Report by Craig Morley at Gigg Lane

The second Steel City team in 4 days to arrive at Gigg Lane headed home with a win after stealing the game at the death on Tuesday night.Returning hero Paddy Kenny lined up for the Blades but Chris Armstrong missed out on an appearance at the club where he first broke into league football; former Bury chairman Terry Robinson took his place in the stand before kick off to a somewhat mixed reception. Former gaffer Andy Preece also put in an appearance in his capacity as scout for the visitors. The play started slowly until the 5th minute when Sheffield United won the first corner of the game, a corner which was headed clear by Efe Sodje.The first chance of the game fell to United as a Derek Geary throw in from the right was turned towards goal by veteran midfielder Gary Speed.Brown saved but the offside flag would have ruled the goal out had Speed scored.

On 6 minutes, a Keith Gillespie header on the right looped into the air before dropping for Matt Kilgannon to fire the ball against the unfortunate Ryan Cresswell and into the Bury goal, Wayne Brown totally wrong-footed by the deflection.Bury came back almost immediately and Elliott Bennett's first meaningful contribution led to him running through on goal, only to see Kenny dive at his feet to gather the ball.Back came the Blades as Darius Henderson ran clear on goal but as Brown advanced to narrow he angle, Sodje thundered in from the side to win the ball.Only seconds later, Sodje was lying prone on the Gigg Lane turf as Henderson's shot crashed into his face, concerns for Sodje's cheek injury resurfacing among the Bury crowd.Fortunately, the Bury defender shook off the blow and was quickly back on his feet.A long goal kick from Brown bounced over every Sheffield defender bar Kilgannon but as he attempted to clear, Glynn Hurst nicked the ball away from him only to see it roll agonizingly wide of Kenny's left upright.

Bury began to come more into the game and good play between Jones and Dawson saw the ball fed out wide to Bennett, the speedy winger's cross falling for Michael Jones at the back post.As Jones shaped up to volley the ball goalwards, Derek Geary headed clear.At the other end, a quickly taken Sheffield corner was laid back to Gary Speed who thumped a shot towards the Bury goal but Brown dealt with it comfortably.On 17 minutes, Efe Sodje intercepted the ball on the halfway line before setting off on a Sodje Special, galloping into the heart of the Sheffield half.His pass was picked off by Michael Tonge who lofted a diagonal ball over the top of the Bury back line but fortunately for Sodje, the move broke down as Bury's bandana-man sprinted back to his position.The Shakers drew themselves level on 20 minutes as corner on the right saw Stephen Dawson step deliver the ball perfectly on to the head of Ryan Cresswell, who thumped home the goal.His delight was obvious as his clenched fist salute proved.

After a period of Bury pressure, United hit back as Danny Webber sprung the Bury offside trap to race clear but as he prepared to shoot, back came Sodje to block his path, the shot eventually rolling harmlessly to Brown.Great interplay between Elliott Bennett and Andy Bishop saw the Bury front man collect the ball in front of the Sheffield goal and fire a shot towards the top left hand corner of Kenny's goal, the ex-Shakers man finger-tipping the ball over the bar.Keith Gillespie was replaced for the visitors after picking up an injury, Kyle Naughton coming on to take his place.As the half wound down, both teams mounted raids on their opponent's goal but as the whistle blew, Bury headed for the dressing room to well-deserved and generous applause from the home crowd.

Bury came out for the second half without making any changes but with several of the substitutes warming up.The Shakers spent the first 5 minutes of the half camped inside the Sheffield half, Paul Scott firing a speculative effort high over the bar and a Brian Barry-Murphy corner sailing over the heads of everyone in the box and out for a goal kick.The visitors responded with some probing moves into the Bury box but the home defence stood firm without looking hurried.On 55 minutes a long ball into the box saw Hurst challenged by Kilgannon but the referee waved away the penalty appeals, deeming the challenge to be fair.The ball then broke to Stephen Dawson but the combative midfielder fired his shot straight at Paddy Kenny.A rare united attack saw Nick Montgomery square the ball for Danny Webber, the Blades striker turning on a sixpence only to see his shot smothered by Brown.

The home side made a quadruple substitution on 61 minutes and a free kick seconds later saw Andy Bishop fire the ball straight into the gloves of Kenny.The visiting side began to press as another chance fell to the Blades, Webber advancing into the box before squaring the ball for Jordan Robertson but the move came to nothing.A Kyle Naughton cross from the right was headed back across goal by Chris Morgan but Webber's header flashed narrowly wide with substitute keeper Belford beaten.A further chance came the way of the Sheffield team as Steve Haslam headed the ball behind.From the resulting corner, Belford plucked the ball out of the air with several Blades players closing in.

The game settled down after that and chances were hard to come by, the only effort of note coming from Ricky Anane but his shot flew high into the Manchester Road End.On 84 minutes, a clever ball from Gary Speed was fed into the box by Naughton but Belford was on hand to collect comfortably.The Shakers tried to nick the game on 88 minutes as a Jack Dorney cross was headed into the hands of Kenny by Domaine Rouse but a killer blow was dealt to the home side as Naughton fed the ball through to Billy Sharp who slipped the ball under Cameron Belford with virtually the last kick of the game.

Plusses on the night were the performance against a high caliber of opposition, the performance of Ryan Cresswell against his former employers and the return of Gigg Lane favourite Elliott Bennett.If the Shakers can carry this form into the league season, there may be promising things ahead…

TEAMS:
Bury: Wayne Brown (Belford 61), Paul Scott (Steve Haslam 61), David Buchanan (Racchi 61), Ryan Cresswell, Stephen Dawson, Glynn Hurst (Domaine Rouse 61), Andy Bishop, Brian Barry-Murphy, Michael Jones (Jack Dorney 75), Efetobore Sodje, Elliott Bennett (Ricky Anane 71)

UNUSED SUBS:Richie Baker, Jack Dorney, Ben Futcher, Phil Marsh

Sheff Utd: Paddy Kenny, Derek Geary, Chris Morgan (Ugo Ehiogu 88), Matt Kilgannon (Sun Jihai 59), Gary Naysmith, Keith Gillespie (Kyle Naughton 35), Michael Tonge, Gary Speed, Stephen Quinn (Montgomery 57), Darius Henderson (Jordan Robertson 64), Danny Webber (Billy Sharp 70)

UNUSED SUBS: Ian Bennett, Jon Stead