Second-half goals from Ben Hockenhull and Connor Pye saw Bury cruise to a comfortable victory over Colne away at Holt House on Saturday.

While the Shakers made the short trip to face the side bottom of the league it still could prove to be difficult. Though the Reds have only won once this season that was against top-of-the-table Ramsbottom United. Bury had to be at their best.

There were a few changes from the midweek win over Charnock Richard. Both Bobby Carroll and Bebeto Gomes missed out but there was space for new arrival Djavan Pedro, arriving from Buxton on loan until January.

Pedro nearly made an immediate impact at his new club flying in with a diving header from a Josh Gregory cross, his early effort went just wide.

The visitors pushed hard for an early goal and came close. A Pedro header from a corner sailed past the far post before a second corner saw a Hockenhull header go off target.

Bury’s new centre forward looked impressive. Chasing a ball over the top Djavan Pedro outpaced and then overpowered his marker but his attempt was chipped over the bar as the rest of the defence caught up with him.

At the other end Colne’s attack focused on long balls sent on the counterattack. They were mostly aimed towards tricky number 11 Muhammad Ahmed, but the Bury backline stood firm and goalkeeper Mitch Allen had a very quiet day.

Bury’s best chances seemed to come from set pieces. The home side unable to contain the likes of Hockenhull and the Shakers centre back headed narrowly over the bar.

Rustam Stepans came closest for Bury firing a rasping shot that deflected off Pedro and onto the crossbar. Pedro also saw a shot blocked in a post corner scramble in the Colne six-yard box and fired another shot over after good work by Connor Pye to get into the box. Bury’s number 9 continued to look good for a goal.

Finally, an overhead kick by Stepans at the far post from another Bury corner was cleared off the line by Colne’s Rio McEvoy.

Held goalless at half-time the Shakers must have wondered what they had to do to score, but this was remedied shortly after the restart.

Playing downhill and with the sun at their backs Bury had it much easier after the break and scored the goal that gave them the lead and perhaps created a few sighs of relief. Hockenhull, frequently a danger to Colne on set pieces, had stayed upfield after a corner was only partially cleared away. A Bryan Ly cross was flicked on by Pedro into the path of Hockenhull who finished well into the bottom corner.

Straight into attack again Bury nearly made it 2-0 immediately. Another Bury corner was knocked away only as far as Stepans who fired a shot that rattled the crossbar.

Bury did grab a deserved second goal just after the hour. Connor Pye won the ball in his own half and advanced into Colne territory unchallenged. We might never know if he intended to shoot or was trying for a cross but the Shakers full back lofted a ball forward that went clear over goalkeeper Henry Turner’s head and landed into the far bottom corner of the net for a spectacular goal.

A goal kick from Mitch Allen made its way to substitute Alex Cherera, he danced his way through the defence, played a neat one-two with Cameron Fogerty before unleashing a shot that was well saved by Turner. A third goal seemed imminent and when Pedro was felled in the penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot the third goal felt inevitable.

Stepans stepped up to take the spot kick but for the first time this season was foiled, Turner making a smart save to his left to keep the Shakers top scorer out and then saved the rebound from Gaz Peet as well.

There were late chances for Jack Dunn and Lewis Earl that troubled the home defence but the win was already well secured. A stoppage-time shot dragged wide by McEvoy proved the only shot the home side managed as Bury snuffed out any danger and saw out one of their more complete victories of the season.