Gordon Sorfleet at Gigg Lane

The best football seen at Gigg Lane in years was one comment at half time.In truth, how the Shakers weren't three or four goals to the good is a testament to the skills of Cobblers keeper Chris Dunn.Pace, temp, power and passing football was the order of the day for the Shakers in the first 45 minutes.Northampton though had different ideas for the second half and pegged Bury back to snatch a share of the spoils.

With six minutes on the clock, Bury produced their first of numerous chances.David Worrall produced a stunning flick to knock the ball into the Northampton box from an acute angle, with the ball heading towards a ready Ryan Lowe, Cobblers defender Paul Rodgers somehow managed to get a foot to the ball and clear.

Seconds later Bury came surging forward again.A foul on David Worrall half way inside the visitors half saw Tom Newey deliver a stunning free kick to the head of Ryan Cresswell.His placed header though fell straight into the arms of keeper Dunn.

Northampton should have taken the lead on 17 minutes when centre half Chris McCready launched the ball forward. Striker Courtney Herbert controlled the ball superbly to bring the ball down on the edge of the Bury box.One touch took the ball away from Cresswell and with the goal glaring in front of him, he somehow managed to drive the ball a good five to six feet wide of the target.

Within minutes the Shakers came forward with Stephen Dawson breaking down the flank, his ball into the box found Mike Jones in space.Jones controlled and fired the ball at goal but McCready blocked with a fine block.It was the same defender again moments later that pushed Buchanan's cross out for a corner on 17 minutes.

Northampton managed to clear Barry-Murphy's corner but only as far as Dawson.His short pass fell superbly to David Worrall on the edge of the box and his well placed shot brought the first stunning save from Keeper Dunn as he tipped the ball over the bar.The resulting corner found the head of Tom Elliott but his header just flashed wide of the post.

Within three minutes, the Shakers surged forward again.Bury were causing problems down both flanks with Worrall in particular opening up the back four and creating chances.Steve Dawson slipped the ball wide to Mike Jones.His first touch slipped the ball around Rodgers, opening up a large gap before him, and his curling placed shot at goal was again superbly saved by Dunn and another corner.

A Bury free kick seconds later, following a foul on Tom Elliott, saw Barry-Murphy get the ball around the Northampton Wall, but again, Keeper Dunn was on hand to thwart the Irishman.Northampton's Courtney Herbert showed a clean pair of heels as he chased a pass forward, with only Brown to beat, Efe Sodje got in the challenge of the game to push the ball away for a corner that Cresswell easily cleared down the field.

Three minutes later and the telling pressure on the home defence brought rewards.Dawson spread the ball out wide to a hovering Ryan Lowe; he quickly fed the ball to David Worrall who fired first time at goal.Rodgers somehow blocked the shot but the ball fell kindly to Worrall again, who gleefully lashed it home from just inside the box leaving keeper Chris Dunn with the simple task of picking the ball out of the back of the net.

Goal:  Bury 1 Northampton Town 0 (Worrall 29)

Three minutes later and the Shakers doubled their lead with a stunning goal and move.Ryan Cresswell broke down a Northampton move half way inside his own half. He took a quick glance and floated a long ball forward that dropped behind the visiting defence, but on the sixpence in front of Ryan Lowe.With the keeper charging off his line, Lowe applied a deft touch to flick the ball over the keeper and into the bottom of the goal for his sixth of the season.

Goal:  Bury 2 Northampton Town 0 (Lowe 33)

Four minutes later and the Shakers showed no sign of taking the foot off, as they surged down the flank again through David Worrall.A deft touch in front of Rodgers had the defender on his backside and Worrall haring off down the wing before he whipped in a superb ball into the box, though his effort just drifted away from Tom Elliott standing in acres of space on the six yard line.

A quickly taken throw from David Buchanan on 38 minutes saw the ball falling for Lowe, but his quick shot at goal was again well held by Chris Dunn.With half time rapidly approaching, Bury flew at the visitors again with a sweeping move that eventually saw Stephen Dawson charging forward, his shot on goal though lacked pace and was an easy pick up for Dunn.

Half time:  Bury 2 Northampton Town 0

The second half began just as the first half finished, with Bury pressing forward.Northampton started the second period, but quickly lost the ball through a stern Dawson challenge.He quickly released Lowe down the flank before he cleverly played a quick reverse pass to lay the ball in front of Mike Jones, his cross though brought a good clearance from skipper Craig Hinton.

Five minutes later and another move involving Lowe and Worrall saw the latter whip the ball into the box where Rodgers again dived to head out for a Bury corner.Barry-Murphy's precision delivery found the head of Ryan Cresswell who flashed a stern header into the corner of the goal.With Cresswell starting to celebrate his effort, the visiting defence somehow smashed the ball off the line, with Dunn soundly beaten, and cleared the ball from danger.

A long back pass from Rodgers on 55 minutes seemed to look easy for Keeper Dunn.Everyone in the ground though he had the ball and was about to clear easily.Everyone apart from Stephen Dawson, who charged at the keeper. Dunn did get the ball away, but it cannoned off Dawson and span behind him heading towards the goal, but just drifted wide of the post.

Northampton began to control their passing with around 60 minutes gone and suddenly began to threaten the Shakers back line.A rocket of a shot from Herbert on 63 minutes was brilliantly stopped by Tom Newey on the edge of the box by throwing his body at the ball.He took the full volley in the stomach and doubled up breathless before the official stopped the game so he could receive treatment.

The Cobblers tails were up and got their first goal on 65 minutes when Courtney Herbert charged forward.He managed to ride several challenges and fired the ball across Wayne Brown and into the bottom corner to give the visitors something to chase.

Goal:  Bury 2 Northampton Town 1 (Herbert 66)

Within a minute of the restart, Bury came forward again, this time with Tom Elliott down the right had flank, he got the ball into the corner of the pitch and floated a delightful cross into the box that obviously worried keeper Dunn, but fell harmlessly onto the roof of the net.

A Northampton corner on 73 minutes saw Luke Gutteridge float a deep corner to the back of the six yard box, where Adebayo Akinfenwa somehow leapt above the Bury defence and sent a header looping towards the opposite side of the goal, the ball struck the post and landed in the opposite corner in the back of the net.

Goal:  Bury 2 Northampton Town 2 (Akinfenwa 74)

The equaliser at first seemed to kill the game and for the next five minutes we saw little in the way off goalmouth action, until David Buchanan received the ball out wide.He left the Cobblers defender floundering as he jinked one way, but took the ball into the middle and charged at goal, his fiercely struck shot from outside the area needed to be pushed away by keeper Dunn and he managed to tip the ball around the post, but referee Quinn awarded a goal kick sending the Shakers into apoplectic mode

Moments later and another Bury corner brought the same result, Barry-Murphy's delivery met by the head of Cresswell, though this time the effort was well held by Chris Dunn.From the clearance by Dunn, Herbert used one of his many assets - pace - and charged at goal down the Main Stand side of the field. Only a stunning challenge on the edge of the box kept the Cobblers from potentially taking all three points.

A dominant first half performance from a side that is struggling with injuries but credit must also go to the visitors who came from 2-0 down to snatch their second 2-2 draw in a week.

Final Score:  Bury 2 Northampton Town 2

Bury: 1. Wayne Brown, 3. David Buchanan, 6. Ryan Cresswell, 7. Stephen Dawson (c), 11. Brian Barry-Murphy, 14. Michael Jones, 15. Ryan Lowe, 16. Efetobore Sodje, 19. David Worrall, 22. Tom Elliott, 23. Tom Newey

Substitutes: 2. Paul Scott, 5. Ben Futcher, 8. Richie Baker, 12. Danny Racchi, 20. Cameron Belford, 28. Krishnan Patel

Northampton Town: 1. Chris Dunn, 2. Paul Rodgers, 5. Craig Hinton (c), 20. Chris McCready, 3. John Johnson, 11. Andy Holt (Osman 54), 19. John Curtis, 4. Luke Gutteridge, 9. Steve Guinan (Akinfenwa 63), 7. Ben Marshall (Mackay 72), 22. Courtney Herbert

Substitutes: 15. Alex Dyer, 8. Abdul Osman, 10. Adebayo Akinfenwa, 16. Gary Mulligan, 26. Simon Brown, 24. Seb Harris, 17. Billy McKay

Referee:  Mr. Peter Quinn (Cleveland)
Assistant (Red & Yellow Flag):  Mr. M Griffiths
Assistant (Yellow Flag):  Mr. K Hayward
Fourth Official:  Mr. C N Harwood