Bury do enough to hold off Tranmere
BURY manager Ryan Lowe praised his team’s resilience as they held on to a 2-1 win against Tranmere Rovers at Gigg Lane on Saturday.
Goals from Nicky Maynard and substitute Caolan Lavery in the second half were enough for the home side, despite Tranmere defender Ritchie Sutton scoring late into injury time to halve the deficit.
The Shakers boss made two changes to the team that lost 4-2 away at Oldham last weekend, with Will Aimson replacing Eoghan O’Connell in defence and Callum Styles coming in for Danny Mayor, who didn’t feature in the matchday squad due to injury.
There were chances for both sides in an entertaining first half, with Shakers forward Nicky Maynard doing brilliantly to turn his man on the edge of the box, but his shot was well saved by Tranmere goalkeeper Scott Davies in the 24th minute.
Chris Stokes then went close moments later, driving into the opposition half and firing an effort across goal towards the far corner, only to see it just over the bar on 30 minutes.
Bury started the better in the second half and were rewarded for their early pressure when Nicky Adams’ cross from the right was met by Maynard who headed past Davies for his 9th of the season.
The visitors should have equalised in the 66th minute, with forward and League Two top scorer James Norwood somehow sending his shot over the bar from a couple of yards out.
The Shakers looked to have things wrapped up in the first minute of added time when Dominic Telford played the ball to Caolan Lavery on the edge of the area, and the midfielder fired an effort past Davies into the bottom left corner.
However, Tranmere would continue to push late on and managed to halve the deficit just one minute later after substitute Ritchie Sutton guided his header into the far corner from a corner.
“Our lads showed some resilience, spirit, fight and passion. That’s what we’ve installed and fair play to them for getting the result,” said Lowe.
“To be fair to Micky [Mellon], he hasn’t thought we’ll just sit back, they’ve come here and had a go.
“Micky’s teams are well organised and we knew it was going to be tough.”
Bury remain fourth in League Two and now have two away games in four days, starting with a trip to fellow promotion chasers Mansfield Town on Boxing Day.