Bury’s winning run ends in the Black Country as Sporting Khalsa strike twice

Bury suffered a dark day down in the Black Country as they were soundly beaten 2-0 by Sporting Khalsa bringing their recent winning run to a sudden halt.

There were three changes to the side that won in midweek Josh Gregory returned to the centre of defence whilst Gavin Massey was preferred to Kai Evans in attack. An injury in the warm up led to Bobby Carroll originally slated as a substitute, replacing Oscar Threlkeld.

The Shakers started the match brightly, Gavin Massey on end of a short corner fired on goal only to see his effort blocked. Cam Fogerty played in DJ Pedro to shoot but his effort was saved. Rustam Stepans and Kieran Glynn both failed to follow up on the rebound.

At the other end the closest the hosts came was a good run by Chay Tilt that lead to a shot pushed round the post by Mitch Allen.

The Bury attack continued as a Connor Pye cross into the box was placed wide by Pedro who also saw a shot saved after Massey teed him up for a shot.

A super ball from Fogerty found Stepans but his rasping drive could only find the woodwork. The Shakers were pushing hard for a goal but lacked the finishing touch.

From nowhere Khalsa gained the lead. A corner kick that ought to have been cleared fell kindly to Zak Kourouyianni to blast home from close range and open the scoring for the hosts.

After the goal Bury struggled to find their groove. Their usually unstoppable full backs were marked heavily and quietened whilst creative players were stifled by an eager defence. Gavin Massey became the second Bury player to go off with injury while Glynn also faced lengthy treatment.

After the break the visitors knew they had an uphill battle to break down the home defence. A long range Kai Evans shot to start second half was all too easy for home keeper Ravan Constable.

Evans was then felled in the box following a mazy run despite the loud appeals in the stands and on the pitch the referee was unmoved.

Wasteful chances came and went but the closest Bury came to an equaliser was when Bebeto Gomes got in behind the defence playing in Cam Fogerty to shoot only to find the base of the post with the keeper well beaten.

A Josh Gregory header from a corner landed straight into the keeper’s hands as did a Connor Pye shot. Substitute Owen Barker crossed to Pedro when he perhaps should have gone for goal himself. Pedro’s header cleared the bar.

An Evans crossed then caused chaos in the box as Pedro and Gomes both seemed certain to score but neither could force the ball over the line and the ball was cleared away.

It became clear that it was not to be the Shakers day, as more players piled forward in search of a desperate late leveller the home side hit on the counter. Centre forward Andre Landell was left all alone and easily beat Allen with the last meaningful touch of the game.

Bury toiled through the match, huffed and puffed but had to face the long journey home thinking of all that could have been.