Bury cruised to victory over Chadderton keeping the pressure on the top sides in the division with an impressive 3-1 win at Gigg Lane, writes James Beedie

There was no Ruben Jerome in the Shakers squad after his heroics on Saturday against Radcliffe so Lewis Alessandra deputised at number 9. Having come off the bench to score in his last two appearances Sam Coughlan was handed a start at number 10.

Coming into the match second in the league and having scored twenty goals in their last three matches Chadderton were tough opponents. They had completed the double over Bury season before twice beating the Shakers having been in a losing position late in the match on both occasions.

From the start both sides traded early blows. Ethan Sutcliffe beat the Bury offside trap and managed to get a shot on target but directed it straight to Mitch Allen in the Bury goal. Sutcliffe came much closer with a long range effort attempting to lob Allen but the stopper tipped the ball away from goal.

The hosts responded Coughlan fired off a shot from a Cam Fogerty cross but was blocked by a defender. Alessandra then hit the post from a Bryan Ly cross while Fogerty curled the subsequent rebound wide.

Bury started to take control of the match and found particular success down the left wing with Bryan Ly and Connor Pye putting the Chadderton defence on the back foot. The Shakers came close to opening the scoring with a Ly cross that made its way to Rustam Stepans. His shot was blocked on the line by Chadderton keeper Morgan Bacon, the free ball made its way back to Ly who was foiled by another great save by Bacon.

The Shakers finally broke through and took the lead through Alessandra. Connor Pye cutting in from the left sent in a low cross that was poked home by the Heywood born forward.

There was no time to sit back Bebeto Gomes nearly doubled the advantage with a shot from outside the box parried by Bacon, Ly attempted the same which Bacon caught at the second attempt. A Ly free kick found Coughlan who fired a shot just over the crossbar before finally just before halftime Stepans missed a chance to grab Bury's second. He was clear through on goal but delayed just long enough for a defender to steal the ball away from him.

Chadderton made two changes at the break to bolster their defence but it didn't take long for Bury to assert themselves in the second half. Losing the ball in the final third Chadderton had to work hard to stop Coughlan from taking a shot on goal. Bryan Ly came even closer rounding the goalkeeper Bacon but full back Jacob Ngoy did just enough to block what would have been a certain goal.

The second goal arrived following good work on the right wing between Stepans and Gomes. The latter sent in a low cross into the box and Bryan Ly finished well at the far post.

It was quickly followed by a third, Rustam Stepans on the ball was faced by a red wall of Chadderton defenders to beat but spotting Bacon off his line he bypassed them all and curled a shot into the far top corner.

Chadderton were not beaten yet however, they grabbed a quick goal back from Adam Dale pouncing on a poor clearance and volleying into Mitchell Allen's goal. With Chadderton's goalscoring exploits and history of comeback victories over Bury the closing minutes of the match were far more cagey than they should have been. The Shakers could have put the result beyond a doubt but good interplay between substitutes Andy Briggs and Iyrwah Gooden failed to result in either taking a shot at the crucial moment.

The three goals proved to be enough for the win doling out just the second league defeat Chadderton have suffered this season and extending the Shakers unbeaten start to the season to 19 matches.