An even game between both sides sees Crewe win the game with a late winner.

The visitors struck home in the first minute of the game after a mix-up at the back between Harding and Bolton saw Neil pounce on the mistake and stick it into the far corner of Bury’s goal. The game restarted at a fast pace with both sides sharing an even number of chances. The heavy amount of rain on the day also resulted in both teams making a lot of mistakes due to the ball moving slower than usual on the pitch.

As the chances poured in, Bury would be the team that found the back of the net. In the 33^rd minute, Harding whipped in a corner (which has become somewhat of a trademark this season) and found the head of Hatcliffe who made the scoreline even after placing the ball into the bottom left corner.

Bury then began to dominate the end of the half. Nugent came close to scoring a freak goal from the byline as she curled a cross in which just hit the outside of the post, whilst Alldread drilled a shot from the right-hand side which just whistled over the bar.

Honours were even at the break, with the Shakers possibly feeling hard done by not to be leading after the flurry of good chances towards the end.

The 2^nd half again saw both teams sharing multiple efforts on goal between them but none which truly threatened either keeper. Free kicks were aplenty as well due to a large number of fouls outside the box by both teams, which mainly saw long looping balls into the box that were calmly headed away by the opposing defences.

In the 81^st minute, a great cross into the box from the right wing saw Crewe’s striker in acres of space in Bury’s box but their number 10 miskicked it and put it out for a goal kick, which allowed The Shakers to have a sigh of relief. Perhaps spurred on by this great chance, Crewe began to take over the match having shots from all angles and positions. Their hard work eventually paid off as Edwards delivered a cross into the box towards Caldecott who then produced a looping header that caught Groves off guard and made the score 1-2 to Crewe.

This 87^th minute goal was ultimately the deciding factor of the game as Bury were unable to reply in the little time that they had left, so the Cheshire club took home 3 points on the day.

Rachel Blythe picked up her first player of the match this season after a solid display in midfield which saw her as a focal point for starting Bury’s attacks and progressing up the field.

The Shakers’ next game sees them come up against Curzon Ashton in the 2^nd qualifying round of the Women’s FA Cup on Sunday. They’ll hope to brush off this loss and finish some of the chances that they weren’t able to in today’s game.