Match Report: Redcar Athletic 0-0 Bury FC

No goals, but over a thousand fans, and a lot of excitement, as we began our league campaign

Sweltering heat was what welcomed Bury FC to Redcar in their, and our, first match at Step 3

Pre-game predictions almost all sat on a one-of-two option list, with the thought of a draw seeming not to be a choice.

Obviously, though, it did in fact end level, with a lot of excitement from minute 1 to 90

We started the game strongly, with Louis Johnson getting a decent chance within the opening minute, though Bury were able to deal with it.

Louis again had a chance minutes after, but decent defending stopped him once more.

Up the other end, a Bury attack was halted by a Danny Rowe clearance, with the second attempt eventually becoming a goal kick.

The first half continued with end-to-end action, with the opening half hour seeing a flurry of chances, though the main highlight came in the 25th minute.

As Bury looked to attack, Lewis Hawkins produced a crunching challenge to halt the Shakers’ opportunity. What followed was a load of pushing and shoving from both sets of players as tempers flared, and the end of the roughhousing saw Danny Rowe and Hawkins booked, alongside one of Bury’s players.

Another Bury player received a booking a few minutes later as he prevented Danni Lay from taking a free kick; Louis Johnson got another attempt, though the opponent’s goalkeeper gathered it, and the end of the half saw two brilliant stops from Mazfari to keep Bury at bay

The latter of those two stops saw him push behind a swerving effort, and the half-time whistle promptly followed, marking an end to an energetic opening 45

The second half saw Bury come out flying, as they immediately began to test our defence with chance after chance.

More corners came and went for the visitors, though none were put past Mazfari, and we continued to keep a clean sheet.

We hadn’t stopped attacking though, with a near chance coming for the Steelmen in the 55th minute, as Adam Boyes got a shot off that was stopped by the keeper’s feet, with the save cannoning off a Bury defender’s head before looping just past the post and out for a corner.

Up the other end, the save of the match was produced by Mazfari, as a quick Bury break saw them sweep a ball into the box, and a drilled attempt was expertly turned behind by Josh.

We proceeded to make some changes, with the first seeing Luke Spalding come on for Connor Smith.

It was a change that looked to make a difference, as almost immediately Luke was involved in our attacks, as he whipped a belter of a ball into the box that was narrowly headed over by Louis Johnson.

Bury had chances that were stopped by our defence, with a great challenge from Ciaran Banks in the 66th minute halting another Bury attack.

Luke Splading garnered another chance following a pass from Bosh, though his attempt was pushed away by Bury’s keeper, and Luke then had another shot two minutes later, though this one was blocked even sooner than the prior one.

More corners for Bury came and went, with the final tally showing Bury to have won 12, as opposed to us winning just 2

Another great save from Mazfari saw him tip the ball behind in the 75th minute, and an acrobatic attempt from Bury in the 80th narrowly went over the top of our goal

In between those two bits of action, Andrei came on for Adam, and in the 87th we brought on Curtis Round for Louis. That would be the last notable bit of action, as a few vague chances saw out the match, ending exactly as we began

A total attendance just under 1,500, a great day out for everyone, and a return to action, there wasn’t much more you could ask for

Except maybe a few goals.

It’s a trip to Workington on Tuesday night next, and we hope to see you there!

Up the Steelmen

Lineups:

Redcar Athletic: Mazfari, Guru, Banks, Hawkins, Rowe, Lay (C), Smith [Spalding, 61′], Fletcher, Boyes [Ardelean, 76′], Burns, Johnson [Round, 87′]

Unused subs: Burgess, Fewster

Bury FC: Allen, Neild (C), Sloane, Graham, Threlkeld, White [Glendon, 70′], Melhado [Navarro, 72′], Robinson [Evans, 70′], Pedro, Carr, Stepans

Unused subs: Pye, Touray