In the lead up to the game, the one and only talking point in terms of team selection seemed to be who Gary Johnson would select in the right-back position. Paul Terry made that task somewhat easier when he dropped out of the squad, leaving Roy O'Brien as the obvious choice and a line-up that was identical to the team that had beaten Torquay United 4-2 on the previous weekend.

It was a strangely action-free start to the season, with neither side creating too much, and the ball spending much of it's time bobbling around the centre of a Bury pitch that looked poor, uneven and spongy and was to ultimately cut up badly.

Bury probably should have made the most of one of their early opportunities with just seven minutes gone when David Nugent cut across his marker but he somehow headed the ball wide of the target when it was easier to have tested the goalkeeper. Brian Barry-Murphy then clipped the top of the crossbar with a looping long-ranger but this was really as close as the home side came.

Not that Yeovil were exactly carving out chances themselves. Gavin Williams got on a typical mazey midfield run that ended up with a fierce drive going over the bar, but that was as good as it got. Most of the action centred around Bury's attempts to bulldoze the Glovers off the ball in any manner that they could, and thus much relied on the match referee's interpretation of such challenges. Dwayne Mattis crossed the line when he crudely hacked down Michael Rose to be the first of four bookings for the home side.

Darren Way had claims for a penalty turned down on the half hour mark when he ran through the Bury defence. Referee Russell Booth declined to either award the penalty or book Way for his fall in the box, rather implying that he wasn't sure whether Way had been tripped or had taken a dive. The Bury fans naturally howled in outrage at Way whilst the Yeovil fans howled at Mr Booth.

All that was forgotten six minutes later when Yeovil took the lead. Michael Rose crossed the ball into the box from the left flank, and Adrian CACERES gave himself room then fired home from just inside the area. 1-0 up and more or less out of nothing.

The goal seemed to change the pattern of the game. Bury had put most of their efforts into hassling and barging the Yeovil players off the ball. Now they had to find a way back into the game and this opened things up nicely for the visitors, with an increased amount of space on the park. Bartosz Tarachulski attempted an overhead kick that went just over the bar after Kevin Gall had flicked on a Michael Rose cross and Yeovil went in on the break with their tails definitely up.

Gavin Williams continued Yeovil's ascendancy into the second half when he fired through a crowd of players early on but with Glyn Garner diving low to clutch onto the ball. Lee Johnson set up Adrian Caceres with a stunning pass, who in turn fed Kevin Gall forcing Garner to come flying out of his goal to block Gall's run from a narrow angle, with a corner being forced.

With the game going Yeovil's way, Bury manager Graham Barrow made a double substitution to try and chance the course of the game. Gary Johnson also made his own change with Phil Jevons replacing Bartosz Tarachulski who seemed to have been bashed into submission by the point that he left the field.

Whether it was Yeovil's or Bury's substitutions that made the difference, it didn't take long for Bury to get back on level terms with their first attack of the second half. A free kick from Tom Kennedy was angled across the face of the box, and running in at right-angles to the ball was David NUGENT who got in front of his marker and headed across the face of goal and into the net.

Gavin Williams tried to answer back almost immediately by teeing up a shot outside the area, and then unleashing a belter that looped just over the crossbar. But Yeovil showed they had learnt little when Bury launched their second attack of the half. Lee Unsworth put in a right wing cross and for the third time in the game, David NUGENT was allowed to get in front of his marker and plant another header past Collis.

Yeovil looked stunned but there was worse to come. After Phil Jevons had forced Garner into a finger-tip save for a corner and Lee Johnson had a penalty appeal turned down when Dave Challinor clearly handled a flicked ball into the box, Bury extended that lead further. Lee Johnson and Darren Way had been replaced by Nicolas Mirza and Simon Weatherstone and Mirza's first touch in English football was an unfortunate one. Miscontrolling the ball, former Boston striker Graeme JONES intercepted the ball, rounded Terry Skiverton, pushed the ball past Steve Collis who managed to get his fingers on it, then slotted the ball into an empty net to make it 3-1. Three attacks, three goals, and almost certainly three points.

Yeovil tried to get their way back into the match, but without creating too much to worry the Bury defence. Kevin Gall charged down every ball that he could, but with little being created from the wings, and the new midfield failing to penetrate, the game fizzled out, and Bury's smash'n'grab raid on Yeovil had brought them three points thanks to some naive defending.

Badger

MOTM Vote Result:

Overall match rating: 4.8 / 10
Performance: 4.3
Entertainment: 5.3

27 votes received.

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