Bury 1 Stockport 0

9:00am Wednesday 8th October 2008

ALAN Knill hailed his side after they dumped League One neighbours Stockport out of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy at Gigg Lane.

Andy Bishop’s 76th minute goal was enough to put the Shakers through and give Knill, who is 44 today, an early birthday present.

“It was a real test for us and I thought we did very well,” said Knill. “You have to be patient in games like this, you have to keep your shape and when you get the ball you have to use it well and our goal illustrated that.

“It doesn’t matter who you play, you want to win – and it was no different tonight. It was always going to be a tough game and a tough draw but I thought we equipped ourselves really well.

“It was a good test to see where we are because I am a big admirer of Jim’s (Gannon) team.”

It was a richly deserved victory for Bury, who restricted their visitors to sporadic long-range efforts in the driving rain.

Anthony Pilkington and Stephen Gleeson fired in early efforts on the Bury goal, but they didn’t trouble Shakers keeper Wayne Brown.

The home side slowly grew into the game, and burst into life eight minutes before half-time when Bishop found space on the edge of the box and fired a shot just wide of Fraser Foster’s goal.

Richie Baker brought a good save from Foster two minutes later when he played a one-two with midfield partner Brian Barry-Murphy before firing in a stinging shot which the on-loan keeper parried away.

The second-half got off to an inauspicious start, but Bury served notice of what was to come when Bishop and strike partner Andy Morrell caused flutters in the Stockport defence when they both had shots blocked in a goalmouth scramble.

Michael Jones, who was having an excellent game on the flanks, curled a shot over the bar after collecting Dave Buchanan’s pull-back on 70 minutes before the former Tranmere trainee conjured up a moment of magic to break the deadlock.

Jones delivered an inch-perfect cross from the right, and Bishop rose between his markers to head home and send the Bury supporters wild.

Knill’s hard-working team then closed out the game, and can look forward to Saturday’s visit of Exeter with relish.

Bury (4-4-2): Brown 7, Scott 7, Cresswell 7, Futcher 7, Buchanan 7, Bennett 7, Barry-Murphy 7, Baker 7, Jones 8, Morrell 7 (Hurst 7, 71), Bishop 7. Subs not used: Haslam, Racchi, Anane, Belford.

Stockport (4-3-3): Forster 7, Mullin 6,Tunnicliffe 7, McNulty 7, Rose 7, Gleeson 7, Turnbull 6, Dicker 6, McSweeney 7 (Vincent 6, 71), Rowe 6, Pilkington 6 (Baker 6, 71). Subs not used: Owen, Taylor, Rigby.

Referee: Darren Drysdale (Lincolnshire).

Attendance: 2,384 (844 from Stockport).

Our Top Stories