MANAGER Ryan Lowe felt his Bury side crashed back down to Earth after throwing away victory with an underwhelming 1-1 draw at home to Crawley.

The promotion chasers were riding high after rescuing a 3-3 thriller with Lincoln City last time out, looking good for all three points this time around when Nicky Maynard scored in the closing 10 minutes.

But Ollie Palmer had the last say for a Crawley side that capitalised on a Shakers team far from at the races, leaving Lowe dejected about missing out on a golden opportunity to firm up their place in League Two’s top three.

"It's a hard one to take, undoubtedly,” he said.

"The performance levels throughout the team just weren't there and in the end we've thrown away two points.

"On the back of the 3-3 draw with Lincoln it's probably been a case of 'after the Lord Mayor's Show'.

"That's the way we all feel right now, but to be honest the atmosphere all around the place was a bit flat.

"I was really pleased when Nicky scored so late and it looked as though we were going to nick the win, but stupid errors at the back have gone and cost us in the end.

"We should have seen the game out, definitely.

"I'm disappointed, and collectively we're all disappointed in the dressing room, but for whatever reason we weren't at the races and we've got to get on with it.

"We were getting in some good positions but we just didn't seem to be getting in the right place at the right time and this is what happens."

The Gigg Lane pitch was in surprisingly good condition, thanks to the hard work of ground staff and volunteers prior to kick-off, though it was the visitors who started on top.

A neat build-up culminated with Panutche Camara back-heeling the ball into skipper Filipe Morais' path, but Adam Thompson was well positioned to get a block in.

At the other end, Shakers skipper Neil Danns saw penalty appeals waved away after he was sent tumbling by Joe McNerney.

Shortly before the break Maynard fired in a 25-yard strike which Morris saved comfortably, then drove a low shot wide after great work by Jay O’Shea.

Maynard finally managed to bag the opener six minutes from time, pouncing to convert Adam Thompson’s knockdown to put the Shakers ahead.

But Palmer ensured a disappointing finale for the hosts, squeezing home from the tightest of angles with just a minute left on the clock.

And while playmaker Danny Mayor was missing through illness, Lowe refused to lay blame for the draw on his absence.

"Danny's not been good at all to be honest and we've had to have the doctor out to him,” he said.

"We can't have infections around the place so he's not been in the group for a couple of days.

"That's definitely not an excuse, though. We didn't throw away the two points just because Danny Mayor wasn't playing.

"We've got other players who are more than capable of stepping in when someone is unavailable."