SHAUN THE SURPRISE STAR TURN
SHAUN Williams was the unlikely star of the show for high-flying Millwall and his manager Neil Harris was full of praise for his crucial winning strike.
Williams’ all-important effort before the break was enough to deliver all three points for the Lions and ensure Harris’ men remain firmly in the promotion hunt.
Harris said: “It was a classy strike by Shaun Williams. He’s got the capability to do that, I’ve spoken before about goals all over the pitch, certainly important goals that win games.
“That was a big win for us, and Shaun’s last winning goal here was against Peterborough to give us our first win of the season and really set us on a roll.
“Hopefully he scores more goals and they prove to be as vital as this.
“I didn’t get anxious. I think territory-wise we got forced on the back-foot a bit in the second half. They kept possession a little better and their full-backs and wide players were a bit higher to pin us back a bit.
“But they really had only one chance.We missed three one-on-ones. I was delighted with the first half, I thought it was outstanding. Some of our football was excellent. We created good chances and looked really threatening.The second half was a lot more workmanlike.”
Bury were denied in the second minute when Jordan Archer somehow clawed out a Peter Clarke header from an inswinging Chris Hussey free-kick.
Four minutes later Fred Onyedinma ran onto George Saville’s perfectly weighted through ball but he took too many touches and Bury goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann smothered the ball.
However, the goalkeeper could do nothing about Lions captain Williams’ fantastic strike from 25 yards that put the hosts ahead after 14 minutes.
Nine minutes after half-time the Shakers looked to hit back when Danny Mayor nearly caught Archer off guard from out wide but his effort floated over the bar.
Millwall nearly extended their lead soon after but Bachmann came out quickly to save from Gregory again in a one-on-one situation. The away side looked more threatening as the half progressed; Danny Rose narrowly failed to get on the end of Pugh’s cross 12 minutes before the end.
Bury manager David Flitcroft said: “Sometimes you deserve what you get. I think if there’s honesty and when you assess the performance a draw would have been a fair result. The game plan was to work the ball through midfield and get a real hold in the game and through the full backs.
“But it didn’t happen and it didn’t feel right. We tried playing Danny Rose in midfield to see if we could get him on the ball but we never got it right and I took the decision after 30 minutes to try and change it. “We did and second half it was completely one-sided. We were far more balanced and this drove the team on. The players took everything on board and played with no fear.”