John Sands hit two goals to give Bury Town an important win at Hartsdown Park, the first part of a double header with Margate in the Ryman Premier Division.
After a quiet start Bury took the lead in the seventh minute when out of nothing, Lee Smith’s header from twelve yards, following Mark Coulson’s cross, deceived the ‘keeper Simon Overland as it went in off the post and cross bar.
Margate came back strongly from this early reversal, but were unable to trouble Marcus Garnham despite having more of the play and forcing several corners.
The pressure paid off after 29 minutes when a push in the back on Adam Burchall by Sam Nunn resulted in a penalty which was scored by Craig Cloke.
Margate continued to press, but home keeper Simon Overland was forced into a good save from Sam Reed in a Bury break, and Lee Smith went close with a header from Russell Short’s long throw.
Bury regained the lead after 41 minutes when a through ball from Danny Cunningham found John Sands who rounded the keeper and fired into an empty net.
The lead was short lived, as two minutes later Tommy Murphy set up Richard Avery to score with a low drive from the edge of the box after Bury failed to clear the ball.
Half Time: Margate 2 Bury Town 2
Bury started the second half well and Coulson went close with a long range effort. At the other end only a fine fingertip save by Garnham denied Adam Burchall.
Tom Bullard’s header then came back off the Margate bar as Bury looked to regain the lead in what had become and very open and end to end game.
Bury took the lead for the third time on 64 minutes when Sands cut in from the right and his low shot went under the keeper Overland and into the corner of the net.
Margate again fought back, with John Beales` header hitting the post and Cloke blazing over the bar from close range.
It was mainly a rear-guard action for Bury in the closing minutes as Burchall fired just wide and Garnham saved well from a free kick by Tom Bradbrook, but they held on to claim a hard earned victory.
Full Time Margate 2 Bury Town 3 |
