BURY reverted to the tried and tested formula that helped them earn promotion last season and succeeded in knocking the league leaders’ off their perch.

Walsall lost their place at the top of League One to Gillingham after David Flitcroft’s side ended their unbeaten start with a first win of their own.

Craig Jones rattled in the only goal of the game on six minutes, after which a Shakers defence that had previously conceded 11 times in five league matches stood resolute and defiant to claim their first clean sheet of the campaign.

They did so by showing plenty of backbone, especially throughout the spine of the team.

A fit-again Leon Clarke manfully led the attack on his own, while Tom Soares deputised for Kelvin Etuhu in an unfamiliar holding role, showing great leadership to marshal his midfield and protect determined centre-back pairing Nathan Cameron and Peter Clarke.

And on the rare occasion the Bury defence was breached, it was backed up by an inspired display from goalkeeper Rob Lainton, who proved a tough nut to crack for the high-flying Saddlers.

“I am delighted for Rob to get his clean sheet,” said manager David Flitcroft, who started the season with on-loan Brighton teenager Christian Walton as his number one but has seen his side concede just two goals in the last three games in all competitions since Lainton replaced him.

“He has stuck with it, he’s stuck with the project and has come in and made some fantastic saves and some good takes.

“He’s excelled, for me, with some of his saves.

“They have got players from outside the box who can make shots.

“Futch (first-team coach Ben Futcher) has done a hell of a lot of work on the training ground and I’m delighted to see that come to fruition.”

Bury made the best possible start as Jones raced in from the right wing to power Andrew Tutte’s perfectly weighted pass into the bottom corner.

Buoyed by the early goal, the Shakers put in a measured display, containing the table-toppers to a handful of efforts while also looking threatening going forward.

One great passage of play, which featured a string of passes out of defence, ended with an angled drive from full-back Joe Riley that Saddlers stopper Craig MacGillivray did well to smother.

Lainton was the busier of the two keepers, though, showing quick reactions to tip behind a stinging shot from Sam Mantom, while also clawing out a header from James O’Connor and palming away a strike from Romaine Sawyers.

It was all hands on deck in the second half as defensive midfielders Reece Brown and Danny Pugh were sent on to bolster the visitors and Tom Pope replaced the tiring Clarke, who missed the previous four matches with a hamstring injury.

Bury were content to soak up wave after wave of pressure, giving up possession without offering Walsall many clear opportunities to score.

The home side did manage to create three chances in quick succession just before the hour, when Lainton narrowed the angle to keep out a shot from Mantom before Peter Clarke cleared a Paul Downing effort off the line and Tom Bradshaw headed over.

A rare foray out of their own half saw Bury come close to doubling their advantage in the 83rd minute when Pugh side-footed a Pope centre the wrong side of the post.

Lainton was again on hand to beat away a Mantom shot as the clock ticked down, and bravely pounced on the ball in stoppage time when it bounced loose following a goalmouth scramble.

Soares then missed the chance to rubber stamp the win with the last kick of the game, putting a tired shot wide in front of the travelling fans after a lung-bursting break from inside his own half.

“There’s a lot of hard miles that have gone into that result,” concluded Flitcroft.

“We have spent a lot of time on the training ground trying to put things right.

“The mistakes we have made over the last three or four weeks have been uncharacteristic for us but that was a backs-to-the-wall performance.

“To get clean sheets you have got to do that.

“We have not had that resolve that we did so well last season with.

“Out of 17 games I think we kept 13 clean sheets at the back end of last season. It was a characteristic of the team.

“This season it has just been so out of character, the mistakes we have made.

“If you look through the goals, there has been too many (mistakes).

“But this team can defend, even though the stats don’t say it can.

“So we have gone back to what we do.

“And the way we have withstood a fantastic football team in Walsall is credit to the lads.”

Bury (4-1-4-1): Lainton 9; Riley 7 (Brown 7 50), Cameron 9, P Clarke 8, Hussey 7; Soares 8; Jones 8, Mellis 7 (Pugh 7 60), Tutte 8, Mayor 7; L Clarke 7 (Pope 7 60).

Not used: Ruddy, Foulds, Sedgwick, Dudley.

Walsall (3-5-2): MacGillivray; Downing, O’Connor, Taylor; Forde (Cook 61), Mantom, Chambers (Lalkovic 76), Flanagan (Morris 61), Henry; Sawyers, Bradshaw.

Not used: Baxendale, Preston, Kinsella, Jezeph.

Scorers: Walsall – N/A. Bury – Jones 6.

Yellow cards: Walsall – N/A. Bury – Jones 90+1.

Referee: Fred Graham.

Attendance: 4,829 (440 visiting).

Star man: Rob Lainton – The former Bolton Wanderers keeper has been over-looked so many times since his arrival at Gigg Lane that he could have been forgiven for seeking pastures new. But after signing a new 12-month contract in the summer his persistence has been rewarded with a run of three games in the team. And the 25-year-old stopper has certainly seized his chance with both hands, adding to promising displays against Oldham and Accrington with a first clean sheet at the league leaders. A number of the saves he made to keep out a previously potent Saddlers strike force were top class and deserve to be rewarded with an extended run in the team.