Shakers feel Lowe as drop confirmed

BURY boss Ryan Lowe struggled to contain his anger after his side’s relegation was confirmed.

The Shakers were finally sunk by Ash Taylor’s late winner as they slipped to a seventh straight defeat.

The Cobblers, meanwhile, kept their own survival hopes alive thanks to their dramatic victory.

Lowe said: “I’m struggling to sum up how I feel.

“I’m disappointed, I’m upset, and to be honest, I’m feeling a bit distraught about it all.

“There’s not been enough fight, there’s not been enough scrap from too many players out there.

“This relegation doesn’t mean enough to some players and that’s pretty gutting.

“I’m gutted but I’m not prepared to take all the responsibility for this relegation. The players out there need to take more responsibility.

An end-to-end first period at sun-drenched Gigg Lane began with the Cobblers striking first after six minutes when skipper Taylor glanced home Matt Grimes’ corner-kick from close range.

The Shakers levelled five minutes later when Peter Clarke lashed home from five yards after goalkeeper Richard O’Donnell punched Zeli Ismail’s corner-kick straight into the skipper’s path.

The visitors re-took the lead just past the half-hour mark.

Sub Sam Hoskins had only been on the field for two minutes when he met Grimes’ through-ball before beating Joe Murphy clinically from 15 yards.

Northampton’s JohnJoe O’Toole nodded against the foot of a post shortly before the interval.

Bury rallied and grabbed a deserved second leveller with 16 minutes to go.

Danny Mayor struck, dancing easily past a couple of weak challenges before firing past Murphy from 12 yards.

It wasn’t to be for the Shakers, though, as Taylor struck again late on when he arrived at the far post to tap home Dan Powell’s low cross. The Cobblers’ caretaker boss Dean Austin reckons his side can still escape as they ended a four-match losing streak.

He said: “It was quite a tense game but we got the three points and I thought we probably deserved it based on clear-cut chances.

“Since I’ve taken over, with regards to the group and I’m talking about the starters and the subs, they’ve worked phenomenally hard. Their commitment has been unbelievable.

“It wasn’t always pretty but we got there.”