The Shakers played out a stalemate away at Congleton Town as Bury continue to strive to rediscover the free-flowing attacking football of last season.

Coming off the back of a disappointing FA Cup defeat in midweek, Dave McNabb’s charges faced a visit to last season’s beaten play-off finalists. The Bears, like the Shakers, have made an indifferent start to the season with a lack of goals the main culprit.

It came as no surprise then that the match took a while to get going. While Bury won a couple of early corners, it was Congleton that fashioned the first chance of the match, Danny Needham firing a good opportunity high over the Bury crossbar.

The best chance for the Shakers fell to Kai Evans who beat a solo run down the centre of the pitch before unleashing a fierce shot that cannoned off the woodwork and left it rattling with the goalkeeper well beaten.

The visitors looked the more likely side in the first-half but had to contend with the loss of captain Aaron Chalmers to a recurring back injury. He joins a growing list of injured Bury players at the start of the new season.

His replacement, Josh Gregory, nearly marked his appearance with a goal. His header from a Bury set piece had to be hooked clear in a busy Congleton six-yard box.

Bury’s front two battled hard against the stout Bears' defence but the closest they came to a breakthrough was Gabriel Johnson managing to feed the ball to DJ Pedro. Congleton keeper Dave Parton made a fine save from Pedro’s effort to keep the scores level at the break.

Into the second half and playing up the hill, the Shakers maintained the lion’s share of possession but found true chances harder to come by. An all-too-tame free kick by Evans was directed straight to Parton, who sparked a Congleton counter-attack. Forward Ebou Badjie, whose energy and quick feet had already tested the Bury defence, slipped into a one-on-one chance against Mitch Allen. The Shakers stopper made a great save to deny the Town number 9.

Bury turned to the bench for options, adding attacking force in Tyler James and Kieran Glynn while debutant Regan Riley was replaced by Connor Pye. It was the wing-back Pye who made the most out of his opportunity on the pitch, bursting down the left wing to play the ball into Johnson. The Bury forward spun and shot on goal, leaving Parton to make a save, pushing the ball out for a corner.

The best chance for either side to pinch all three points at the death fell to Congleton as Badjie skipped past the Bury defence and teed up Needham to strike with the Bury goal at his mercy. The Bears winger flashed his shot narrowly wide but ought to have scored from this golden opportunity.

In the end, both sides had to settle for a point in this goalless draw. The Bury performance, though much improved on the midweek FA Cup defeat, will still feel somewhat short of the levels Bury fans have come to expect from this side. A third testing fixture against Stalybridge Celtic will be the Shakers' first chance to kick on and make progress in this still early stage of the season.