BURY Girls and Ladies booked their place in the second round of the Argyle Sports Cup after a Jordan Bailey hat-trick and late strike from Amy Thomasson sealed a 4-0 victory at Preston North End.

Bury opened the scoring in the first half but the visitors were unable to make their dominance count until later in the game.

The Shakers had already beaten their opponents twice in the league – 7-2 at home and 5-0 away – but while they put Preston under constant pressure a series of missed chances and good saves from their keeper kept the scores down.

It was not until midway through the second half that the hosts began to tire and Bury's passing game finally began to pay dividends.

Centre-back Jordanna Holgate was at the heart of everything, bringing the ball out of defence confidently to start wave after wave of attacks.

Bailey was the biggest beneficiary, adding another two goals after the break, while Ellie Whittle and Leah Tibbott were unlucky not to get on the scoresheet, getting in good positions but coming up against a determined Preston defence.

Bury's final goal was the pick of the four. Katie Sidwells found Bailey with a perfectly weighted long pass, and after some intricate interplay on the edge of the Preston box Thomasson was on hand to apply the finishing touch.

Tibbott finally had the ball in the net late in the game but the goal was disallowed after the officials ruled the ball had gone out of play in the build-up,

Louisa Ellison also went close, firing a free kick against the bar.

Victory against Preston set up a second-round tie against North West Women's Regional League Premier Division high flyers Burnley FC Girls and Ladies.

Bury, who have a three-point lead at the top of NWWRL Division One North, return to league action on Sunday at fourth-placed Leigh RMI, kick off 2pm.