Ward Lawson failed dismally and saw his tame shot saved by the man rated the best keeper in Division Two.

Ward was in action again though a minute later, stopping a shot from Shakers' skipper Nicky Daws. Then, on the hour, Andy Preece was just wide with a blast from Paul Reid's tapped free-kick.

That, as they say, was that though and Bury were made to pay a heavy price for those misses when Blackmore popped up with his blockbuster from fully 30 yards out.

Space was again freely available and the former Manchester United defender took full advantage with a shot that another Old Trafford favourite, Sir Bobby Charlton, would have been proud of as it hit the inside of a post and crashed into the net.

A goal like that would knock the stuffing out of most teams and a decidely out-of-sorts Bury were no exception.

A couple of dangerous crosses into the County box could have produced a lifesaver, but no-one was on hand to add the last vital touch and five minutes from the end any hopes of a Bury revival were well and truly dashed when Gary Owers fired in County's third goal.

Chris Billy cleared a Paul Bollond shot off the line, but the loose ball ran to Owers and he cracked in an angled drive from the right-hand side of the box.

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