Bury FC 4-0 St Helens Town: Table toppers break stiff resistance

The final scoreline flattered the Shakers.
St Helens Town at Bury. Image: @sthelenstownfc/twitterSt Helens Town at Bury. Image: @sthelenstownfc/twitter
St Helens Town at Bury. Image: @sthelenstownfc/twitter

Basement boys St Helens Town must have felt like a sacrificial lamb as they came face-to-face with Bury in front of nearly 2,000 fans at the Neuven Stadium, Ratcliffe, on Sunday, knowing that the hosts only needed to win to claim the NWCL first division title at the first time of asking.

But the final scoreline flattered the Shakers who could only rest on their laurels after scoring twice in the dying embers of a far from one-sided top versus bottom showdown in which Town had Elliot Hughes sent off 15 minutes from time, when they still had an outside chance of snatching a draw.

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Bury - beaten only once in 35 league matches - were expected to run riot against a team which had conceded nearly 140 league goals so far this season, but they were kept at bay for 33 minutes by a dogged and determined visitors’ defence.

Frustration seemed to be creeping into the table-toppers’ game until Jonathan Hunt popped up to break the deadlock with a powerful header and on the stroke of half-time. Benjamin Wharton nodded home a second from a well-flighted free kick.

But the anticipated goal rush didn’t materialise in an evenly contested second half until Harry Brazel (85 mins) and Tom Greaves (90+1 mins) wrapped up pole position amid scenes of jubilation among the home fans.T

Teams

Bury: Atkinson, Williams, Kenny, Rowney, Hunte, Moore, O’Brien, Holt,, Greaves. Subs: McWilliam, McDevitt, Brazel, McQuad, Chippendale.

St Helens Town: Jones, Caddick, Jansen, Kamara, Carnell, Brown, Apperley, Cartwright, Hughes, Hassan, Korie-Butler. Subs: Lea, McHugh, Tulomba, Akhigbe-Misdu.

Attendance: 1,885.

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