Bury Town suffered only their second league defeat of the season, at the hands of impressive Brightlingsea Regent at Ram Meadow on Tuesday night.

There was more than a touch of good fortune about Regent’s winning goal, as an attempted clearance by James Paterson struck Luke Read and flew into the net from close-in, on 48 minutes.

Ironically, Read had also netted the winner in a 1-0 victory over Maldon & Tiptree last Saturday, again with the ball rebounding off him.

But Brightlingsea were good value for this latest win, especially for a dominant second-half display.

It was only Bury’s second defeat in 17 league games this season.

It had almost been a very short evening for Bury keeper Neil O’Sullivan, who must have feared the worst when he was summoned over by referee Daniel Hanna following his challenge on Terry Rymer, outside his penalty area, after just three minutes.

O’Sullivan had hacked the ball to safety, but also appeared to foul front-runner Rymer in the process. After a long consultation with his assistant, Mr Hanna reached for his yellow card rather than a red one, and O’Sullivan escaped with a lecture and booking.

It was a first half of only half-chances, for both sides.

For Bury, midfielder Noel Aitkins blasted narrowly over with a cleanly-struck shot on seven minutes.

A minute later and Brightlingsea centre-half Josh Gould completely missed his kick, when attempting to intercept Remi Garrett’s cross inside the six-yard box. But the lurking Sam Reed was not really expecting the ball to come through, and he could not direct it beyond keeper Ollie Bowles from point blank range.

At the other end, Rymer was close to heading home at the near post, from a 13th minute cross.

The Blues came close to breaking the deadlock, midway through the first half. Bradley Barber’s corner was only half-cleared, and when Aitkins guided the ball back into the danger zone, skipper Phil Weavers hooked it goalwards with keeper Bowles saving low to his right.

The Essex visitors bossed possession, as the game wore on, and home centre-half Darcy De’ath very nearly miscued a kick from Jake Turner’s shot into his own net on 28 minutes.

Brightlingsea stepped up a gear after the break, and Read’s rather fortuitous goal handed them a 48th minute lead.

Substitute Josh Mayhew peppered the target with a couple of long-range shots, before the hour mark, and left-back Jake Gould rammed in a low drive which was squeezed around the near post on 63 minutes.

Bury were having to threaten on the break. One such swift attack, prompted by Garrett’s strong run, ended with the winger delivering a dangerous ball across the face of goal, but there was no team-mate on hand to score. Otherwise, the hosts rarely looked like rescuing a point.

Squads

BURY: O’Sullivan, Allen, Paterson, Steed (sub Kennedy, 53) De’ath, Weavers, Canfer, Aitkins, Reed, Barber (sub Nurse, 66), Garrett.

BRIGHTLINGSEA: Bowles, Griggs, Jake Gould, Josh Gould, Joseph, Cripps (sub Mayhew, 31), Howell (sub Heath, 84), Turner, Malton (sub Phillips, 88), Read, Rymer. Attendance: 306