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Prediction League Game 11; Bury (away)

Bury

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Prediction League – Game 11; v Bury (away)

12 out (including some well known names – Brian Barry-Murphy to Rochdale, Ryan Cresswell to Rotherham, Richie Baker to Oxford and Andy Morrell to Wrexham); 5 in during pre-season – defender Tom Lees on loan from Leeds (we know him well); experienced defender Joe Skarz from Huddersfield, 26 year old Scottish midfielder Peter Sweeney from Grimsby (Bury being his 9th team), young winger Andy Howarth from Blackburn and experienced midfielder Steven Schumacher from Ferrari (sorry, from Crewe). Their squad also includes David Worrall (who had a short loan spell with us from West Brom, unfortunately ended by injury) and Efe Sodje; danger men up front are undoubtedly ex Chester goalscorer Ryan Lowe (18 for the Shakers last season, and the same tally for Chester the year before, with a career total of 100 before this season in almost 400 games) and his strike partner Andy Bishop, who’s netted 63 times in the last 4 years at Gigg Lane. The Shakers’ 17 goals in all competitions have involved 8 scorers, Lowe having 7, Mike Jones, Bishop and Schumacher having 2 each, and four others – including both our ex-players Lees and Worrall – having one apiece. Incidentally, THEY only beat Gillingham 5-4 at home; huh!

Nine meetings over the last 4 seasons; in 06/7 it was 2-2 away (Roberts and Boco) and 1-1 at home on Boxing Day (Andy Todd from the penalty spot); 07/08 we lost 2-1 away and 2-0 at home (a controversial match, as I recall); 08/09 saw us lose 2-1 away (a Jamie Clarke penalty – whatever happened to him?) and 1-0 at home; and last season we stopped the rot rather, winning the league game at Gigg Lane 2-0, with two goals from Bobby Grant in the final 10 minutes, and putting them out of the JPT at the area Quarter Final stage, a 3-2 win being secured thanks to two first-half goals from Michael Symes and a winner late on from Bobby Grant. The home league game was a disappointing 4-2 defeat, despite taking an early Symes goal lead, and a McConville equaliser bringing us back level, only for Andy Morrell and Ryan Lowe to bag two more late in the game. Overall P9 W2 D2 L5 isn’t too thrilling ………… Last season they finished 9th on 69 points (to our 61), 3 points and an inferior goal difference out of the playoff places; they scored 54 (equal 17th) and conceded 59 (12th), making them one of only two sides in the top half of the table with more in the ‘goals against’ column than in the ‘goals for’ (the other were Chesterfield, who finished 8th with -1)

They currently lie 5th in League Two (one place and 2 points above us); 4 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats suggest a good side who’ll be there or thereabouts come next May; they’ve won 3 and drawn one of 5 away games; at home, not so good – one win (5-4 over Gillingham), three draws (all by 1-1) against Northampton, Hereford and Rotherham, and a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Port Vale in their first game of the season suggests they may be more vulnerable there than on their travels, especially since they were behind in two of the three drawn home games, and only equalised against Hereford in the 93rd minute. Out of the Carling Cup at the first round stage (1-0 at Hillsborough), they haven’t played in the JPT yet, hosting Shrewsbury on Tuesday night in the second round. We still don’t know whether we’re in that or not; watch this space (but don’t hold your breath).

The deadline for entries is, as ever, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3pm on Saturday 9th October. We need to improve our results against them, but our current form, and theirs as well, suggests a tight game. Are we back in the land of 0-0 after today’s goalfest? (I told you one was coming; so did Terry “I want to take this penalty; you took the other one” Gornell). Can Phil the Tan shackle Ryan Lowe? Will our (increasingly less) mean defence hold out (for a change) –although there are still only 4 sides who’ve given up fewer goals than us on the road ……………… 9-8? 0-0? Who knows; it’s all up for grabs ….

Good luck to everyone ………… and thanks for playing!

:alright: