Bury endured another frustrating afternoon against lower half opponents. Another 2-2 draw with another penalty miss saw the Shakers drop points on the road against Stafford Rangers.

There were four changes to the Bury team. The suspended Louis Isherwood was replaced by Oscar Threlkeld with new signing Toto Nsiala taking a place on the bench. Bobby Carroll replaced Cam Fogerty, Owen Robinson was picked ahead of Kai Evans and forward Joe Piggott started on his debut.

It took a while for the Shakers to get going in the match. The usual crisp passing was inconsistent and the forwards struggled to build attacks. Mo Touray did lay the ball off to Owen Robinson who tried his luck from distance but the Stafford keeper was right behind it. Bebeto Gomes would send a cross to Piggott but he headed his chance wide.

The visiting Shakers were handed the chance to take the lead early. On a counter attack Bailey Sloane crossed the ball to Gomes who was tripped in the box and the referee awarded a penalty. Touray stepped up to take the kick but despite sending the keeper the wrong way saw his effort strike the base of the post and be cleared away. The second penalty miss for Bury in a week and the fourth this season by four different players.

Those missed opportunities came back to haunt Bury. Failing to win the ball in midfield a looping pass by the hosts made its way to Jack Birch who lofted the ball over Mitch Allen that dipped and softly landed in the goal.

The home side relied greatly on long throws and set pieces sending chances to the bigger forward players. Though the defence was able to largely contain Stafford the occasional dangerous ball would flash across the Bury box.

After the break Bury came out with a renewed sense of urgency and quickly put the Rangers defence under pressure. Piggott sent a cross towards Touray that had to be cleared away for a corner while a Gomes shot was deflected away. Touray thought he might have had another penalty for a push in the back but the referee waved away the appeals.

The equaliser was coming however and arrived from another corner kick. This time Leo Graham played it short and worked his way to the edge of the box before sending a cross that reached Bailey Sloane at the far post. He lifted the ball over the keeper and found the far bottom corner.

It still proved difficult to break down a stout defence that continued to hold up play. Each missed opportunity was felt as the match slipped away.

A quick passing move from Gomes to Touray to Graham saw a pass flash across the face of the Boro goal but with no man in yellow there to put it away. Kai Evans and Lewis Rawsthorn were brought on to add some impetus. Sloane headed a chance over the bar, Touray tried his luck from the edge of the box but skied his effort while Joe Piggott got closer with another long range chance but still no winner could be found.

With two minutes remaining Bury looked to have at last won it. Rawsthorn doing brilliantly to chase down the ball before it ran out of play. He fed to ball back to Touray who atoned for his penalty miss with a fine finish to give Bury the lead.

Just like last week Bury’s late lead would not hold for long. The Shakers defence lost the ball in their own half allowing Birch to play in Kaiman Anderson who send a low effort that rolled into the far corner just as the match entered stoppage time.

Despite a glut of late corners Bury never again truly tested the home defence not aided by the fact the referee blew for full time some three minutes early. Another match where Bury could and should have won ended in a share of the spoils. With the promotion race looking increasingly tight a club’s ability to find ways to win will ultimately decide who goes up and who stays down.