Town’s non-league roadshow ends with a whimper as solitary goal enough to see off neighbours

Bury Town 0 Ipswich Town 1

An unstoppable header from Gareth McAuley was enough for Ipswich to secure victory over Bury in a match that will do little to inspire confidence for the new season.

Just ten days before Town begin the new Championship season with a difficult-looking trip to Middlesbrough, a solitary goal from the towering defender was all that could be mustered against a side placed five divisions below them.

In truth, it should have been far more emphatic with Tamas Priskin spurning two glorious chances either side of half time. Despite an improved showing at times, the Hungarian is clearly lacking in confidence in front of goal, but he is not alone with skipper Jon Walters again missing a golden opportunity.

Manager Roy Keane opted for arguably his strongest available side with Tommy Smith playing his first pre-season game alongside McAuley in the heart of the defence. An untested and youthful central midfield saw the impressive Luke Hyam sit in front of the back four with new boy Conor Hourihan and Grant Leadbitter completing the trio – the latter playing more advanced and adopting a shoot-on-sight policy.

Jon Walters and Carlos Edwards hit the flanks in support of lone frontman Priskin which, given the opposition, was more of a 4-3-3 than anything more defensive. On the bench was new boy Mark Kennedy fresh from signing on the dotted line in a £75,000 move from Championship rivals Cardiff.

Prompted by the assured and steady passing of both Hyam and Hourihan, the visitors expectedly dominated early possession but failed to break down the resolute home side which afterwards earned praise from Keane. A Walters header and a speculative effort from Hourihan aside, Ipswich were failing to break down their less illustrious opponents.

And it was Bury who carved out the best chance and one that should have seen them take a shock lead. Chris Henderson broke clear down the Ipswich right and his low drive was well parried by Brian Murphy. It required a late lunge at the rebound from Shane O’Connor to prevent Scott Chaplin from tapping in the rebound.

While not exactly shocking the Championship side into life, there was a slight improvement with Walters heading straight into the arms of the excellent Marcus Garnham in the Bury goal. Ipswich should have gone in at the interval a goal to the good when Priskin was set clear by his skipper but his shot was well blocked by Garnham’s legs.

It was a glorious chance and one that was matched in 47nd minute as the Blues hit the ground running after the break. Priskin was again the culprit but more for lacking conviction than actually any poor miss. His shot was under-hit and comfortably deflected away by Garnham’s legs once more.

Ipswich continued to turn the screw and McAuley was unlucky when only a great headed clearance off the line by Ashley Scoots denied the visitors’ man of the match from opening the scoring. Bury were being forced further back and they were indebted to Garnham again who made a terrific flying save from O’Connor, who had now been pushed into central midfield following the introduction of Kennedy.

It was only a temporary reprieve as minutes later McAuley again rose highest from an Edwards’ cross to this time make no mistake. There was an air of relief by the big defender’s fist-in-the-air celebration but the subsequent goal glut never came.

Another youngster, Reggie Lambe, was brought on to inject some much-needed pace into the Ipswich attack as Walters joined Priskin in a more traditional 4-4-2. Both strikers had chances to score with the Hungarian unfortunate to again be denied before seeing his excellent overhead kick from the rebound fall straight into the keeper’s arms. Walters was even more guilty when he broke clear but again lacked the conviction to beat the Bury stopper – a problem many Town fans will testify to after the skipper’s misfiring last season.

While Bury never looked like grabbing an equaliser, Town’s best spell had come and gone and the rest of the match was played in the manner of a typical pre-season friendly. Tommy Smith was a good vocal presence at the back and looks ready to start the Championship in place of the injured Damien Delaney while new signing Kennedy‘s 45-minute debut was encouraging, especially with his constant cajoling of team mates, young and old alike.

While Keane pointed to a lack of a final ball at times, the Town fans watching went away more worried about an all-too familiar lack of prolificacy in front of goal.