BURY took a giant leap towards securing their League One status for another year after comfortably beating Northampton  Town 3-0 in front of a bumper Gigg Lane crowd.

James Vaughan was the hero once again, scoring his 23rd and 24th goals of the season.

The 28-year-old striker gave the Shakers a dream start when he netted inside three minutes.

Second-half substitute George Miller added breathing space with his eighth goal of the campaign.

And the 4,500 Bury supporters in a 5,190 crowd packed inside Gigg Lane celebrated wildly as Vaughan lashed in his second deep into added time.

Bolton won 2-0 at fourth-bottom Port Vale as Bury moved up to 19th in the table, increasing the gap over the drop zone to five points with one game to play.

The Valiants have two matches remaining, but if they fail to win their game in hand at Walsall on Tuesday then the Shakers will already be safe before their final-day showdown at Southend on Sunday.

Lee Clark made one change from the side that held Bolton to a goalless draw in midweek.

Experienced forward Ryan Lowe came into the squad as Clark switched to a 5-3-2 formation. Scott Burgess dropped to the bench.

Defender Nathan Cameron was also named on the bench after an eight-month absence with a knee injury.

And Bury’s attacking intent was on display from the off when Vaughan latched on to goalkeeper Joe Murphy’s long ball to slot in the opening goal inside three minutes.

Brendan Moloney looked to hit an instant response but he lifted a shot over from the edge of the box.

Target-man Pope was central to everything in the early stages, linking well with Vaughan and Lowe.

The towering-forward created himself an opportunity, controlling Leon Barnett’s deep cross before hitting a shot on the turn which was well saved by David Cornell.

Lowe tried his luck from distance when Cornell was out of position soon after but his effort drifted over the bar.

Murphy was first called into action in the 31st minute when he sprung to his left to keep out a trademark free kick from ex-Wanderers midfielder Matty Taylor.

Bury ended the first half strongly with Lowe’s audacious 30-yard volley looping on to the roof of the net.

Northampton regrouped at the break and the Shakers had to do their share of defending at the beginning of the second half.

But Bury stood strong before wrestling back control of the match.

Taylor Moore got on the end of Greg Leigh’s cross but his left-footed volley whacked the roof of the stand behind the goal, before Lowe shot straight at Cornell from distance.

Substitute Miller was introduced in the 65th minute and seven minutes later he doubled the advantage.

Cameron Burgess headed Andrew Tutte’s corner on to the underside of the bar and the 18-year-old striker followed it in to head home.

Vaughan wrapped up the win in the 94th minute with a thunderous striker, but the biggest applause of the afternoon came seconds later when Nathan Cameron made his long awaited return to action.

The defender replaced Vaughan in an unorthodox forward role – a nice sentimental touch as Bury bowed out of Gigg Lane this season on a high.