SHAKERS 1, EXETER CITY 0: NICKY Adams booked a third round date for Bury at Norwich City - and a shred of vindication after last season's FA Cup palaver.
Ironically, the Shakers were scheduled to be playing the Canaries' fierce rivals, Ipswich, before being dumped out of last season's competition for fielding an ineligible player.
And thanks to the winger's late winner against a spirited Exeter side, the club can now look forward to what should be a reasonable pay-day in the South East.
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"After what went on last season, it was important that we made amends," Casper said after a tight game at Gigg Lane.
"I'm happy for the fans because they lost out on their big day last season."
Casper added that the only disappointment of the draw was the five-hour trip which awaits any fans wishing to travel to East Anglia.
"It's a long way down there," he said. "There should be a decent gate, but it is a shame that a lot of people might be a bit wary of travelling all that way."
For so long, it seemed an unappetising midweek replay in the South West was on the cards.
The visitors had only two worrying moments in the first 45 minutes, and one of those was of their own making.
Keeper Paul Jones got his angles wrong just two minutes in to handle the ball outside his area, and though the Gigg Lane crowd were baying for blood, referee Dave Foster saw sense to hand him only a yellow card.
The only other highlight of a turgid first half was a clever move down the left involving Colin Woodthorpe and Andy Bishop - the latter rolling an inviting ball across the area to David Buchanan, whose shot was well saved by Jones.
Gigg Lane echoed with jeers as Foster drew the first half to a close, but the Newcastle official would soon become the villain of the piece.
Perhaps seeing that the game was lacking as a spectacle, he decided to take a starring role - first upsetting the home support by ruling out a clear trip on Andy Mangan from Dan Seabourne before riling the 350 away supporters for not punishing a string of scrappy fouls around the penalty area at the other end.
Thankfully, some of the Shakers' players - and in particular Buchanan - got the message and stepped forward to take the spotlight.
Substitute Liam Hughes produced another promising cameo, hitting the side-netting within five minutes of his arrival. Bishop and Buchanan then combined well again to set up Nicky Adams, but Jones was again up to the challenge, blocking the Bolton-born winger's shot at his near post.
It was one-way traffic by the time the Grecians' resolve was broken. Woodthorpe's low shot was saved by Jones, but the rebound was snapped up in a heartbeat by Adams - taking his season tally to eight with a close-range tap in.
That opened the game up. Bishop could, and should, have scored a couple, chiefly a far-post header straight into Jones's hands and the two excellent solo runs which saw him bare down on the Exeter keeper.
Amid it all, though, Exeter boss Paul Tisdale tried a triple substitution to spark his team into a revival, and it nearly worked. Jim Provett produced a moment of class to keep out Richard Logan's point-blank header before a more agile stop under his own crossbar to deny Jamie Mackie in the last minute.
On the whistle, Exeter's players sunk to their knees knowing their hopes of a repeat of their meeting with Manchester United of a few years ago was over. Bury, meanwhile, were glad they hadn't had to rack up the mileage in the replay and then drew a tie at Carrow Road.
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