A strong Bury side took all 3 points from The Marine Travel Arena on Saturday afternoon, as AFC failed to register a goal against Bury for the 4th time.
The one thing you can't do against a side like Bury is give them an early lead. Sadly for The Non-League Reds, that's exactly what they did. The first of many crosses from the excellent Stepans on 2 minutes, found Djavan Pedro unmarked in the box and he finished well to give the visitors the lead. The fear was at this point that this would lead to an AFC capitulation, as Bury looked to build on their early advantage and won a series of free-kicks and corners, with the home side struggling to get a foothold in the game. Parkinson was called in to action on a few occasions, the first making a fine save from a Bobby Carroll effort on 10 minutes. AFC did eventually start to get more possession and Elliot Taylor was denied in the 16th minute. Parkinson was called into action again on the half hour mark, making two saves one after the other. Not to be outdone, Bury keeper, Mitchell Allen then made a fine block to deny Taylor and just before the half, Tom Beckett had half a chance but couldn't get the ball out of his feet quite quickly enough. Despite The Reds resurgence, Bury were well worth their half-time lead.
The 2nd half was a much more even affair, as AFC grew in confidence and played the ball around well. Beckett went close soon after the restart but Bury maintained the pressure, as they had good spells of possession, forcing AFC back with some fine build up play. Dan Mahafy, having an excellent game in midfield, created a chance for himself but Allen saved easily on 68 minutes and Adam Moorcroft couldn't get enough on his effort to test the keeper. Just when it looked like the home side might be able to force their way back in to contention for an equaliser, the visitors broke down the left wing, Connor Pye crossed it to the head of Pedro to find the net and get his and his team's second goal of the afternoon. Both sides had half chances afterwards but AFC just could threaten the Bury goal enough to get themselves back in the game. As if to emphasise their squad strength, Bury brought Brian Ly and ex-Red Alex Cherera on in the later stages and whilst AFC possess plenty of quality themselves, it looks like this might be the season when The Shakers take another step back up the league pyramid.
The Non-League Reds next face Ashton Athletic at The Marine Travel Arena on Monday 11th November, kick-off 7:45pm. This is a 2nd Macron Cup tie and is likely to be another entertaining game. All support would be greatly appreciated.
Final Score - AFC Liverpool 0 v 2 Bury
Team - 1. Parkinson 2. Cunningham 3. Giblin 4. Moorcroft (c) 5. Brown
6. Murphy 7. C. Jones 8. Mahaffy 9. Taylor 10. Bavelock 11. Beckett
Subs Used - Wright, Lancaster, Williams, Skillen, Cummins
(pics courtesy of Paul Moran)
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