Bury started their new season strongly with a convincing 6-0 win over South Liverpool. The thumping win in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round at Gigg Lane will be something the team and fans alike will hope to be a sign of things to come.

Bury entered the new campaign still boasting most of the squad they won last season’s championship with. Among the starters only defender Scott Duxbury and attacker Kai Evans were making their debut.

As it was the new man Evans was the first to get into the action. His free kick was well saved by Lucas Allan diving low to his left to keep the ball out of the bottom corner.

Evans would hit the target again five minutes later getting on the end of a Rustam Stepans cross. The South keeper made another save, but the rebound fell kindly to Tyler James to give the Shakers an early lead.

The home side nearly doubled their advantage immediately as DJ Pedro headed on a long ball into the path of James. His cross found Evans, but the shot was brilliantly parried away by Allan from point-blank range. A subsequent cross from Connor Pye was spun wide by Pedro.

The early pressure continued; when the referee played advantage after Pedro had been fouled, James was able to break through the defence, finding himself one-on-one with Allan and slotted home his second of the match. Bury’s first goals of the season scored by the same player who scored the last goals of last term.

The match looked to be over as a contest when a Pedro long throw was handled in the box by a South defender. Pedro took the duties himself and sent the keeper the wrong way to make it 3-0. It might have been four as Kai Evans again found James who found the back of the net but had already been flagged offside.

At the other end, South Liverpool had been well controlled by a stout Shakers defence but a rare cross by Sullivan Barker should have been put away by Josh Osifo who missed the connection.

There was just enough time in the first half for Bury to grab another goal. Evans, the creator, played the ball onto Connor Pye. He hit the ball sweetly first time and beat the keeper with a drive to the bottom corner.

New arrival Evans was looking good for a goal himself and had a trio of chances, first cutting in from the left forcing another save from Allan. Then he saw the busy South keeper charge him down before a potential one-on-one chance could be finished off and, finally, blasted a shot into the side netting whilst fighting off South defender Reece Bulger.

The second half continued in much the same vein. Rustam Stepans found Evans with a cross. Lucas Allan was able to save the subsequent volley at the second attempt. Stepans would then tee up Pedro for a shot but his deflected effort could only hit the crossbar.

The fifth goal finally arrived before the hour. A Stepans free-kick was sent to the far post, headed back across goal to the unmarked Pedro to head home his second of the match.

It ought to have been six soon afterwards. Great play on the right between Stepans and James saw the latter send a cross into Pedro who, with his last touch before being substituted, put the effort wide under pressure from Harvey Billington.

The Shakers came close to extending their lead a few more times; a Josh Gregory throughball to James was fired into the side netting. While a Stepans shot was blocked on the line by a desperate defence.

With five minutes remaining, Kai Evans burst through the middle of the pitch, turned his marker inside out and struck a low shot outside the box that beat the keeper and secured a richly deserved debut goal. South Liverpool were hit for six and Bury secured their place in the next round of the cup where they will play away to Stalybridge Celtic.