BURY extended their winless run against Rochdale in the league to eight games as they suffered a 2-0 loss in a fiery derby at Spotland.

Ian Henderson opened the scoring from the spot after Dale were awarded a dubious penalty, before Nathaniel Mendez-Laing added a second midway through the second half.

The Shakers were reduced to nine men late on when Kean Bryan and Jacob Mellis were both sent off – adding to the seven yellow cards also picked up by David Flitcroft's men.

The Bury boss made two changes from the side that lost to Peterborough last weekend. Midfielders Tom Soares and Mellis returned from suspension replacing the injured Tom Pope, while Kelvin Etuhu dropped to the bench.

Rochdale almost caught Bury cold early on when Mendez-Laing burst through on goal four minutes in but Ben Williams made a fine stop with his legs.

Tempers began to flare as both sides struggled to gain control of the game. Mellis made a couple of heavy challenges before Niall Maher was booked for a crunching tackle on Steven Davies.

Neil Danns, playing as an unorthodox forward, got on the end of James Vaughan's cross but Josh Lillis pushed his header around the post at full stretch.

The breakthrough came in the 37th minute when referee Peter Bankes awarded Dale a penalty for an apparent foul by Mellis on Matthew Lund.

Flitcroft and assistant manager Ben Futcher were in uproar at the decision – but Henderson sent Williams the wrong way from the spot to give the hosts the lead.

Mellis was cautioned for protesting his innocence soon after, and Soares joined him in the referee's notebook just before half time after sliding in late on Lund.

Bury's travelling army of fans tried to roar their team back into the game after the break and Vaughan came the closest to an equaliser with a snapshot from distance that flew over the crossbar.

However, Rochdale came closest to the second goal of the game but were denied by a magnificent double save from Williams. First the keeper clawed Henderson's low shot off the line before recovering to tip Mendez-Laing's dipping volley over the crossbar.

The Shakers thought they had equalised in the 63rd minute when Mellis's shot fell at the feet of Vaughan six yards out. He tapped it in but the assistant referee was quick to rule it out for offside.

Flitcroft handed new signing Ishmael Miller his debut from the bench in the 71st minute, but four minutes later his side found themselves two goals behind when Mendez-Laing found space in the area and slotted the ball past Williams.

The game hit boiling point in the 77th minute when Bryan was shown a straight red card for a high tackle on substitute Andrew Cannon. The foul sparked outrage as all 22 players were involved in the melee that followed.

Three other players were shown yellow cards – with Miller the only Shaker to pick up a caution.

As soon as the game restarted Bury skipper Antony Kay clattered into Cannon to add his name to the long list.

Four minutes from time Mellis was given his second yellow of the game - reducing the Shakers to nine men, which ultimately ended Bury's chance of a comeback.