A hard and attritional match that seemed destined for a drab goalless finish burst into life in the closing stages on a blustery day in Burscough. Both sides took the lead and both sides scored late equalisers in a contest that ended 2-2.

Bury returned to the Community Stadium in Burscough less than a month on from their last visit, a 2-1 defeat to Skelmersdale United. In that match the Shakers lost Andy Briggs to injury, his return to the bench for this fixture was a welcome surprise for the fans in attendance. The rest of the team was as it has been for the last few matches with Ethan Kachosa picked at right-back ahead of Jordan Butterworth and Andy Kellett preferred to Connor Comber at number 11.

Bury entered the busy Christmas period in indifferent form having won three and lost three of their last six matches in all competitions but without having played as well as they can do even in the fixtures they won. There was a palpable feeling that things needed to change.

In the opening seconds of the match Bury might have made an immediate impact Andy Scarisbrick on the attack saw a shot blocked and from the resulting corner Oli Jepson headed wide of goal.

These early chances however did not prove to be a sign of how the rest of the half would go. The strong winds blowing across the pitch had a big impact on the match. With the wind blowing from right to left from the Bury perspective any crosses from the right were helplessly carried by the wind long beyond their intended target whilst crosses from the left would hang high in the air hitting an invisible wall.

Bury struggled to create chances of note whilst the opposing goalkeepers routinely exchanged back-to-back goal kicks as the wind took the ball the full length of the pitch. Scarisbrick could have scored, a rare golden opportunity presented itself when a Dec Daniels header fell right into the path of the Bury number 10 but Scarisbrick shinned his effort over the bar.

The closest Burscough came to scoring saw Jordan Barrow from deep midfield harness the wind, deftly lifting the ball. The current carried the effort well beyond Harry Wright’s goal but landed wide of the post underlining a first half that saw both sides struggle with the conditions and produce few quality chances.

Into the second-half the Shakers continued to look blunted in attack and while Burscough faired little better it felt as though the Linnets were the more likely side to open the scoring, Cian McDermott twice forcing Harry Wright to make saves at his near post following lapses in the Bury defence.

The direction of the match turned on the addition of Andy Briggs and Connor Comber in a double substitution halfway through the second-half. Straight from the introduction Briggs very nearly fired off a shot, denied by a last-ditch tackle but winning a corner. Comber let loose from the edge of the box his effort was well held by Burscough keeper Shea Callister. Shortly afterwards a Comber cross found Daniels, his header was saved by Callister and the rebound from Briggs was cleared off the line. Quite suddenly Bury had taken control of the match, the rejuvenated Shakers continued their progress; an Andy Briggs header rattled the crossbar before the deadlock was finally broken.

A long-ball forward was played towards Briggs, Shea Callister rose well above the Bury man to punch the effort clear, his contact was poor knocking the ball into the path of Dec Daniels. As the Linnets keeper fell Daniels from outside the box drilled a low effort into the open goal to give Bury the lead.

The fall had done some harm to Callister, hitting Briggs and one of his own players on the way down and the goalkeeper stayed prone on the deck for some time after the goal. After an anxious few minutes the stopper got back up again but the referee ruled he couldn’t continue with a suspected concussion. An outfield player would deputise for the rest of the match.

More than five minutes had passed before the match restarted and the Shakers contingent perhaps believed the one goal would be enough, in a match of such few chances seeing out the last five minutes plus stoppages should be easy, no?

Straight on the attack, a long ball into the Bury box caused havoc at the back, multiple chances to clear their lines were not taken and a clumsy push in the penalty area saw the referee point to the spot. Stephen Rigby stepped forward for the hosts and beat Wright from 12 yards.

Bury might have felt aggrieved that a soft penalty in such a short space of time had robbed them of an unlikely three points but matters took a turn for the worse as ten minutes of stoppage time began. A simple diagonal ball was missed by Bury substitute Jordan Butterworth allowing Matthew Coughlan in on goal. He beat Wright at his near post with a shot the Bury keeper will be disappointed to have let beat him and Burscough had an even more improbable lead.

Yet the goals still came, even faster this time around. Straight from the restart, a deep ball from Butterworth found Briggs and the Bury top scorer beat the stand-in keeper from close range to score his first league goal in two injury-plagued months.

Both sides saw the match out with no further late goals. Neither side deserved to win the match based on their overall performances but given how the contest came to a close both sides felt a little unlucky not to have snatched three points.