Oop North. Cold. Waterlogged pitch. Flippers required in the centre circle.

A decent squad made the trip up the M6 with the aim of securing 2nd place over Bury in the IFA league. We knew we'd be in for a competitive match, but hadn't brought our scuba gear and weren't prepared to find standing water in the middle of the pitch - the result of some heavy overnight rain in Manchester. Who'd have thought...?

A brisk warm up was necessary as much as to keep warm in the howling gale as to get muscles loose. Jordan was slightly spoilt for choice but plumped for this starting XI:

GK : Juzza
RB : Orville LB : Frange
CB : Tina & Peewee
RM : Nick LM : Slouch
CM : Riz & Task
S : Sharkey & Jordan

Subs : Woody, Rob & Immy

ASB were playing with the wind in the first half after Tweena lost the toss. This should have put us at an advantage but actually served to curtail the passing game that has brought some real joy in recent matches. The howling wind, combined with a boggy pitch and some hard tackling from Bury meant little quality was brought to bear on the opening exchanges. Bury were kept in their own half as ASB exerted pressure but struggled to create much of note. Jordan managed a couple of wayward efforts, task had a couple of long range pops that were on target but didn't trouble the 'keeper.

Bury meanwhile were proving to be handful. Ferociously committed in the tackle, but with a couple of players who would grace any IFA team. Their pacy left winger kept Orv on his toes while up front and in midfield they had some lads with decent touches which were slightly wasted in the conditions and with the direct style of play. ASB knew they were in a battle away from home.

As is often the case away from home, marginal decisions seemed to start to go against us. Riz was aggrieved to lose possession after being manhandled off the ball in midfield. In his haste to make amends he got very close to a Bury striker who was shielding the ball as he went away from goal. Although there was contact between the two players, it was very minor and the kind of penalty appeal that you laugh off until you realise the ref has given it to the home team. The challenge wasn't strictly necessary but equally its not the type of penalty you expect to be given and if our collective protest was slightly muted by our usual standards it was only through surprise. The Bury striker kept his composure to slot home and put the home team ahead midway through the first half on one of the few occasions they'd actually got into our box.

Bury 1 ASB 0

To our credit we kept our composure better than we have done in other games, even if we were vocal in letting the ref know of our displeasure at his decisions. Riz had his customary face time with the ref but with a bit of gentle persuasion from senior pros we managed to keep up our application levels. It didn't help that we just seemed to have a run of decisions where the benefit of the doubt went against us. I'm not accusing the ref of bias as he evened things up later, but we did have a bad run of it. A arguably more cast iron penalty claim in the Bury box was refused as one of our attackers (Riz from memory) was clattered by one of their defenders, then a fine looping header from Jordan was cleared off the line with more than a strong suspicion of handball - seen by all the ASB players present but not the ref. Another one of those decisions that you don't seem to get away from home, but the looks on the faces of the Bury players told their own convincing story. The rest of the half was more of the same. Like a rugby match we had good territory and pressure but couldn't convert it into many good chances of note and the half ended with Bury 1-0 up.

Half time discussion focussed on the need to keep playing our football, keep our heads, adapt to the conditions and to go for broke as we had nothing to lose. With the wind and sodden pitch even dead ball restarts were a bit of a lottery, so we knew that quality moves would be hard to produce so we just had to try and make the most of them when we did create something. Woody came on for Frange with Tina moving to left back, adding some solidity to the heart of our defence when we knew we'd face a bit of an aerial bombardment as Bury had the wind behind them. Conversely we thought playing against the wind would help our football a bit as the ball wouldn't run away so much.

Our early second half performance picked up on the end of the first half and stepped it up a notch or two more. Slouch and Nick were making good inroads down the flanks where you could actually come across the odd patch of firm ground and as a team we started to string a few more coherent moves together. One of these saw Slouch away down the left, he cut inside a few challenges and was taken out in the area but nothing was given. Another nice move got us forward and into the box. Bury struggled to clear their lines and Riz was about to regain possession going away from goal again when he was pushed in the back. Fortunately the ref was out of his rut and decided to give us this one. Bury protested as it was a bit of a soft penalty to give away. The push wasn't an extravagant one and it didn't look like a major incident at first glance - the kind that you never seem to get away from home - but it was a foul in the box and a measure more convincing than the penalty given Bury's way in the first half. Riz unsurprisingly was keen to improve his goals per game ratio and stepped up to slot home - credit to him for a convincing finish in a pressure situation on a day when just keeping your footing was no mean feat.

Bury 1 ASB 1 Riz pen and assist

Rob came on for Juzza in goal and the game was pretty evenly poised.

ASB attacking primarily down the flanks and in any space Jordan could find, with Sharkey in particular causing the Bury defence problems. Bury were using the advantage of the wind to good effect, pinning us back whenever they could and carving the odd chance from distance. Their left winger and forwards continued to pose problems but by and large we were coping. One counter attack got Bury a throw on the ASB right. It was taken quickly but didn't go into the box - a couple of passes across midfield allowed one of their lads to have a pop from 30 odd yards. It was a cracking strike and heading right for the top left corner at the near post, but Rob got across brilliantly to pull off a spectacular one handed save.

ASB came back at Bury and forced our way up the right wing with a series of throws and one touch passing. Sharkey, Riz and Nick combined to force the ball into the Bury area and in the scramble than ensued they forced the ball past their keeper for Sharkey to touch in from close range. ASB this time also got some benefit of the doubt as the keeper had one hand (but not two) on the ball in the build up before it was bundled home.

Bury 1 ASB 2 Sharkey (no assist)

Chances continued to be exchanged between the two teams. One move down the right with good work again from Nick released Sharkey into a great position near the edge of the box. The keeper came out to narrow his angles and one of their defenders close down the other half of the goal, so Sharkey got his shot off into the only area he could - above the keeper aiming top right of the goal. The keeper managed to get his finger tips to the shot to tip the ball just over the bar for an excellent save. Any less contact and the ball was in, likewise if Sharkey had any other option for placing the ball we'd have scored. As it was the cumulative defensive effort from Bury was just about enough and the resulting corner was cleared. Bury responded shortly after on one of their breakaways. They managed to stretch the ASB defence sufficiently to work an opening on our left.

Tina was the covering defender but Rob came out quickly and bravely to smother the one on one and block their striker's shot as he slid in.

Immy came into the action up front for Sharkey midway through the half as ASB battled to hold on to our lead. We were coming under more pressure from Bury as they raised their game and got forward in numbers. It was going to take something special or weird to breach the ASB rearguard and sure enough fate obliged. We struggled to clear a routine ball forward against the wind. Tina seemed to have it under control but sliced the ball wildly right into their forward's path. Tina showed good pace to recover but only succeeded in colliding with Rob as their guy took the ball wide to an acute angle and rifled home a good finish into the far side netting past Tina's despairing dive to block.

Bury 2 ASB 2

A hammer blow really with only minutes remaining, but ASB went back on the attack as Sharkey came back on for Nick (or was it Slouch?).

With commitment still high from both teams inspite of the tiring conditions both sides were struggling to create clear chances and the game seemed to be heading for a draw, which on balance would have been a fair result but one that both sides felt they could have improved on. Unfortunately fate took another bizarre turn as the wind got hold of a high clearance that had really been wellied by one of their defenders. In tough conditions Rob utterly misjudged the flight of the ball getting and it bounced over him and into the net past his despairing attempts to claw the ball back and out. With literally only injury time left this was another hammer blow and one we would be hard pressed to recover from. As big a howler as it was, it is worth reflecting that without Rob's top corner and 1on1 saves earlier in the game we wouldn't even have been in this position. No offence to Juzza, but they're the kind of saves that only Rob could have pulled off and justified his inclusion at Juzza's expense. It's galling to make that kind of major howler in the last minute but those are the unfortunate breaks that all defenders, particularly keepers have to suffer from time to time and hopefully Rob will come back from it stronger.

Bury 3 ASB 2

Some injury time remained and ASB went at Bury like men possessed, or at least men who knew that we didn't deserve to be in this position. The ball was crossed from deep high and forward. Riz and Sharkey managed to bundle the ball forward. The keeper again came out and a similar scramble to our second goal ensued with the same result - the ball in the back of the net. This time however there was a different ref (one of their defenders had taken over) and we didn't get the benefit of the doubt. In isolation this was an injustice as it seemed that there was much more reason to doubt our second goal than the equalising third, but our protests were in vain. This was all too much for Riz who left the pitch in a strop neglecting to pick his toys up along the way. The match was as good as over and understandable as his frustration was this was a dispiriting sight. The ref blew up as ASB's heads dropped.

A gutting result and typical of the kind of away defeats we have suffered all season. A tight game, in difficult conditions against a committed side and again we've been undone by the narrowest of margins. Although we'd have some justification in claiming that the big decisions went against us, we did get some benefit of the doubt for our goals which is as much as you can expect away from home. And we were leading 2-1 with about ten minutes to go and should have closed the game out, or at the very least got a draw. As a team we have to learn how to do this and to focus on succeeding inspite of all the things that are against us, be it the ref, the conditions, contentious decisions, a fiercely committed opposition or individual howlers. When we do succeed it's all the sweeter for all the things that are against us. Besides which, we should do our talking in victory otherwise you look like a poor loser. Ultimately we lost and there's no point blaming others for this.

A word of praise for Bury. They were one of the better oppositions we have faced and are the reason that away trips are worthwhile, even if you get up at 6 in the morning and travel for hours only to have things not go your way. Their left winger was one of the best players in the league we've come up against and they were ferociously committed throughout the team, especially in the tackle.

They either adapted better to the apocalyptic conditions or their game is more direct than ours and more naturally suited to it - either way they deserved something from the game, even if the defeat sat awkwardly with us. Their hospitality was excellent after the game and much appreciated by those of us who made it there before travelling to the bore fest at Burnley. It will be nice to see them again at Worldnet.

Ultimately there was a lot of good to take from this game inspite of the result and some lessons to be learnt. Post match discussion focussed on the need to close these games out with Juzza harking back to the days he'd go to five in midfield. Nick and Sharkey were the strongest contenders for man of the match, with Sharkey deservedly winning the vote for an excellent all round display up front.

I'll leave the individual grades to Jordan, but here are some player comments:

Juzza - solid performance again in goal from Juzza. The odd minor scare with handling but nothing to worry about.

Orv - came through his most thorough testing of the season up against their best player with intelligent defending. Only blemish was an unnecessary reaction to a foul on Nick which Nick managed to deal with calmly, as Orv should have done.

Tweena - coped well in difficult conditions at the back. Nothing Tweena could do about the slice, just one of those things. Did well coming forward and linking with Slouch when moved to left back.

Peewee - similar to Tweena. Coped well, showed good mental approach for a young guy and managed to just about keep a lid on his frustration second half.

Frange - Not hugely troubled although better suited to easier conditions. Still barely a speck of mud on him.

Nick Nick - accomplished performance on the right side of midfield, combined strong tackling with good pace going forward.

Riz - hard to get to grips in midfield in those conditions and with Bury happy to throw numbers into the middle of the park. Harsh decision on the penalty given away although in the cold light of day it wasn't a necessary challenge and Riz had his hackles up. That said, responded well in earning and finishing our penalty to more than even things up.

task - hard to dominate the middle in the conditions. Struggled to deliver from set pieces but won my fair share of headers and got our passing moves going when we could.

Slouch - Along with Nick our best attacking threat and made the most of better conditions on the flanks.

Jordan - impressive in spells when he imposed himself in the second half, struggled on inspite of injury.

Sharkey - deserved MOTM with good running and commitment. Was on the end of most our best moves and posed most consistent threat to Bury.

subs:

Rob - earnt his place with two excellent saves, only to suffer from a proper howler. Needs to practise getting under a high ball and claiming crosses as it's the only way to improve, but shouldn't be too downhearted at his mistake - these things happen and we wouldn't have been 2-1 up in the first place were it not for him.

Immy - hard match to come on and make an impact in. We didn't get him the ball enough and when he did he was crowded out by Bury. Hard to play his natural dribbling game in the conditions so needs to adapt and take the odd easy ball when its on offer.

Woody - Solid under pressure in the second half. Strong physical presence and exactly what we needed against the wind.

Tom Dearden - didn't get a game but ran the line with aplomb.

Frange.