The new look Shakers came out to a cacophony of noise from thankful supporters and it was most pleasing to see Chairman Stewart Day receive the Gigg Lane applause. Atmosphere and noise was there in abundance, but it was time for the players to take over the momentum of the revolution.
The game was barely a minute old when Richard Hinds slipped the ball wide to Craig Jones, from just inside his own half, Jones charged at the Chesterfield defence with a gallop down the flank, twisting and turning en route. His cross into the box eventually found Shaun Harrad, who managed to hold off a strong challenge before forcing Tommy Lee into an early save.
A 10th Bury minute Bury corner was played short to Shaun Beeley on the left hand side of the box. The on loan Fleetwood defender then hit the sweetest of balls into the middle, but his efforts went unrewarded as Chesterfield’s Hird headed away for another Bury corner.
Minutes later and the Shakers won a free kick just outside the Chesterfield area. Craig Jones short free kick found Beeley again, his ball into the middle brought some good close control by Grimes, and another quick turn brought a shot on target that again brought another good stop from keeper Tommy Lee.
Another free kick on 15 minutes saw Jones deliver the ball to the back post, A good leap from Grimes saw his header find Shaun Harrad just on the edge of the six yard box, after controlling with his chest, Harrad smacked the ball on the half volley but couldn’t keep his effort down as it flew harmlessly over the crossbar.
Bury were proving to be the more adventurous of the two sides, and on 20 minutes Craig jones was awarded a free kick to the left of the Spireites area. Jones rasping delivery into the area just needed a touch, but that touch from Andy Procter just wasn’t enough as the ball flew into the arms of Tommy Lee, who looked as surprised as Procter was that he had saved the close range header.
Nathan Cameron had another half chance just before the break but despite the pressure from the Shakers, the Chesterfield goal was living a charmed life and both sides went in at the break all square.
Chesterfield began the second half looking lively and they certainly raised the tempo of the game. Jay O’Shea collected a good ball wide from former Scunthorpe player Sam Togwell. He somehow managed to hold off the challenge from Bury skipper Gareth Roberts and as he took the ball over the six yard line, curled a delightful effort across the Shakers keeper Rob Lainton and into the far corner for the opening goal of the game.
Bury should have got back into the game on the hour. A long clearance from Lainton dropped on the edge of the Chesterfield box. Soares flicked onto Harrad who saw his shot blocked. Ashley Grimes attempted to smash the rebound, but again his effort was blocked. Again the ball rebounded to a Bury foot, this time to Soares and his shot was blocked before the visitors managed to smash the ball out of play. It began to look like one of those afternoons.
With Bury pushing forward in an attempt to get back into the game, they were caught short by a long clearance from the back. The ball fell to Marc Richards, he took the ball into the box and despite the challenge from Richard Hinds, Richards managed to squeeze the shot away to deflate the shakers and doubled his side’s advantage with a crisp shot into the corner of the Bury goal.
The two goal lead saw heads drop and chances seemed to slip away with the Shakers looking downcast whilst the visitors were visibly lifted by their good start to the season. Craig Jones continued to be thwarted down the flanks whilst balls into the box were being cleared with long headers and away from Bury’s attacking moves.
Finally the referee brought the afternoon to a close, but Kevin Blackwell saw plenty of positives. His message earlier in the week called for patience and with so many changes to the squad, he was proved correct with his plea that this team will need time to settle.