Despite having a huge advantage in chances, possession and corners, poor finishing from United meant they were made to pay as a stunning strike from Joe Riley in affect won the game despite the late finish from Leon Clarke gave the scoreline extra gloss. In truth it was a ridiculous final scoreline but United only had themselves to blame as the pattern from last season's home defeats came back to haunt them, poor play in the final third combined with awful defending at the other end.
United had to make one change from the last league game as Adams was out with a sickness bug replaced by Woolford. Reed and Edgar were back in after international duty.
The game began with few chances with Tutte shooting wide for Bury and Campbell Ryce having a cross blocked. United struggled to make much headway and the pace was slow with Bury defending well.
Campbell Ryce had looked the main threat and his play down the left saw United create a really good chance.
Sammon met it on the full but his header was saved at point blank range. He really ought to have scored. Sharp then had a shot saved by the keeper as United looked to up the pace but overall they had struggled to create many chances.
Some mystifying refereeing decisions continued as he wildly fluctuated from giving yellow cards for nothing tackles to letting wild challenges go to instructing every free kick to be taken from exactly the spot where the offence was. Reed had one shot wide and a free kick curled over when McEveley had been felled.
Just before the break Soares was lucky to stay on as he commited another poor foul but the referee after words with the Bury skipper spoke to Soares and decided to give him one final warning. McEveley was then booked for winning the ball, but going through the man to win it, who did appear to jump out of the way.
The second half saw Woolford have a good effort saved after near play down the left from Sharp before Colllins headed over when well placed.
Edgar played a lovely ball over the top and Sammon was in but the keeper smothered on the angle leading to another United corner.
United had upped the pace but it was still a struggle but they had enough chances really to have gone in front. From another corner Sharp smashed it over from a similar position to where he scored against Blackpool. It was a poor miss.
Flynn and Wallace came on for Reed and Campbell Ryce but United were behind against the run of play not long after.
McEveley was guilty of being slow to react to the danger and his man got away from him. The cross came over and it was sent back across goal. United could not clear it and after Edgar blocked one effort, it eventually after several chances fell to POPE who was able to prod it over the line from close range. It was a sloppy goal to give away and was effectively Bury's first real effort.
United tried to respond and Collins had another effort saved from the keeper at close range before Sammon was crowded out.
Wallace showed good trickery over on the left hand side and worked his way past two defenders before Brown tripped him. It seemed a bit soft but the referee's performance was such was that it was not a total surprise when he gave it. SHARP took it and smashed it down the centre to bring the Blades back level.
United now thought they could go on and win it and Bury at this stage seemed happy with a point. United forced more corners and territory but the final ball and decision continued to be ill advised.
Out of nothing Bury were then back in front.
As nobody closed him down with Sammon now left wing, RILEY kept going and hit a tremendous shot with his right foot that arrowed into the top corner and away from Howard. Bury were back in front with just over 5 minutes left to play.
Tempers frayed soon after as Clarke and Sharp both ended up on the floor and clearly fists were raised from both. After everything that had gone before, you would have expected both to go off but somehow the referee deemed this incident to be only worthy of a yellow card for each. Both men were fortunate to stay on. United tried to get another leveller but as Bury looked to see time out, they ended up with a third.
CLARKE was able to shrug McEveley off far too easily and was in on goal on the angle. However the finish was sublime as he delicately lobbed the ball over Howard and into the far corner. It was a delightful finish and one of the few moments of class all game as Clarke continued his hoodoo over United. The final moments of stoppage went without incident as Bury got a rare win at the Lane.
United - It was ridiculous we did not win the game let along take nothing from it but for all the gripes about the referee and some poor finishes/defending, over the course of the game the overall performance was poor. It was disjointed lacked tempo and I the final third we made so many poor decisions. Our team is so slow individually and collectively and it makes us so easy to defend against. Out passing is often slow and behind players and teams can just pack the defence, take their time and then wait for errors at the other end and McEveley was able to oblige. We are then chasing the game. To get level and then toss it away again, even though it was a good strike, is inexcusable.
Like under Clough it was just soft goals we gave away and we continued to lack any kind of shape or steel in the key areas. I may be criticised for this but if we have players like McEveley and Collins regularly starting games we will be nowhere near promotion. It is that simple for me. They are not good enough.
We had umpteen corners (14 to 1) and some good chances but for all this the only time we scored was from a penalty. In short as Adkins say we have to keep them out at one end and score at the other. We could not do that as some ridiculous defending from McEveley amongst others saw us go behind and then although they scored a cracking second, this could have been avoided too. At the other end Sammon missed two good chance, Sharp another but for all the ball and corners we had, we were nowhere near good enough and struggled mightily to break Bury down. The play for the most part was slow and laboured and we looked out of ideas. We played a lot of route one today and outside of Campbell Ryce I am not sure where out threats came from today. It was a lot of diagonal and long stuff up to Sammon which surprised me. I thought Adkins was better than that but much of today was long stuff. Yes we played it out from the keeper but then when we ran out of ideas we just pumped it long. A few decent interchanges involving Campbell Ryce apart, we did not play much football today.
We had ample time to get improvements in too in the window the team but failed. Again. The excuses about blaming other clubs is not good enough. We had to get those key men in to improve things and we did not. We are still losing to sides like Bury (for last season read Fleetwood etc) and our main threat was a journeyman lower league winger who was on his way out of the club last season. The side is still lacking in so many areas (centre back, left back, central midfield) and I don't see a promotion side. It lacks that spine and character that winning teams have. In short we continue to be a soft touch. Basham and Reed in midfield lack physicality and presence and are not good enough footballers to compensate for these deficiencies.
Really disappointing today and as bad as the referee was, United need to take care of themselves and should be putting sides like Bury away. It was quite poor to watch and clueless for long periods for all the play and territory we had. You can argue that if Sammon puts those two chances in we win the game but outside of these chances (good ones) we did not create that much (Sharp had a decent one) and we seemed to really lack ideas when getting in the last third. We have a lot of work to become a side that is considered promotion material. The positive is they may not be a Bristol, MK or Preston this year and thus with the right changes to personnel we could still be around 4th-8th at the end of December and maybe actually get the players in we need. Sadly the likes of Woolford, Reed, McEveley, Collins etc are not going to be good enough for a side serious about promotion.
Bury - The fact they have such a long unbeaten run shows they have a solid organisational base and that they are well drilled. They do work hard and defended well at times but even they will admit on another day that if United had taken their chances they could have gone away with nothing. However they stayed in the game and kept it 0-0 and then after United missed chances, broke away and scored after sloppy defending. When they were pegged back they would have definitely settled for a draw and were time wasting after this but scored a worldy from range and then wrapped it up at the death. A tremendous result and they have now won at two of the high flyers in consecutive weeks. Fair play to them. Yes, they took advantage of a weak referee and at times were over the top in physical play but they scored two very good goals and another scrappy effort.
Still fair play to them they hung in the game and were able to provide enough moments at one end to score 3 goals. The keeper played really well, Clarke headed a lot away at the back and Mellis and Soares got their foot in (some fair, some not). Clarke was a handful as always up top.
They were over the top with challenges and Soares should have gone off and they were lucky a few others did not walk but the referee has to be blamed more than them. They saw what they could get away with and carried on with the same tactics. You could not blame them. I predicted them to be around the playoffs and nothing changes that. They have goals up top in Clarke and Pope and also enough experience to ensure they can win games at places like the Lane.
Opponent man of the match : Clarke. The keeper made 2 or 3 very good saves but Clarke was excellent and limited our dangerous front two to few chances all game.
Opponent Weak link : Soares. He did not play that bad but he committed so many fouls and should have been sent off. On another day he could have been at fault for a defeat.
SUFC Player Ratings -
Howard 7/10 - He did not have that much to do. The first goal seemed to ping around the goal before going in. The second was a thunderbolt and the third he was left badly exposed. The rest of the game I cannot recall him having much to do.
Freeman 7/10 - He was steady enough. Tried to get forward and support when he could. For the most part he has been one of the more consistent players this season.
McEveley 3/10 - Dismal. First half he did ok for a spell and was going forward alright but then made a few errors in passing and control and after the break he lost the ball claiming he was fouled (one of few ref got right) and they broke and scored. After this he made mistake after mistakes with poor control, passing and overplay. At the end he got badly outmuscled after losing the ball and it was in the net again. A poor player that should not be even near our side if we are serious about promotion. He is an accident waiting to happen and needs to be moved on.
Edgar 7/10- He was alright and despite some poor players around him won quite a few headers and was able to ensure Clarke was restricted much of the game. However, he also made a few poor passes second half when we tried to get moving forward. Still he has been a really good addition and unsure much blame can be attributed to him for the defeat.
Collins 5/10 - Thought he was poor for much of the game. The moment he went to kick it with one foot and then it hit his other before he tried to kick it, summed up how limited he is. He then nearly let them in again right on half time. Missed an absolute sitter when in front of goal somehow heading over and lost Pope on the first goal. Another player that is not good enough and has proved this for the last 3-4 years. Sick of watching limited, slow, immobile players like him to be honest.
Basham 6/10 - He is a funny player in that he does some good things, like the drag back and turn and ghosted away from a few other players too. He did some neat and tidy things but does not impose himself enough and is a bit of a soft touch for such a big guy. I want someone to really control midfield physically and not sure he does that. He backed off on the goal for the 2nd too. Don't know after two years what kind of player he is? He is not a hard man, not a playmaker, not a goalscorer. He is a bits and pieces type player and not sure that is enough.
Reed 6/10 - He played one great ball which put Sammon in and another that nearly found Freeman first half. A few other sideways passes and interceptions apart, I thought he was a non factor. He lost his man constantly from a defensive point of view and is passing for the most part in general play (above apart) is really sloppy. He gave it away three times in a spell of about 30 seconds in the first half. He gets shrugged off the ball too easily and is careless when he does have it. Not sure he has moved on at all in the last 18 months and I have not seen him have a good game since Southampton nearly 9 months ago. Don't see this great prospect that some does. Like Basham what is his main attribute? It is not his passing as he gives it away constantly and he can't tackle. Never even looked remotely like scoring a goal either which is pretty poor for a midfielder. Indeed the fact neither are any kind of goal scoring threat is a worry.
Woolford 5/10 - Really poor again. A player that came in and was billed as a steady eddy type pro who can do the defensive stuff, offer a threat and get the crosses in. He has done none of this. He was sloppy on the ball, his control and first touch was awful for much of the first half. He did get a bit better second half and had one good shot but was taken off. Looks a poor signing on the evidence so far and unsure what he offers. His corners are poor too, we had so many and he kept trying the same floated rubbish. Why not mix it up a bit?
Campbell Ryce 8/10 -Our best player. He did not always get the ball over and at types overplayed but he was our main threat. He got a few decent crosses in, always looked to get in the box and was the one player they were scared of. So what does Adkins do? Takes him off. Ridiculous decision.
Sharp 6/10 - Not his best game but kept plugging away and had a decent spell second half around when he scored. Did miss a good chance and the ball did not always stick to him but overall like most, you would expect more from him. He was lucky to stay on the pitch at the end when he raised his arms to Clarke.
Sammon 5/10 - Poor game today. Ball did not always stick to him and he missed two excellent chances. The header he should have scored and also the shot second half he took too long. At the end why he ended up left wing was mystifying when we needed his height for knock downs etc. He then let the right back wander forward and score (ok, others could have closed down too).
Subs
Flynn - Got a whack not long after coming on and did not really cross
Wallace K - Got on the ball and won the penalty with a decent run into the box. He looked neat and tidy and an improvement on many others who played.
McNulty - Never really got in the game and then they scored the two late goals. Needed longer to make a proper impact
Manager - Adkins 5/10 - Not helped by Adams missing but the side today looked slow and lacklustre, especially in the final third. The tempo and pace never really changed and we resorted to lumping it to Sammon much of the game. There was little football, interchange or idea. Sure we had lots of corners and territory but what did we actually do with it. We never really had proper control of the game. His subs were odd too. No issues with Reed coming off. He was poor and Wallace did ok. However shoving Sammon wide was odd and the Campbell Ryce departure seemed ridiculous. He was the main threat. A poor day at the office for manager and team.
Ref - He was abysmal. He booked a Bury man early for a nothing tackle and then the cards were coming out all game. Still he seemed to have no consistency and some tackles were yellows and some worse (eg Soares) escaped a yellow. He let both teams take throws and free kicks where they wanted for 20 mins and then decided to move them all to exactly the right spot. He let them get away with cynical tackle after tackle and the timewasting also was not punished. He had no control of the game from start to finish and was wildly inconsistent. Even the penalty for us looked soft.
Crowd - Great crowd that tried to stay with the team despite frustrations with the general pattern and the referee. Remarkable we get 20,000+ for what in truth continues to be one paced, mostly predictable football that lacks cohesion, pace or idea. Yes we should have won but that does not excuse that much of the play is kind of hit and hope rather than genuine attacking, purposeful football. It is not much better than what we were seeing last year. Bury brought maybe 6-800 fans and got behind them and will have been delighted to get a win here - the first for many years.