Bury endured a difficult day in Liverpool as their first away league defeat of the season proved to be the final match under Andy Welsh’s tenure.

Arriving at the Anfield Sports Community Centre, in the shadow of a more well-known football stadium, Bury fans discovered that mercurial forward Benito Lowe was unavailable for selection following a three-match ban regarding an incident some seven weeks earlier. Kick-off was then delayed after an injury to a match official in the warm-up. Finally, at precisely 3.28 the match began.

In the opening stages, Bury looked the more positive with Saj Elhassan and Jordi Nsaka linking up well on the left wing but neither Andy Briggs nor Elhassan could eke out a clear shot on goal and in a moment the hosts gained the lead.

Losing the ball on the Bury right a cross was sent in by Lower Breck’s James Murphy. Jack Atkinson rushed out to claim the cross but beating him to the ball was Anthony Walsh who directed the ball into the back of the net.

From the opening goal Bury struggled to get back into the match, Atkinson had to be on point to save well with a shot destined for the bottom corner while Bury were unable to maintain possession for any meaningful amount of time and relied largely on long balls to the tall and powerful Briggs up front. However, with no one to play off the ball was too often lost shortly thereafter. There were some chances for Bury, Briggs and Elhassan both had shots on target but Breck keeper Theo Roberts was in the right place to stop any threat to his goal.

A difficult first half turned into a disaster as Bury fell two behind on the half hour. A Lower Breck corner caused havoc in the Bury box, the ball was not sufficiently cleared away and the volley to send the ball back into the action drifted all the way into the top corner to double Breck’s lead.

Bury made a double substitution at halftime to add captain Dan Lafferty and midfielder Chris Rowney. There did seem to be more solidity at the back but Bury’s interest was further forward. Elhassan made the first opening however his shot cleared the Lower Breck crossbar.

Bury continued to urgently strive for a way back into the match with the hosts content to hold their strong lead. Attacking impetus was added with the introduction of Tom Kilifin and Connor Comber but it was Briggs who got Bury back within one goal. The Bury number 9 was felled in the box and the stand-in referee pointed to the spot. Briggs stepped up to take the spot kick himself and sent Roberts the wrong way to get his goal tally into double figures for the season.

The intensity shown by the Bury players was admirable in the closing stages but as the match gradually slipped away it felt as though Bury had dug themselves too deep of a hole to get out of. Repeated crosses and corners couldn’t find the head of a Bury man and further penalty claims were waved away.

Full time arrived and with Bury fans facing the road back home discovering defender Jack Tinning was leaving the club it finished off what was a miserable day on Merseyside.