AFC Sudbury 3 Bury Town 0
Below-par Bury Town were well beaten at West Suffolk rivals AFC Sudbury tonight, suffering only their seventh defeat of the season.
Mark Morsley's Sudbury side gave their lofty visitors a lesson in finishing as they eased to a welcome home win via a first-half opener from Reece Harris, and then two second-half goals by Callum Harrison and substitute Kyle Cassell.
Bury had begun the night in fourth spot, and they remain in the thick of the play-off race, but they never really got out of first gear - they struggled in midfield and lacked a killer touch up top.
Perhaps a long list of injuries finally caught up with Ben Chenery's men, but Sudbury were well worth their win to gain revenge for a 3-0 defeat at Ram Meadow from last September.
Bury had all the early chances, but could find no way past home keeper Paul Walker.
Ross Crane drove wide of the near post on 12 minutes, after Walker had made an earlier save, and Ipswich Town youngster Lounes Foudil fired over from the edge of the box in the 20th minute.
A sweeping move featuring Tommy Smith and Foudil ended with Crane having a goalbound shot blocked by a defender on 25 minutes, but just a minute later and AFC Sudbury broke the deadlock with what was their first real goal attempt.
Young keeper George Bugg, in the starting line-up because of Daniel Barden's knee injury, sustained in the 2-1 win over Dereham last weekend, ventured off his line but was beaten to the ball by Harris.
The wily Harris clipped the ball around Bugg and then kept his cool before steering home into an unguarded net, despite the close attention of two Bury defenders.
Walker saved well from Joe Hood, to preserve Sudbury's lead in the 27th minute, but the hosts had a chance to double their lead before the break when Bugg denied Tom Maycock on a one-on-one situation, and then recovered to save the follow-ups from Billy Holland and Maycock again.
Seven minutes into the second half and Sudbury did bag a second goal as Harrison's corner soared over everyone and flew into the net inside the far post.
Walker again kept Bury at bay when saving Ollie Hughes' goalbound downward header with an outstretched arm.
And Sudbury effectively killed off the game, as a contest, when substitute Cassell swept home the third from point blank range, after being teed up by Adam Bailey-Dennis' commanding header, from a 76th minute free-kick.
AFC Sudbury: Walker, Bennett, Critchley (sub Grimwood, 65), O'Malley, Bailey-Dennis, Altintop, Hammett, B Holland , Harris (sub Cassell, 65), Harrison (sub Hunter, 80), Maycock. Unused subs: Temple, K Holland.
Bury Town: Bugg, Stafford (sub Castro, 65), Smith, Hood, Henderson (sub Maughn, 56), White, Foudil (sub Nyadzayo, 46), Edwards, Ramadan, Hughes, Crane. Unused subs: Machaya, Gardner.
Attendance: 518
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