A dramatic late winner from DJ Pedro gave Bury all three points in a tightly contested Tuesday night clash against FC Isle of Man at Gigg Lane. The 3-2 win extends the Shakers lead at the top of the table and keeps their promotion challenge within their own control.

The Shakers made two changes from their last match on the weekend with Aiden Walker replacing the injured Nicky Adams at right back and Lewis Byrne preferred to Tyler James in attack.

The visitors started the match on the front foot. A miskicked Mitch Allen clearance allowed the Manx side to attack. Top scorer Sean Doyle shooting from outside the box fired his effort straight at the Bury keeper.

Bury won a free kick on the left wing. The ball worked its way over the far post but due to a mix-up between Pedro and Byrne no shot was made on goal.

On ten minutes the away side took the lead. An Isle of Man corner found the head of Doyle who glanced his effort beyond Allen and in to give the Ravens the lead.

The Shakers replied in kind though keeper Adam Killey punched away their next corner. Through much of the rest of the first half there seemed to be only one side looking to score. The visitors defended their lead and only really troubled the Bury defence from set pieces and the occasional counter-attack. The hosts however saw plenty of the ball but were unable to turn this into real chances. The Manx high line defence caught Bury attackers offside often while whenever a man in a white shirt did get the ball in the Isle of Man half they would be quickly swarmed by defenders.

With half-time approaching the Bury pressure finally told. A Shakers corner was sent into the box and centre-back Aaron Chalmers put a thumping header beyond Killey for the equaliser. After the goal Bury suddenly looked rejuvenated and the Isle of Man defence wilted. Killey had to do superbly well to steer a Pedro shot round his post while Ruben Jerome unleashed a rasping shot that just cleared the Ravens crossbar.

The two sides went in at the break in contrasting moods. The Shakers would now look to turn the screw and grab the lead over the Isle of Man whereas the visitors now had their backs to the wall and would have to work hard to claim a point.

The hosts came out of the blocks quickly in the second half. Connor Pye fired a great shot just wide of the far post while an overhead kick by Pedro went over the bar. The Shakers had the Ravens under siege for most of the second half but couldn’t find the all-important goal.

Gradually the visitors began to create their own chances as Bury’s dried up. It looked like the home side had lost the initiative and were in desperate need of inspiration. In the 73rd minute Bury finally got the goal their efforts deserved, Rustam Stepans, toe poking a scrambled effort into the bottom corner gave Bury the lead with what was their 100th league goal of the season.

With the hosts at last taking the lead the visitors had to come out and attack opening up the match, where Bury usually thrive. However the home side never looked likely to score a third goal and even with nearly twenty minutes left to play seemed content with a narrow one-goal lead and played to keep the lead they had rather than look to extend it.

With five minutes to play disaster struck. A slick passing move in the Ravens midfield built an attack that the Bury defence couldn’t get close to. The cross from the right found the head of Doyle once again who grabbed a late equaliser. It was a punch in the gut for the Bury faithful who had seen their side battle to eke out a lead only to lose it with only a few minutes left to play. After all that it looked like the points would have to be shared.

With six minutes of added time to play Bury pushed hard. Pedro saw a close-range shot blocked while numerous crosses into the box were just begging for someone on the end of them to finish it off. Substitute Tyler James then had a cross blocked and turned away for a corner. Bryan Ly took the resulting set piece and found Pedro who rose highest at the far post. He directed a header into the bottom corner of the net sending the home crowd wild with what proved to be the 94th minute winner.

The win extends Bury’s lead at the top of the table to four points but the Shakers will know all too well they will have to keep finding ways to win matches to keep their place at the league’s summit.