SHAKERS 0, STOCKPORT COUNTY 1: Seven short seasons ago this was a Championship fixture, that's the Second Division to the traditionalists among us who still can't accept that the fourth level of the English game is known as League Two.

And, although most of the 3,116 fans who were at Gigg Lane on Tuesday night can only dream of their favourites returning to such lofty heights in the near future, it speaks volumes about the depth of our national sport that two sides struggling to hold onto Football League status can put on such an entertaining spectacle.

The couch potato brigade who stayed at home by the fire, enjoying the dubious delights of Chelsea and Barcelona in the Champions League, didn't know what they were missing.

Neither of these teams deserved to lose what turned out to be an enthralling encounter that had everything, despite a tricky surface that predictably cut up as the game progressed.

So it was all the more disappointing -- though not untypical of Bury's fortune this season -- that Chris Casper's men managed to toss away all three points at stake in this relegation six-pointer.

A goal in the last five minutes of normal time broke the Shakers' hearts and ended their five game unbeaten run.

Boss Casper was left cursing his side's luck as the end-to-end clash was decided by a mistake from normally dependable skipper Dave Challinor, whose gaffe resulted in Liam Dickinson firing home the only goal.

Prior to Dickinson's intervention, on-loan Manchester City 'keeper Kasper Schmeichel had played an absolute blinder in keeping the Stockport strike-force at bay, and the end result was a real sickener for the highly-talented young Dane.

In a feistily contested first period supporters of both sides had their share of anxious moments.

Just after the half-hour mark, Bury's Tom Youngs hit the post with a fine angled effort while at the other end Schmeichel had to be on his toes when County's Dickinson broke clear following a quick counter-attack.

Fortunately for the Shakers, the 19-year-old got his angles right, forcing the former Woodley Sports player to shoot narrowly wide, but it was a wake-up call if one was needed.

It was a similar story in the second period as the Shakers took a bigger control on the game.

On-loan striker Colin Marrison, who enjoyed probably his best game in a Bury shirt, missed a glorious opportunity to open his account for the club when he failed to connect with a pinpoint cross from Dwayne Mattis, with the goal at his mercy.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Schmeichel was forced to pull off a couple of world class stops in a matter of minutes.

First, he denied Stockport substitute Jamie Ward with a super save low to his right, then had Tesafaye Bramble pulling his hair out when he somehow got an outstretched arm to a powerful effort that looked destined for the top corner.

The lively Youngs, clearly buoyed up by his goal at Rochdale last week, thought he'd scored his second in as many games with 16 minutes remaining when he turned superbly in the box to fire past the Hatters' impressive 'keeper James Spencer.

Unfortunately for the former Leyton Orient man, his well stuck drive was hacked clear off the line by County's Mark Robinson.

Challinor headed narrowly wide from a Brian Barry-Murphy corner then Mattis went close twice in the space of a minute with strikes from just inside the box.

As the match entered its final minutes it looked 'nailed on' that County's 25 game run without a goalless draw was about to come to an end. But football's fickle finger of fate had other ideas.

It was a personal disaster for Bury skipper Challinor when the deadlock was broken.

The scoreboard clock showed 85 minutes when, instead of clearing his lines deep in his own half, he tried to go past Ward, who dispossessed him.

The Aston Villa man, who only joined Stockport on loan this week, sent Dickinson clear, who with time and space at last, got the best of Schmeichel.

Given Bury's goal famine recently -- three goals in the last seven games tells its own story -- a draw was the best they could have hoped for at that stage.

And it looked like they had secured a point when, during a goalmouth melee, substitute Jake Speight stabbed the ball home in the dying seconds.

But it wasn't to be the Shakers' night and referee Gary Sutton disallowed it for a foul on Ashley Williams.

"It was very disappointing, I thought we started brightly but then Stockport had the better of the first half," said Casper "But in the second period we were the better team and in the last ten minutes it looked like we'd go on and win it.

"In the end we were undone by David (Challinor) taking a chance. He doesn't need me to tell him he made a mistake but we've got to start cutting those out.

"There were two fantastic 'keepers out there tonight and the fans will have had their money's worth from a real end to end game.

"It was always going to be a mistake that would win it, but unfortunately we were the ones that paid the price."

Both sets of players received a marvellous ovation when they left the pitch and home fans in the main stand, at least, seemed to appreciate the effort that had been put in by the players.

But with two difficult away games coming up, Wrexham on Saturday and promotion-chasing Grimsby Town seven days later, Casper would ideally have liked some vital points on the board from Tuesday night's game and Saturday's postponed home clash with Macclesfield Town.

With 12 matches remaining, his side clearly need to beef up their goal tally and fast.

As for the Bury supporters, they won't need reminding it was a similar goal drought that saw their side losing that cherished spot in the Championship.