Dereham Town 2 Bury Town 0

Bury Town had to play virtually the whole of tonight’s Bostik North clash with 10 men, as hosts Dereham Town climbed to the top of the table with a goal in each half at Aldiss Park.

The Blues suffered a big setback, within the first three minutes, when captain Bradley Barber was sent off for serious foul play.

And Dereham made their Suffolk visitors pay, thanks to goals by Jamie Forshaw (17 minutes) and Tony Hilliard just before the hour mark.

It was a dramatic start, and a controversial one at that.

Barber lunged in on Dereham right-back Matt Castellan with a robust challenge, and was given a straight red card by referee David Hutton.

It looked a little reckless, from Bury’s No. 10, but he could count himself unlucky to receive a red and not a yellow card. Manager Ben Chenery was furious with the decision.

Despite being down to 10 men, the visitors adapted well for the rest of the first half and were a little unfortunate to be trailing at the break.

Keeper Luis Tibbles saved well at the feet of Floris Burgess on six minutes, but he had no chance with Forshaw’s terrific opener in the 17th minute.

Magpies front-runner Forshaw connected with the sweetest of half-volleys, from just inside the left-edge of the box, his rising shot flying into the top corner of the net.

But Bury had their chances to respond, most notably on the half-hour mark when Darren Mills stabbed only a foot wide of the far post, after doing well to reach a teasing cross by David Cooper.

Ryan Jolland was also not far adrift with a well-struck first-time shot, from Cooper’s long throw, which fizzed wide of the near upright on 35 minutes.

Tibbles kept Bury in the game, by palming away a long-range thunderbolt from Rhys Logan just before half-time, but the Blues young custodian was powerless to prevent Hilliard from doubling the lead in the 59th minute.

Hilliard ran through unopposed to slot past the advancing Forshaw, and so put the game beyond Bury.

Keeper Elliot Pride saved well from Mills’ thunderbolt in the 79th minute, as Bury finished strongly, but Dereham stood firm against the 10 men to move three points clear at the top.