Bury’s first team made hard work of their game on Saturday as they took on bottom side Northern in Division Four of the North West Men’s Hockey League.

The visitors packed their defence from the start, leaving Bury struggling to find space to play their normal passing game.

This was reflected in the scoreline at half time, where goals from David Hodbod and Luke Fidler gave Bury a slim 2-0 advantage.

Skipper Tariq Sheikh made use of the half time break to demand more from his team, and they duly responded with three goals in the opening nine minutes of the second half.

Bury were now finding more space and passing the ball far more effectively, as man-of-the-match Piers Smith-Hughes linked well with Simon Major, pictured, and Rob Bradburn to create far more opportunities.

The final tally saw James Oakes with four goals, Luke Fidler with three, David Hodbod with two and Simon Major with one, as Bury continued their excellent post-Christmas form.