Bury booked their ticket for passage to the next round of the FA Cup thanks to a 2-0 victory away to NPL East side Garforth Town, writes James Beedie.

For the third time in as many rounds the Shakers were drawn away to a higher level side but this latest round would likely prove to be the hardest. Like Bury, Garforth Town entered the match undefeated in all competitions and in excellent form.

The home side’s form was on show as Bury struggled during the opening period of the match. Bebeto Gomes gave the ball away cheaply allowing Sam Barker a shot on goal that Mitch Allen held well.

Garforth’s play relied on the pace of their attacking midfielders Barker, Charlie Marshall and Mo Fadera. All tested the Bury defence with long balls sent over to top towards the home side’s pacey wingers but for the most part Lewis Earl and stand-in centre back Josh Gregory dealt well with the pressure. Mitch Allen the Bury keeper was tested with corners and faced a free kick that he had to punch clear while Fadera under pressure from Gomes managed to fire off a shot that Allen saved.

Fadera later had a cross that flashed across the Bury goal with no one available to tap it home but Garforth’s best chance of the match fell to Charlie Marshall. Full back Rinor Ejupi flat footed Bury defence and got behind them. With Allen charging him down the defender passed to Marshall. Presented with an open goal and plenty of time and space Marshall hit the crossbar. The linesman’s flag was raised to spare some of the forward’s blushes.

Bury began to get a foothold in the match, though the ball had been frequently played out to Stepans and Cherera the wide men throughout the first half little was created from these moments. Bury did not have the lions share of possession and saw much less of the ball than they are used to. What chances they managed to eke out needed to be capitalised on.

Bury’s first shot of the match came from Rustam Stepans, his outside the box effort was directed straight to home goalkeeper Harry Flatters, Bryan Ly had another chance after decent and patient build up play from Bury but the final touch was missing. Ly put his wayward shot well clear of the crossbar.

Finally Cherera cutting in from the left took a shot that Flatters saved well to his right. While the Shakers were not making the most of their chances, they were starting to come around more frequently.

The visitors suddenly had possession of the ball that they hadn’t previously enjoyed. The ball spent much more time in the Garforth half than it had before. Gomes and Cherera both sent low crosses into the box that troubled the home side. From one cross Bury won a late corner.

While the initial corner was knocked away Garforth could not completely clear their lines, the ball stayed in their penalty box and from a deflected effort the ball fell perfectly for Alex Cherera to strike on goal, beating Flatters and giving the Shakers the lead just before halftime. It was Cherera’s fifth goal of the FA Cup so far and the third round in a row in which he scored.

Bury saw out the rest of the half surviving a late spell of pressure and a penalty appeal to go in at the break with a slender advantage.

It was expected that having played so well and only trailing by one goal there would be a response from Garforth Town once the second half began however this never materialised. The Bury defence marked and tackled and corralled the Garforth attack throughout the second half to the point that the home side looked like a spent force for the rest of the match.

Instead it was Bury who looked more likely to find a second goal. Playing the second half with a slight sloping advantage to the pitch made Bury’s attacks all the quicker. Cherera and Gomes again attacked the wings while Stepans fired just over the bar. Garforth did have a short spell of possession but when they finally took a shot it was well wide of Mitch Allen’s post.

Bury’s second goal arrived just after the hour. Stepans the creator fed the ball into the heavily marked Cherera. His shot from ten yards out was blocked by a defender but the loose ball fell to Lewis Alessandra. Brought on from the bench only seconds before Alessandra’s first touch of the match was to shoot past Flatters and score the Shakers second.

It became clear that Garforth were fading in the match, a rare attack allowed Fadera to force a good save out of Allen but otherwise Bury’s defence looked comfortable.

Late substitutes nearly grabbed Bury a third goal of the contest, Andy Briggs headed on to Iyrwah Gooden who headed a pass to Alessandra who teed up Connor Pye but his shot was placed over the bar.

Briggs, a popular fan favourite not seen since the Shakers FA Cup victory over Congleton, had one more incident to play a part in. Frustrated by the imminent loss Garforth forward Sam Cable struck Briggs in an off the ball incident in front of the benches. The referee swiftly pulled out the red card and Garforth would finish the match with ten men, remarkably their fourth red card received in this season’s FA Cup.

The full time whistle rang out with Bury recording a third clean sheet in their last four matches and put their name in the hat for the second qualifying round of the FA Cup.