An early goal from top scorer DJ Pedro was enough for Bury to claim all three points away at South Liverpool in a match that the Shakers dominated but could not make safe.

Bury named a largely unchanged side from the one that beat West Didsbury and Chorlton the week before. Captain Bobby Carroll returned to the starting lineup while Aaron Chalmers absent for the past two weeks was back in the squad and took a place on the bench.

The visiting Shakers made a lightning-quick start to the match and immediately put the hosts under pressure. Pedro played in by a great Bebeto Gomes pass hit the side netting with a chance in the opening minute. It proved to be a warning shot.

A long ball forward by Reece Kendall found Pedro who beat the home side’s offside trap and slotted a neat ball past the keeper for the Shakers' opener after only four minutes.

There was nearly a second goal straight away. Pedro intercepted a loose ball from the restart and fed the ball out to Rustam Stepans on the left. Stepans crossed the ball into the box where Pedro was waiting but could only hit the post.

The early onslaught continued. Another curled shot from outside the box from Pedro was just off target. Bury’s number 9 playing like a man possessed nearly turned provider, his cross to the oncoming Cam Fogerty just had a little too much power on it and the centre midfielder could only place his effort wide of goal.

The attacking prowess could only last for so long however the home side unable to outplay Bury chose to disrupt and frustrate the flow of the game until the Shakers' early promise began to fade.

Innocuous challenges spurred the home side to crowd an overwhelmed referee to earn set pieces, though none ever worried Bury goalkeeper Mitch Allen who enjoyed a quiet first half. The referee again earned the ire of the Bury fans in attendance when an already booked Colyfa Kamara kicked Bury’s Lewis Byrne in the head and no second yellow was produced. Kamara was substituted shortly after the break perhaps as a means of keeping South Liverpool at eleven men.

The visitors would continue to be frustrated through the second half but it was their own finishing that was the cause of annoyance. Pedro volleyed a good chance from a Stepans cross over the bar while a minute later with acres of space and plenty of time Bebeto Gomes flashed a shot wide of the far post.

It took until the hour mark for South Liverpool to have their first shot of the day Fidan Hajdari putting a tame shot straight into Mitch Allen’s arms but the Bury defence had been lax in allowing the chance in the first place. Another goal was needed and Bury had to find their spark again.

A triple substitution was made and while all got in on the action the Shakers couldn’t find another goal. Byrne forced a great save out of the home keeper while one of the substitutes Bryan Ly took a dangerous looking free-kick but the wind behind it saw the chance sail over the crossbar. Ly again came close seeing a chance headed off the line with the goalkeeper out of his net but the chance would likely not have stood as Pedro was penalised for fouling the keeper in the build-up.

As the match entered the last ten minutes a goal for either side carried huge implications. If Bury could find a second goal it would soothe worried minds as Bury’s promotion push hung in the balance. A goal from South Liverpool though it would be greatly against the run of play was always possible and could see Bury throw away two precious points.

Josh Gregory forced a great save from the home goalkeeper from a free-kick while the best chances of the second-half came from one counter-attack. Gomes down the right fed the ball through to Pedro. He crossed the ball to Ruben Jerome who could only hit the bar with his effort. The ball fell to Gomes again but striking with his unfamiliar left foot put an easy chance over the goal.

Both Ly and Pedro had further chances but the resolute South Liverpool defence gave little away and at the other end the Bury defence was seldom made to work hard. The match slipped away from the hosts and the final whistle was greeted with relieved cheers from the away fans who saw a deserved victory but one that never needed to be as close as it appeared in the scoreline.

Another win for Bury, their seventh in a row with eight left to play sees the Shakers extend their lead at the top of the table. The pressure now passes to the chasing pack to keep up. Bury fans will just be glad a dominant performance yielded all three points even if they did it spending the whole match on a knife’s edge.