It was honours even at the Vestacare Stadium as Avro and Bury played out an end-to-end and at times combative 1-1 draw.

Two changes were made to the Shakers starting line-up with Louis Isherwood preferred to Scott Duxbury in defence and Kieran Glynn replacing Tyler James in attack.

The first chance of the match fell to the home side. Aaron Chalmers was caught with the ball and dispossessed just outside the box. The shot however, was straight at Mitch Allen who made the save.

At the other end, DJ Pedro laid the ball off for Glynn to take a shot from the edge of the box. The powerful shot was blocked with the hands of an Avro player shielding himself from the ball but despite the loud appeals no penalty was awarded.

The Shakers toiled against an Avro side that pressed well and disrupted the flow of the visitors' attacks. Pedro often cut a solitary figure up in attack.

Eventually, Bury managed to take the game to the hosts and, inspired by Rustam Stepans, came close to breaking the deadlock. Played in by Pedro Stepans took a shot that curled just away from Cameron Mason’s goal. Minutes later, Stepans played provider crossing to Kai Evans who saw his shot destined for the back of the net saved brilliantly by Mason. Mason came to rescue once again from the resulting corner. Stepans trying a long-range shot and the Avro keeper managed to block the effort with his legs.

Despite growing confidence Bury fell behind in unfortunate circumstances. Under pressure in their own penalty area and unable to clear their lines, the Bury defence attempted a clearance but blasted the ball straight at Tawab Djankpata. The static Avro winger knew little of it but the ball ricocheted off him and into the Bury goal to give the home side the lead.

Now chasing an equaliser Kieran Glynn tried a long-range shot pushed out for a corner by Mason. This lead to a long series of corners for the visitors but no meaningful chance was made from any of them.

In fact, the Shakers nearly fell further behind with them now at risk of counterattacks. Jack Morrow granted time and space took a shot that was well saved by Allen. While a cross found centre-forward Kyle Hawley, his towering header directed just wide of the far post.

An Evans effort was saved dramatically by Mason. From the resulting corner came the equaliser. The ball was sent long to Aiden Walker who headed back across goal. The tall Louis Isherwood managed to send a looping header over Mason and into the Avro goal levelling the match just before the break.

The second-half was a less open affair. The energy from both sides sapped perhaps having played most of the match in the blazing sun. Tiring attackers struggled to break down stout defences and frustration began to boil over.

Substitutes came to dominate the second period with Harry Salt a constant problem for the Bury defence. Bury substitute Gabriel Johnson managed to run the Avro defence ragged, bursting through the heart of the Avro centre like no other player had. One run led to Bury’s best chance, Johnson played the ball out to Stepans. The cross into box was blazed over the bar by Kai Evans from close range. Another Johnson run saw a cross to Pedro but his header was wide of the mark.

Avro could have stolen all three points late on when another substitute, Kane Hickman, took a shot from inside the Bury six-yard box. Shakers' stopper Mitch Allen produced a reflex save to keep the score level.

Full-time sounded. While both sides may have gone away thinking they could have won the tie a draw was likely the fairest result. For Bury, it may prove to be a useful point gained over the course of the season against a side that spent much of last season chasing a playoff place.