6th March 2000    

Ritchie angry

SCOTT McNIVEN is on the brink of more disciplinary trouble after enduring a torrid afternoon at Bury on Saturday. The up-for-sale defender, whose mistakes allowed Athletic to be pegged back twice in a 2-2 draw, also picked up his seventh booking of the season. McNiven — already banned for collecting five yellow cards — has now been cautioned in both games since his comeback. That makes it four bookings in six matches. And one more will land him with another one-match suspension. The problems have come in a flood for Athletic, who will still be without Matthew Tipton for tomorrow night's home match with Chesterfield. Shaun Garnett is out of the trip to Wycombe on Saturday, but Mark Hotte and Lee Duxbury are now available after serving their bans over the weekend. Tipton and McNiven, who has refused to sign a new contract, are among eight Athletic players currently on the transfer list. There have been preliminary enquiries for some of them, but none are yet close to leaving Boundary Park.

Around 30 Athletic fans were locked out of Gigg Lane on Saturday — even though over 400 seats were empty in the away end. Bury Safety Officer Wilf Linton said: "Those seats have a restricted view, so we would have to sell them at a cheaper price. "But we can't do that at the turnstile, only for an all-ticket match. "Leaving those seats out, we were actually at capacity because, when entrance is by cash on the day, we have to leave some free. "Because it's a bad view, you would also get people standing up and that leads to everyone around them doing the same." But, to avoid those problems, shouldn't the game have been made all-ticket? Mr Linton explained: "Intelligence told us to expect about 1,500 away fans. "It was only at 1pm on Saturday that we were informed there could be up to 2,500." Athletic's following was actually around the 2,200 mark, with well over 300 fans in the Family Stand. 

Tomorrow night's league visit of Chesterfield begins a busy week for Athletic, whose reserves play a friendly at Stalybridge on Wednesday and a Manchester Senior Cup tie at home to Manchester City on Thursday. The Supporters' Association hold a quiz night in the Boundary Park sponsors' suite tonight (7.30 start), with teams of up to six allowed to enter at £1 per person. 

ANDY PREECE should have a new motto carved into Bury’s coat of arms — if you want a job doing, do it yourself. A goal by The Shakers’ player-manager, scored controversially after four minutes of injury time, ensured his side took a point from a stirring derby match at Gigg Lane. Yet, from Athletic’s point of view, it should never have come to that.They had chances galore to put the result beyond doubt and, right at the death, were punished when Scott McNiven made a basic error in failing to launch the ball out of danger. It was an eventful afternoon for McNiven, who created a goal for his own team but was also to blame for both Bury equalisers. And quite a day, too, for Paul Reid, a former Athletic player who was jeered mercilessly by the big away following. The midfielder won a penalty, converted it, made another goal, hit the bar and even cleared off the line. If he who laughs last laughs longest, Reid, whose display was also tinged with rancour, must still be chuckling now at the way he had the final say. With three more players banned or injured, it was a reshuffled Athletic side who took the field in front of Bury’s third-highest gate of the season.

John Sheridan and Mark Innes were restored to midfield, Richard Graham played at the back with the recalled Paul Jones and McNiven moved out to wing-back. The system allowed Paul Rickers to stay in the engine room, shovelling on the coal which saw Athletic build up regular heads of steam. Graham, after a spell of his own midfield, looked far more at home in his best position at the heart of defence. Innes was industrious, while Sheridan’s cool head showed what a difference his experience makes to the team. But the most telling display came from forward Craig Dudley, who was unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet after running himself into the ground. Dudley was a constant menace to Bury, his speed worrying their defenders into some ill-advised passes and clearances. The 21-year-old is maturing at a rate of knots — and he doesn’t get a minus mark for missing chances. Plenty of others do, though, and that profligacy was the reason Athletic didn’t secure their sixth away win of the season. Their decent sights of goal soared into double figures and, when leading 2-1, they had a hat-trick of clear opportunities to finish of Bury’s challenge. It was a full-blooded match throughout and The Shakers will feel their contribution merited a draw.

That’s probably true. But what an atrocious way for Athletic to miss out. The first serious attack arrived after only four minutes when Dudley ran on to Graham’s excellent pass, only to produce neither a cross nor a shot of any consequence. But Bury came within a whisker of opening the scoring seven minutes later when a long throw from Sam Collins caused panicky defending from the visitors. The ball eventually fell to Reid, whose cracking shot was tipped on to the crossbar by the agile Gary Kelly. In a lively opening which set the tone for the game, Athletic’s Steve Whitehall had a shot on the turn deflected over the top. And, after 16 minutes, the home rearguard was breached by link-up play between the developing partnership of Dudley and Whitehall. Dudley provided the assist, finding space on the right to whip in a low, near-post cross. Whitehall reacted in the blinking of an eye, getting goal-side of his marker to prod beyond ’keeper Paddy Kenny from five yards. There was only one side in it at that stage and, by refusing to try anything extravagant on the bumpy pitch, Athletic remained in control. They had another scare, however, on the half-hour when Reid and Rickers collided as they raced in for a cross by Chris Billy. The Bury man was convinced he had been impeded. To Athletic’s relief, referee Michael Ryan decided otherwise.

That seemed to kick-start Bury’s game and Athletic needed a deflection off Jones to prevent Danny Swailes heading the equaliser before half-time. But, within 90 seconds of the restart, they ran out of escapes when Reid was shoved in the back by McNiven after the defender was caught out of position in the area. This time, Mr Ryan had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. And Reid employed that trusty left boot to slam his penalty straight and true past Kelly. Four minutes later, Athletic were incensed when their own penalty appeals were turned down after Kenny’s heavy challenge on Dudley. Bury, however, now looked the more likely winners and it was Athletic who were in need of inspiration. They found it, after 66 minutes, through the recently transfer-listed McNiven. Sheridan held up play on the right, giving his wing-back the chance to overlap and reach an ideal position to cross. McNiven did so superbly, dropping the ball right on the head of Rickers, who was left unmarked six yards out for his second goal of the season. McNiven himself should have made it 3-1 shortly after, only to produce a defender’s finish when given acres of space, while Shaun Garnett had another effort deflected wide. There was a close call when Whitehall’s in-swinging free-kick evaded everyone before hitting the far post and, as Athletic searched in vain for the killer third, the inevitable Reid popped up on his own line to clear away Dudley’s header. Having held out against the odds, Bury went close through Reid’s free-kick and a drive from substitute Preece which Kelly palmed away at full stretch.

Yet Athletic seemed to have the best late opening of all when they broke away with a man to spare but saw Innes curl his shot beyond the far post. After four minutes of stoppage time — already more than the three minutes announced on the board — the visitors surely had the points sewn up. Wrong. McNiven was penalised for a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge when he should already have cleared and, when Reid swung in a quick free-kick, Athletic watched in horror as Preece headed home. Athletic were left frustrated that a lapse in discipline had again proved so costly. But this was a game they should have won — and they threw away their chance.

ANDY RITCHIE was furious at the “stupid mistake” which saw victory snatched away from Athletic at Gigg Lane. The blame for Bury’s last-gasp equaliser was laid squarely at the feet of Scott McNiven, the £1million-rated defender who was transfer-listed earlier in the week after refusing a new contract. Ritchie said: “We should have finished them off by that stage and been about 4-1 up. “But we weren’t, so you have to stay professional to the last kick and, in this case, the ball should have been in Row Z. “It was a stupid mistake because Scott should have cleared it three times before the free-kick. “I couldn’t see Bury getting back into the game when we went 2-1 up. Then we went and handed it to them on a plate. “It’s very disappointing to lose a goal so late, but I don’t know where they got all that time from. “It came after four minutes of injury time and only three had been held up, so what was going on there? “But it’s no excuse. The ball should have been cleared. And it makes it worse that we had a blatant penalty refused when Craig Dudley was fouled. “Their penalty was fair enough, there’s very little doubt about that. But there was even less doubt about ours — Craig was definitely fouled.”

Asked about Athletic’s slim hopes of reaching the play-offs, Ritchie said: “Realistically, they aren’t attainable. And I don’t think we are good enough to achieve that yet, anyway. “But a win could have lifted us a bit higher and had us looking down on a few extra teams below.” 

Andy Preece, the Bury player-manager whose goal punished McNiven’s error, was happier with the point than the performance. He said: “A draw was a fair result, but we got out of jail at the end. “The lads were buzzing when they came in — or they were until I sat them down and told them what I thought of them.” However, Preece paid tribute to Paul Reid, the man Bury signed from Athletic on a free transfer during the summer. “Reidy never gives up,” he said. “He is always in the thick of the action. “You know what you are going to get with him and I wish certain other people would show the same kind of attitude.”