10th October 2023
Bury Town vs Gorleston @ Ram Meadow - Bury St. Edmunds
Isthmian League Division One North (Step 4)
19:45 KO
£10 entry
Attendance - 486
Half-time score: Bury Town 0-1 Gorleston
Goals:
Gorleston: Frary - 27'
Gorleston: R. Curtis - 88'
Bury Town: O'Malley - 90'
Bury Town: Mills - 97'
Leigh Simons recorded the goals, see the links below:
Final Score: Bury Town 2-2 Gorleston
Tonight's game at Bury Town was the first Tuesday evening game of the season, so my first chance to properly get down to Ram Meadow since having Cole Skuse at the helm. They have had a decent start to the season, sitting 8th but on the cusp of the play-off spots, and welcoming back striker Darren Mills after some time away at Holland FC. Opponents tonight were Gorleston, to set-up a Suffolk-Norfolk derby game. Gorleston, in their second consecutive season at this level, have had a similar start to the season to Bury Town, so it looked like a close encounter on paper.
Upon entry, I picked up one of the excellent £2 programmes, lots of detail and full colour.
The pitch was looking immaculate and verdantly green, and there was a decent crowd and a nice buzz about the ground in anticipation for tonight's game, with a decent number of Gorleston fans having made the long journey down. It was a pleasant and calm evening with a bit of a chill in the air as the night drew in, but perfect for football. Bury Town came out in their blue kit, with Gorleston in a jazzy light blue and orange tiger print style pattern on a white background.
KEY MOMENTS
BT = Bury Town
GT = Gorleston
6' - BT - A poor pass from captain Docherty is intercepted by Horne, he takes the ball into the box and lashes in a shot, but his stinging effort is just wide and crashes into the side-netting.
10' - GT - There looks to be a clear foul to a Bury player, but the referee waves play on, and Zielonka takes full advantage to thread Connor Ingram through on goal. Ingram takes the ball into the box uncontested and fires in a strike at the near post, but he is off target and the ball crashes into the side-netting, should really have done better.
13' - BT - A long ball releases de la Paz down the right, keeper Jessup comes out to intercept, but de la Paz beats him to it, rounds him then shoots from a very tight angle, it looks to be going in for a moment, but eventually runs wide of the far post, so close!
21' - BT - Luke Brown attempts a chipped effort from the edge of the box, it looks in but flies just over the bar and nestles into the top of the net, another close effort from Bury Town.
27' - GT - GOAL (0-1) - From nowhere, Frary has a go from 30-35 yards out, he hits the ball sweetly and it dips perfectly into the top left corner of the goal, top bins, giving keeper Cullum no chance to make the save. An absolute stunner of a goal to give Gorleston the lead against the run of play.
32' - BT - Some brilliant work down the left wing from Maughn see him evade multiple challenges and he cuts deep into the box, he manages to square the ball across to find de la Paz in the middle, but his snap shot is skewed wide.
39' - GT - Zielonka whips in a ball and defender Jefford gets his end on the end of it, Cullum is beaten and the ball is heading in, but Mayhew stretches to head the ball clear close to the goal-line.
45'+2' - BT - A burst of pace from de la Paz sees him go through down the left wing, he cuts inside to the edge of the box and on the turn fires in a daisy-cutter of a strike at the near post, this takes Jessup by surprise and beats him, but the ball crashes into the post, and hits the back of the keeper, but the deflection is kind to him and he is able to collect the ball. Another really close effort, this game should have had more than one goal going into the break.
47' - BT - In an advanced position, Maugh steals the ball off a Gorleston defender, he shoots from just outside the box, but his effort goes agonisingly wide.
59' - GT - Some neat interplay from Gorleston culminates with a dangerous pacey ball fired across the from the left wing by Ryan Curtis, Luke Johnson is mere millimeters away from connecting, and another big chance goes begging.
66' - BT - Maughn lays the ball back to Upson and from 20 yards, his curling effort flies just over the bar.
88' - GT - GOAL (0-2) - It looks like Gorleston seal the game late on, a weak defensive back header from captain Fenn is intercepted by Ryan Curtis, he lifts the ball over Cullum at the edge of the area and it rolls into the goal, great awareness and a deft touch from Curtis.
90' - BT - GOAL (1-2) - Bury immediately reply with a goal on the 90 minute mark from a corner, the ball is whipped into the danger zone, and a towering header from O'Malley at close range gives the keeper no chance, could a late comeback be on?
97' - BT - GOAL (2-2) - Bury pull off the stunning comeback in the dying moments of the game, the goal again coming from a corner. Substitute Mills flicks Upson's corner ball towards goal, Jessup makes a reaction save, but the ball falls back to Mills, and he makes no mistake the second time, reacting fastest to nod the ball beyond the stricken keeper, and the ground erupts. What a moment, and what a return to Bury Town by Darren Mills, another important late goal!
Wow, what a finale to that game, with Bury Town sealing what looked to be an unlikely point after Gorleston bagged their second on the 88th minute to go 2-0 up, brilliant never-say-die attitude from the boys in blue! And it was a deserved point, Bury Town dominated large parts of the game and certainly created their fair share of chances, and it was only an absolute worldie from Frary separating the two sides for the majority of the game. Maughn was class today for Bury Town, and looked bright all game, and Darren Mills also had a big impact on the game when he came on, adding some much needed zip to the front line, what a return performance, scoring another big late goal for Bury Town! Looking at Gorleston, they looked strong and organised for the most part, and looked dangerous on the break, sweeping the ball down field at pace. I'm sure that whilst they will be disappointed with the result, a point on the road is not a bad result on a Tuesday night. The point keeps Bury Town amongst the pack chasing for the play-off places, and I am sure they can push on to break into the top 5 based on what I saw tonight. I hope to be back in a fortnight when they take on some tough opponents from North Essex in Brightlingsea Regent for yet another Tuesday night fixture.
Line-Ups:
BURY TOWN: Danny Cullum, Oliver Yun, Max Maughn, Ethan Mayhew, Ollie Fenn (C), Lewis O'Malley, Louis Henman-Mason, Ed Upson, Jose Santa de la Paz, Luke Brown, Ryan Horne. SUBS: Cemal Ramadan, Ben Curtis, Darren Mills, Will Gardner, Charlie Smith.
GORLESTON: Jake Jessup, Lewis Johnson, Dion Frary, Joe Jefford, Adam Tann, Luke Johnson, Connor Ingram, Ryan Curtis, Dominic Docherty (C), Jacek Zielonka, Craig Parker. SUBS: Kyle Ingram, Alby Matthews, George Keys, Mitch McKay, Henry Pollock.
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