A late double from substitute Rustam Stepans completed a 5-2 win for Bury in a pulsating game at Gigg Lane against Prestwich Heys on Saturday in a top verses bottom clash where the scoreline did not reflect the story of the days events.
Forty nine points separated these two teams at the start of the day with Bury looking to get back to winning ways after a 2-2 draw with second placed Ramsbottom United on Boxing Day while Heys were desperately looking for points to get out of the relegation zone after a 1-0 defeat at Irlam.
It was a tight opening quarter with Bury trying to press forward but the were finding the sitting deep Heys defence very hard to break down with centre halves Bradley Sullivan and James Badrock at the heart of it as a result the first chance of any note went to the hosts on twenty-two minutes when DJ Pedro fired wide from eight yards.
Four minutes later home crowd were silenced as the ball fell on the left to Alfie Belcher who blasted a shot bottom left from twelve yards to beat Mitchell Allen in Bury goal to put Prestwich into a dream 1-0 lead.
Bury pressed forward but the visitors were in defiant mood but the pressure told on thirty-seven minutes when a flick found Cameron Fogerty running through the middle who slotted past Heys keeper Harry Allen for the equaliser.
Bury now upping the gears were in front a minute after as Heys switched off from the restart DJ Pedro ran down the right and crossed to give Tanaka Cherera a tap in to put the shakers in front in the blink of an eyelid.
Heys try to respond before half time as a ball is looped high into the box but Bury manage to clear it to safety and go in at half time 2-1 up.
After a tight first half where Prestwich were defying their lowly league position and Bury knowing they were going to have to work hard to win this the teams came out for the second half both trying to get the upper hand as the opening quarter got a little scrappy.
Pedro was lively again down the flank on sixty six minutes whipping in a cross that none of the Bury front line could get onto and the game looked to be fizzling out until seventy minutes when Heys were awarded a free kick on left edge of the box and up steeped Alfie Belcher again to fire it bottom right past Allen putting the large raucous travelling support into raptures and daring to dream at 2-2 and striker Michael Burke nearly put Prestwich 3-2 just after shooting wide from eight yards.
It was however a dream that was to be short lived as just five minutes later as Bryan Ly was alleged to have been brought down on the left and the referee had no hesitation in pointing the spot and Ly collected the ball himself and converted for 3-2.
The penalty was to be the turning point in the game as Heys who had put so much into the first seventy five minutes in this resolute display appeared to run out of gas and the hosts punished them with two late goals.
On eighty two minutes a ball over the top on the right found Rustan Stepans who curled a lovely shot into the top left hand corner giving Harry Allen no chance making it 4-2
Worse was to follow in injury time and it was the alert Stepans again pouncing after Ly's shot was blocked to scramble home to complete the scoring and the action for the day at 5-2 a scoreline that looked unlikely for most of the day.
So, a brave effort from a determined Prestwich Heys side who were in the game for long periods and the forty nine point gap at the start of the day was not visible at Gigg Lane with a crowd of nearly 4000 If they keep doing the work rate and determination shown here they have a good chance of moving away from the foot of the table, and next Saturdays home game against third bottom Squires Gate a win is now vital for survival.
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