2nd October 2025 Heywood
Whites O 60’s
Squad:
Eddy ( GK )
Graham ( C )
Ian McKinnon
Keith Swain
Kevin Amos
Tony Greenall
Danny Mitton
Manager Ken Buggie
Pre-match thoughts… I had a sneaking suspicion that based on current form Ian McKinnon was going to have a big impact in the games.
( Disclaimer..absolutely no benefit of hindsight was used in the above assumption)
Good dry conditions, slightly overcast, ideal for football.
Let battles commence.
First up was against Corinthians
Danny was substitute
Right from the off Bury dominated this game pressing high as a team and working some lovely passing moves together, early on a neat through ball from Graham put Ian McKinnon in a great position to shoot on the edge of the box but the ball was just nicked off his toe at the last moment going for a corner for Bury. Ian took a neat corner that gave Kevin Amos a chance to shoot, he chipped the ball and it just sailed agonisingly over the net.
The constant pressure from Bury led to a free kick where Ian deftly passed to Graham who shot accurately for the bottom right corner but the keeper just managed to get a hand to it.
Kev Amos had another shot shortly afterwards but it went just wide.
Great pressure from Bury but few good chances available for the first ten minutes, in the latter part of the game Corinthians seemed to wake up and pressed hard with some very good moves of their own resulting in five shots two of which on target, decent shots too that Eddy did well to save.
Proper battle towards the end leading to a free kick against Graham with shouts for a penalty to be given but the referee saw differently and gave a free kick.
Hanging on a bit at the end but should have won it in the first ten minutes based upon level of play.
An understandable but slightly disappointing draw.
As a side note Keith gave everyone a bit of a breather by taking five minutes to tie his shoelaces mid match . As a result tying shoelaces is now a formal part of Bury’s training regime going forward.
Bury 0 Corinthians 0
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Second game up against Bolton
Substitute Keith Swain ( who continued to tie his shoelaces).
Some games are so intense that it’s difficult to take notes as you don’t want to miss something as you’re frantically trying to scribble something down that’ll be vaguely legible later when compiling the report…. this was one of those games .
The lasting impression is overwhelming pressure from Bolton but Bury refused steadfastly to be anything other than whelmed.
Ian McKinnon even nonchalantly found time to tie his shoelaces mid match ( there’s a theme developing here) although he did achieve this at a considerably faster pace than Keith whilst nevertheless remaining cool and collected.
Let’s get down to the nitty gritty… Bury had four shots one of which on target… Bolton had ( checks notes….. checks notes again) 14 shots… three of which on target.
Ed made two superb saves with his feet but one deflected shot almost caught him out but sailed just wide… it was a proper cannonball too.
At one point as I glanced up from note making I saw Tony burst forward ball at his feet from his own half and well into enemy territory but he was closed down before being able to take advantage of it but this led to an opportunity for Ian from a free kick where he received the ball on the edge of the area and through some jiggery pokery magic making bought some space to take a shot ( now from my perspective I thought he should have used his right foot but from his perspective as he explained later he absolutely hammered it with his left and it was sailing in but for a superb reaction save from Bolton’s keeper).
Ed made another great save late on but man of the match goes to Tony … not for his defensive performance.. which was superb along with Danny but because at one point ..near the end …under no particular pressure he elected to just boot the ball… quite considerably… out of play. Which …. just brought a huge smile to everyone’s faces…’ave it. Old school.
An exhausting but deserved draw
Bury 0 Bolton 0
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Third match up against Panthers
Substitute Kevin Amos
Panthers have upped their game recently and are proving to be a difficult opponent.
Having said that they started with a shot from well inside their own half that sailed off into the stratosphere… a rush of blood to the head I suppose.
Ed made a great save early on with his foot that was a sign of things to come as Panthers piled on the pressure.
However Bury weren’t about to sit back and let them have it all their way.. Graham threaded a wonderful pass for Ian to walk on to .. leaving him through on goal but a Panther pounced ( sorry couldn’t resist) at speed and was determined to have denied Ian of a goalscoring opportunity.. so penalty and a blue card for the offender.
Graham took the penalty but their goalkeeper was on fire and saved it.
With a one man advantage Bury ought to have dominated but just couldn’t get their act together in this period , Ian did have a couple of shots.. one on target and one hitting the post plus one disallowed due to an infringement and to make matters worse Tony had to be substituted due to a recurring groin injury, Kevin Amos came on and shortly afterwards their blue carded player returned to the game.. what followed seemed like relentless pressure from Panthers with strike after strike most of which on target and at pace with Ed making six superb saves one after the other.
Bury didn’t fold though and at the other end of the pitch Ian again found himself in on goal and he unleashed a thunderbolt that somehow the keeper managed to deflect with the tip of his finger .. Ian was left dumbfounded by the save … the keeper was left in considerable pain in the aforementioned finger.
But the drama wasn’t over.. Panthers accumulated 4 offences leading to a penalty… this time Ian took the long walk… the goalkeeper tried to put him off by goading him “ hit it as hard as you can “ he shouted….
So that’s exactly what Ian did… oh yes he most certainly did…. the net bulged nearly to the point of breaking . GOAL .
Luckily for the keeper he didn’t get a finger to it this time or Ian would have sent him to the hospital.
Final score
Bury 1 Panthers 0
👏 yes
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Final game against Burnley Clarets
No substitute available.
As mentioned in previous reports the average height of the Burnley squad is 7 feet tall or at least that’s what it feels like but despite their large physical presence Bury actually had the much better game
Keith made some good passes to
Graham who had a couple of good shots on target saved. Danny pushed forwards and had a couple of shots himself having been provided passes from Ian who was busy despite being tired out from the previous games.
Danny played well at the back and threaded a lovely ball down the right wing through to Ian who laid it on for Keith who had his tremendous shot blocked by the keeper.
Kevin Amos was also busy picking up great positions but unable to capitalise due to being quickly closed down by Burnley players , Ed had a couple of saves to make but on the whole Bury dominated but then a breakaway move from Burnley saw one of their strikers put the ball past Bury’s last man and run round him to be in on goal.
Ed pushed forward to close down the angle and went to ground when the striker feigned a shot… the striker then went round to the right to pass it into the net but to everyone’s astonishment he hit the post , he told me later that Ed started moving to block him and it put him off by making him go for a more precise shot to the corner of the goal .
Huge sighs of relief from the Bury crowd and players. Then in typical football fashion less than a minute later Burnley conceded their fourth offence leading to a penalty.
Up steps Braveheart himself Ian McKinnon who waits patiently as a Burnley player messes around near the goal then when told to move by the referee he wanders straight towards Ian, but Ian wasne gonna be phased by those shenanigans, the referee took control… blew his whistle and….GOAL.
Another net bulger from the Slayer of Sassenachs Ian McKinnon.
Final score
Bury 1 Burnley Clarets 0
A fine days football fought in good spirit with the whole squad playing very effectively for each other.
Well done a deserved 8 points.
A Kev Bates report
Bury Relics 