Struggling with injuries and plagued by inconsistent performances Bury showed courage, fight, and determination to earn a point away to Vauxhall Motors. Three times the Shakers fell behind, and three times they came roaring back in an entertaining 3-3 draw at Ellesmere Port.

On the back of consecutive defeats, Dave McNabb rang the changes, defender James Nield made his first Bury start, Reece Kendall and Bobby Carroll both earned recalls to the starting line-up, while Tyler James, sent out to gain match time at Padiham, was back in the team. Injuries had left a depleted subs bench. The Shakers resorted to naming second-choice keeper Russ Saunders and first-team coach Craig Carney as available for selection.

The match had barely started when the visitors fell behind. An early cross found Joe Malkin, his shot was saved by Mitch Allen, but the Bury goalkeeper could do nothing to prevent Kyle Sambor from following up on the rebound.

The Shakers' reply was swift. Tyler James had already seen a goal chalked off for offside after getting on the end of a Kai Evans pass. An identical opportunity came around a minute later, this time the flag stayed down and James picked the same spot and finished well to give Bury an equaliser after six minutes.

The match quickly became an end-to-end battle with both sides looking to attack and defences all round struggling to cope. Allen had to save well from a Josh Solomon-Davies shot, and there was a scramble to clear the resulting corner as well. At the other end, a Reece Kendall long throw found DJ Pedro, whose header had to be tipped over by Motormen keeper Reece Trueman. While Bebeto Gomes sent in a cross to James that just missed the Shakers forward at the far post.

Eventually, one side would slip, and it was Bury. Failing to effectively clear their lines, the dangerous Sambor was unleashed on the Bury left. His cross found Nick Rushton, who shot towards the far corner, beating Allen to re-establish the home side’s lead.

Chasing the match again the Shakers had to take their chances; Evans fired a long-range shot, but put his effort wide, while a James cross eluded everyone in the box, including his teammates.

The second half saw a more coordinated effort by the visiting Shakers in attack, while the hosts set about defending their lead. Rustam Stepans fired an early shot wide, while a corner by the Bury man had to be tipped onto the crossbar by Trueman.

While they had plenty of possession and spent the half building attacks too often Bury fell into the habit of losing the ball cheaply trying to force a moment of magic or attempting to set someone else up when they have an opportunity themselves to go for goal. Just after the hour, however, they were handed a lifeline.

Tyler James, again at the centre of things, tried to flick the ball over the head of Vita Mbolokele, and the Vauxhall Motors defender lifted an arm blocking the ball. The referee immediately pointed to the spot. Pedro stepped up, firing down the middle to beat Trueman and put Bury back on level terms.

No sooner had Vauxhall been pegged back than they regained the lead. Like turning on a switch, the Motormen’s attack came back into play with Rushton forcing a good save out of Allen and the ball running out for a corner. Full back Jordan Deer took the set piece, Allen failed to catch the high ball that curled back in and landed in the bottom corner of the Bury goal.

It was back to square one for the Shakers, who carried on in search of a third goal. James got on the end of a Gomes cross but couldn’t direct it goalwards. Stepans powered into the box and fired a shot that Trueman saved. Pedro got onto the rebound, but his attempt hit the crossbar once more.

Winning a late corner, Bury refused to allow the ball to leave Vauxhall’s area. Multiple shots were fired, blocked, then won back before at last the man of the match James managed to poke the ball past Trueman and find the bottom corner to seize the third equalising goal of the day.

Throughout the last few closing minutes, the Shakers pushed for a chance to grab all three points. Evans twice forced a save out of Trueman while counterattacks by the Motormen could have spelled disaster for the beleaguered Bury defence. The Shakers ended the match down to ten men. Connor Pye came off the worst in a scramble in the Vauxhall box from a corner; he adds to a growing list of injured Bury players.

Right to the very end Bury fought hard to find a winner, but the final whistle also came with some relief that they had done enough to earn a point and bring a losing run to an end. There is much to do in order for the Shakers to rediscover their form, but the spirit of a winning side remains within the core of this team.