AFC Sudbury battle back from two goals down to earn derby draw at Bury Town
It ended honours even during this afternoon's A134 derby between Bury Town and AFC Sudbury at the Atalian Servest Ram Meadow Stadium.
Hosting Bury were much the better of the two sides during the first half and deservedly took a two-goal lead with them into the break. However, the visitors showed some good character to respond after the restart and a couple of quickfire goals ensured they made the short journey home with a share of the spoils.
The game was just eight minutes old when Bury were rewarded for their bright start. Young visiting goalkeeper Ryan Dunne could only pick out Cruise Nyadzayo with his punch from Charley Barker’s left-wing corner and the winger who helped Sudbury to reach the first round proper of the FA Cup last term wasted no time in rifling his shot inside the far post.
It was a timid start from Sudbury, who were second best all over the pitch, and they almost fell further behind in calamitous circumstances in the 19th minute. Bury playmaker Barker’s clever pass released Max Maughn towards the left byline, from where he sent in a low cross that sparked panic in the away side's defensive ranks and they were fortunate to see the ball cannon against the crossbar after a scramble.
But Bury were not to be denied for long because just three minutes later they did double their advantage. Joe Grimwood – Sudbury skipper for the day in the absence of Reece Harris – was beaten by the bounce and an alert Cemal Ramadan pounced, cut into the box from the right hand side and powered a dipping shot beyond the reach of Dunne. It was the striker’s eighth goal of what is already shaping up to be a memorable campaign for the striker.
Up the other end Sudbury's only attacking moment of note came in the 31st minute when Nnamdi Nwachuku worked himself some space on the edge of the box and unleashed a low shot that was relatively routine for Lewis Ridd in the Bury goal.
Bury boss Ben Chenery will have almost certainly warned his players to expect a reaction from the lacklustre Yellows in the second half, yet there will be big frustration that the two goals they conceded – scored in the 50th and 55th minute – were gift wrapped.
The first came from a mix up between Ridd and centre-back Charlie Johnson. It looked like the defender was pleading for his goalkeeper to come and deal with a long hopeful ball forward, but by the time that he reacted, Nwachuku had forced himself between the Bury pair and prodded the ball into an empty net.
And that was followed by an error from former Trinidad & Tobago international Carlos Edwards, who after opting against clearing the danger was robbed by Josh Stokes and then compounded the mistake by bringing down Sudbury's number 10 inside the box. Nwachuku stepped up and buried the penalty, bringing his tally to six goals in two games.
The former Colchester United frontman went on to have three decent chances to complete his hat-trick and the comeback, but he was to be left disappointed. The first of those – in the 69th minute – saw Ridd, who had raced out of his box, save with his chest before the forward skimmed a header from Lionel Ainsworth's inswinging free kick just wide.
But perhaps his best opportunity came in the 90th minute as he skipped clear of the Bury defence, but by the time he had managed to force his way beyond Ridd a retreating Johnson raced back to make a crucial clearance.
All in all it was an eventful 90 minutes for the 939 spectators packed inside the ground – and they will get to do it all again on Saturday when Sudbury return in the first qualifying round of the Emirates FA Cup.
Bury: Ridd, Hood, Edwards, Horne, Johnson, White, Nyadzayo, Watkins, Ramadan, Barker (Yaxley 77'), Maughn
AFC Sudbury: Dunne, Brown (Carroll 89'), Andrews, Chatting, Grimwood, Pollard, Hunter, Ainsworth, Nwachuku, Stokes, Cocklin (Hassan 56')
Suffolk News Man of the Match – Lee Watkins (Bury Town): Tough one to call given that both sides had one positive half and one to forget, but Bury's number eight never stopped running, used the ball well and put in a number of decent challenges.
* Elsewhere in the Pitching In Isthmian League North Division there was victories for Felixstowe & Walton United and Stowmarket Town.
Felixstowe are up to second and level on points with league-leading Sudbury after goals from Noel Aitkens, Callum Harrison and Joshua Hitter earned the Seasiders a 3-1 victory at Coggeshall Town.
Meanwhile at Greens Meadow, Reggie Lambe's second-half goal secured Stowmarket a 1-0 home win over Wroxham.