From out of the gloom of a rainy night in Cheadle Bury emerged with a precious three points to help them reclaim top spot.

With fixtures coming thick and fast Bury manager Dave McNabb rang the changes recalling Connor Comber, Oli Jepson, Charlie Doyle, and Benito Lowe to the starting eleven.

It was the recalled Lowe who got the first real chance of the match. A long ball forward by Comber reached the Bury number 9 but his shot from close range was stopped by the onrushing Cheadle goalkeeper Jordan Latham. The follow-up shot by Andy Briggs was blocked by some desperate last-ditch defending and the final chance in the sequence fell to Andy Scarisbrick who placed his shot wide of goal.

Bury have proved to be deadly at set pieces as of late and Cheadle Town got a taste of that during the first half, from one corner a Scarisbrick volley was deflected wide when it looked to be going in while a second found the towering figure of Tom Moore who would rattle the crossbar with a header.

Bury continued to push for the lead with Scarisbrick and Briggs going close before the Shakers found the back of the net just before halftime. A Jordan Butterworth cross found its way to Arthur Lomax-Jones. The substitute thought he had scored but his thumping header was immediately ruled out by the referee for a push in the build-up to the goal.

The two sides went in at the break goalless but there was a palpable sense that with the Shakers very much in control of proceedings if Bury were able to break down the difficult hosts they would be able to see the match out comfortably.

Early in the second half Bury were given a chance to take the lead, Benito Lowe was felled in the box and after an agonising few seconds the referee pointed to the spot. Lowe stepped up to take the penalty himself and sent Latham the wrong way slamming home the opening goal of the match.

The visitors wasted no time in searching for a second. A Billy Reeves free-kick was headed off the line by a Cheadle Town defender. Bury did score again, this time Lowe playing provider to strike partner Andy Briggs who got in behind the defence and beat Latham with a shot to the opposite corner, the seventh match in a row Bury’s top marksman has scored in.

Briggs could have scored more. Played through once again he rounded the goalkeeper and had an open goal at his mercy when he was brought down by a home defender. The referee was not moved to give Bury another penalty though of greater concern was the fact that Briggs was slow to get back up and was substituted afterwards. In all three Bury players appeared to pick up knocks in the match in a worrying recent trend of injuries troubling the Bury team.

His replacement Dec Daniels saw a shot from point-blank range deflected over by Latham, had it gone in it would have surely killed the tie off but in truth Bury had the match well in hand. Though Cheadle Town did enjoy some spells of possession they never produced a notable chance to worry Harry Wright in the Bury goal who recorded a trouble-free clean sheet.

All attention now turns to the weekend with the much anticipated and eagerly awaited away trip to the Isle of Man. Victory in Cheadle ensured that ahead of the visit to Douglas Bury would do so as league leaders.