Bury won convincingly 3-0 away at NPL Premier side Blyth Spartans to book their place in the next round of this season’s FA Cup, writes James Beedie.
Victims of a giant killing to Blyth Spartans in 1995, hundreds of Bury fans took the trip to the North East to see the roles reversed.
Bury started the match off defending an early Spartan attack, centre forward Ruben Jerome had to be on hand for a last ditch block to save a goal. After this early wobble however Bury never looked likely to concede, the defence held up well and the ball was constantly in Bury’s possession.
The first chance for the Shakers fell to Lewis Alessandra. His header to the far corner from a Bebeto Gomes cross looked to be going in but was saved on the line by home keeper Harrison Bond.
Next Alex Cherera broke through on the left but his fierce shot cleared the bar. Cherera then set Gomes up for a shot but his effort was tame and directed straight to Bond. Another ball over the top found Ruben Jerome but his shot was well saved by the Spartan stopper.
The one way traffic never abated with much of the match played in Blyth’s half of the field. Iyrwah Gooden headed a Peet corner over the bar. Pye broke through on the left hand side, his initial shot was blocked by Bond but no man in yellow was free to put away the rebound. Finally Cherera set up Gomes to have a shot just before halftime. His shot beat Bond but was cleared off the line.
Despite the dominance the score remained goalless. Shakers fans might have feared letting good chances go to waste would come back to haunt them but in this season’s FA Cup there is one man Bury can always turn to for a goal.
Alex Cherera entered the match having scored in every round of the contest so far and extended this record and took his cup goal tally to six early in the second half. A great cross from the right by Gooden eluded Bond and with a diving header at the far post Cherera gave the Shakers the lead.
Gooden nearly replicated his assist with another cross, this time from the left. It found Jerome but his header was saved smartly by Bond.
The Shakers then grabbed their second of the match, an Alessandra free kick headed in at the far post by the ever dangerous Gomes to put the visitors in a commanding position.
The Spartans were tested again with long range shots from Cherera and Cameron Fogerty. Substitutes Bryan Ly and Rustam Stepans both tormented their hosts as Bury searched for the knock out blow.
This arrived with Connor Pye’s first Bury goal. Chasing a superb throughball by Lewis Earl, Pye outpaced his opposite number and got to the ball. He rounded Bond and from a tight angle fired a shot into the bottom corner to put Bury’s name into the hat, the Shakers just two wins away from the first round proper.
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