Bury’s cup adventures are over for another season after they crashed out of the Macron Cup, losing 1-0 at home to Charnock Richard.

Drawn at home for the first time this season, the Shakers had a chance to avenge their FA Cup defeat to the same opponents but once again the Chorley outfit got the better of a Bury side lacking in attacking sharpness.

Dave McNabb named a much changed side for the cup fixture. Some were enforced - Harry Wright and Dec Daniels, both cup tied, were replaced by Sam Ashton and Joe Hobson. There were also starts for Anton Smith and Andy Kellett, a home debut for Ethan Kachosa and Bury Under-23 player Luis Cantello was among the substitutes for the senior team.

Bury started the match well enough with Kachosa eager to show his talents to his new home crowd. The attacking full back twice created early chances for Bury, sending a through ball to Hobson to force an early save from Charnock Richard keeper Connor Eastham.

Kachosa then swung in a great cross to Kellett that the Bury number 11 just couldn’t connect with. This was soon followed by a Kellett free kick that flashed across the away side’s penalty box but neither Sam Burns nor Andy Scarisbrick could find a finishing touch.

The visitors had a glut of chances to score themselves. Winger Jacob Ridings had got in behind the Bury defence and from a tight angle beat goalkeeper Ashton with a shot that rolled across the goal line but just stayed out.

A Kachosa clearance only found a Charnock Richard shirt and Bury centre back Oli Jepson twice had to block a shots on the goal line from Rustam Stepans with Ashton left a spectator. The onslaught only ended with a Ridings header that just cleared the bar.

The visitors may have wondered how they didn’t manage to score but the same could be said of Bury soon afterwards. A great Gaz Peet cross found Hobson in front of goal. His first time effort cleared the bar from close range when the top scorer from the Under-23 squad ought to have doubled his tally for the senior side.

Bury would go close again with chances for Burns, Peet and Hobson before the first controversy of the match. Kellett broke into the Charnock Richard penalty box from an Smith pass before being upended by defender Ross O’Farrell. Despite the huge appeals for a penalty on the pitch and in the stands, the referee waved away the protests.

The frustration continued into the second half as Smith went down in the penalty area. This time the referee reached for the yellow card booking Smith for simulation.

Through the early stages of the second half, the Shakers continued to see much of the ball but could not find a way through the Charnock Richard defence. While the first half had seen a dominant display just lacking the cutting edge in attack, the second period saw the Bury attack become quite blunted.

Against a side like Charnock Richard - undefeated in the last three months in all competitions - if the Shakers could not score when they were playing well they would be made to pay, and so it proved.

A Burns free kick played short to Charlie Doyle broke down and via a cross-field long ball, Charnock Richard were quickly on the counter-attack. Nathan Nickeas crossed to Lewis Haydock, the former Bury Juniors man beat Ashton with a diving header to give the away side the lead.

Minutes later, it seemed Bury’s hopes for the Macron Cup were truly over. Another Charnock Richard attack saw Tom Moore clumsily push over Ridings and the referee pointed to the spot. Ashton - channelling the previous round’s performance where he had made three saves in the shootout against Ramsbottom United - once again came to the rescue, keeping out the spot kick leaving Bury just one goal behind with little under 25 minutes left to play.

With Hobson withdrawn there was a lack of attacking impetus to a team that could build an attack but lacked the killer instinct to finish one off. The introduction from the bench of Lewis Gilboy and Connor Comber helped matters. Gilboy had a goalbound shot deflected away for a corner while a Comber shot appeared to deflect off the hand of a Charnock man, but the third penalty appeal of the day for Bury was ruled the same way as the earlier incidents.

A late Comber header clipped the top of the Charnock Richard crossbar but that was as close as Bury came to grabbing an equaliser. Goalkeeper Ashton advanced into the opposition penalty area for a late corner but the set piece only found Jepson, who headed wide.

The defeat leaves Bury with just the league to focus on for the rest of the season. A busy run festive fixtures awaits starting with a trip to Burscough on Saturday.