LUCKETTI’S REUNION BRINGS HEARTACHE
CHRIS Lucketti demanded more ruthlessness from his struggling Bury players after a dismal defeat to former club Fleetwood, while Cod Army boss Uwe Rosler claims confidence is now restored.
Goals in either half from Ashley Hunter and Devante Cole made it an unhappy reunion for Lucketti, who was the Fleetwood assistant manager under Graham Alexander and also had a caretaker spell in charge.
The result leaves them rock-bottom of League One heading into the New Year, a mammoth 11 points shy of safety.
And the Bury boss was frustrated at the missed chances from his beleaguered side.
Lucketti said: “We started the game great, created some really good opportunities but we were just lacking a goal, so I’m disappointed.
“We created enough chances to win the game, we have had enough chances to win the last two or three games – we had three shots on target, they had two shots on target and we lose 2-0.
“Being ruthless has been a problem that we have had all season. We are not ruthless, and we are certainly not ruthless when defending our own goal.”
After securing maximum points, Rosler was understandably content.
He said: “In the first 15 minutes we struggled a bit, they targeted our righthand side and put some pressure on us. In that period we didn’t look solid but we stabilised and I think we looked the better team after 15 minutes.
“We looked a threat on the counter for the rest of the game, and we looked defensively solid. I’m very happy, we had good energy over the pitch and our front three pushed them back and wore them out a bit. “Confidence is much higher, which reflected in the result.”
Following a tame start, the visitors led on 25 minutes after George Glendon’s drilled cross from the right by-line deflected off Cole and into Hunter’s path, who smashed home beyond keeper Leo Fasan from eight yards.
Bury looked to respond before the break, and Town stopper Chris Neal was forced to keep out long-range efforts from Callum Reilly and skipper Stephen Dawson.
Town doubled their lead immediately after half-time on a gloomy afternoon in Greater Manchester, as Cole burst through unchallenged to dink over the onrushing Fasan, which took his goal tally to 12 this term, while Hunter also had a goal disallowed for offside later on.
The hosts pressed for a route back into the contest, though Fleetwood’s defensive pairing of Cian Bolger and Ashley Eastham thwarted any attacking threat, with Bury reduced to half-chances throughout the closing stages at Gigg Lane.
Fleetwood had to deal with late pressure, but the Fylde Coast outfit remained firm to keep a clean sheet along with a second win on the spin, moving up to 11th in the process.