BURY held out for a goalless draw at derby rivals Rochdale despite playing for the majority of the second half with only 10 men.

Shakers goalkeeper Joe Murphy was given his marching orders in the 54th minute after handling the ball outside his box.

Lee Clark's men had to dig deep but showed great resilience to earn a share of the spoils.

Despite the positive result, the draw ensured Bury fans, of whom 1,290 made the trip across Greater Manchester, have now gone 10 years without seeing their side win a league game at Spotland.

The Shakers have also gone 622 minutes without scoring at the home of their old enemy, but that statistic will have seemed irrelevent to Clark at the final whistle after seeing his side claim an unlikely point.

The Bury boss took a huge gamble in his team selection, handing loan signings Jordan Williams and Rohan Ince starts less than 24 hours after their respective moves from Huddersfield and Brighton were confirmed.

Phil Edwards also returned from injury to start in an unorthodox central midfield role, while Nathan Cameron came in for his first start of the season, with Tsun Dai the last of five new faces from the side that lost 3-2 at home to Bristol Rovers last time out.

In typical derby fashion, the game was tight and competitive with neither side wanting to give too much away early on.

There were positive signs for the Shakers as Ince settled quickly and his raw strength and technical ability shielded the defence brilliantly.

Williams, aged 17, playing at right-back, also settled in well and looked very composed on the ball, especially given the intense derby atmosphere.

The game was stop-start as 17 fouls disrupted the flow in a first half that featured just three shots on goal, with Ince firing Bury's only chance straight at Rochdale stopper Brendan Moore in stoppage time.

After the break, Nicky Ajose gifted the hosts a glorious opportunity to open the scoring, playing a 40-yard back-pass straight to Dale forward Matty Done, but a combination of Bury defender Alex Whitmore and Murphy somehow managed to keep him at bay.

Moments later, Murphy saw red after picking up the ball outside of his area and former Celtic stopper Leo Fasan was handed his debut from the bench, replacing Ajose.

Dale skipper Ian Henderson lifted the resulting free kick over the bar, but Fasan was called into action soon after when he made a superb save to deny Rochdale’s Jordan Williams from close range.

Bury had to withstand heavy pressure late on but the defence, marshalled by the magnificent Cameron, stood tall to end a run of three straight defeats in all competitions.