THERE was much to admire about this pre-season friendly, contested in bright sunshine on a perfect surface and in the right manner. Until the final whistle.

That signalled another act of foolishness from a section of Everton supporters who chose that moment to rush on to the pitch.

Some did it simply to pat their heroes on the back, and you cannot condemn them for that, even if it isn't strictly in the rules.

But, unlike the joyous scenes which marked the end of last season's clash when supporters mobbed their club record signing Andy Johnson, there was a sinister edge to some of the idiots who chose, instead, to confront Bury fans in the Main Stand.

A few also decided to steal some mementos, although groundsman Mike Curtis deserves credit, and possibly a contract at rugby league club Wigan Warriors, for his efforts to retrieve his corner flags.

This season, it was young striker Victor Anichebe who sprinted from the field wearing next to nothing after being stripped down by the swarming crowd.

His performance for the Premiership side was a class above, although at no point during the game did the Shakers look out of their depth.

Chris Casper's side are just a fortnight into their pre-season, and even he admits they are ahead of schedule in terms of fitness.

Again lining up in an unfamiliar 3-4-3 formation, the team looked much more comfortable than they had in last Tuesday's defeat at Altrincham.

Anichebe was a menace from the start. Just eight minutes in, he robbed Ben Futcher just outside the area before Jim Provett cleared the danger with an alert piece of goalkeeping.

Everton had only recently returned from a training camp in Italy and, after the game, assistant manager Alan Irvine said he had been surprised by the level of football played by both sides.

One such example was the quality cross-field ball from Richie Baker which took Alan Stubbs out of the game to find Nicky Adams in space. The Shakers winger, who has been in superb form so far in pre-season, swerved past keeper John Ruddy but couldn't get in a shot at goal.

Adams' energy caused problems all afternoon but, unfortunately, too often his final product failed to match his infectious enthusiasm.

Everton may have had an experimental side containing several youngsters, but their quality shone through when they did decide to move up a gear.

The industrious John-Paul Kissock was kept busy and each time Anichebe opted to stretch his legs, the Shakers were thanking their lucky stars that they didn't come up against someone of his quality every week.

But Casper's side gave as good as they got and should have taken the lead shortly after the restart when Adams again made inroads into the area. His shot was blocked by Tony Hibbert, but Broughton seized on the rebound before forcing an excellent low stop out of Ruddy.

Within a minute, the Shakers were behind. Futcher had halted a typically rampaging run from Anichebe, but the home side were too slow to mark up at the corner, and debutant Lukas Jutkiewicz ghosted in to head home from close range.

Bury went in search of an equaliser, and nearly found one through Paul Scott's fierce drive from the edge of the box. Both sides got what they came for, though, and had it not been for the ugly scenes after the final whistle, it would have been the perfect pre-season friendly.