NORTHWICH VICTORIA 1 BURY 0

AXA sponsored FA Cup first round replay

ADIE Mike was the hero who gave magnificent Vics the big Football League scalp they deserved at the Drill Field last night.

The striker pounced 18 minutes from time to score the winner and the ground, packed with almost 3,000 fans on one of the great cup nights, erupted.

An inswinging free-kick by Mark Barnard wasn't cleared properly by a shaky Shakers defence and Mike hammered the loose ball into the top corner from 10 yards.

The goal was only a matter of time for Vics, who grew in strength and stature as the excitement of a cup shock raised the adrenaline levels of all their players.

In an end to end opening, Gary Fletcher almost repeated his heroics of the first game after 10 minutes, taking Mark Devlin's pass and firing a shot in from the angle of the box which Paddy Kenny beat away for a corner.

Lance Key in the home goal was busy five minutes later as Bury stepped up the pressure, tipping away Paul Reid's dangerous drive.

From the resulting corner, Reid had a shot blocked and the rebound fell to Chris Billy, whose effort was scrambled off the line by a combination of green shirts.

Bury began to dominate the half as it wore on and Vics' frustration at lack of possession was manifested by Mark Bailey's clattering challenge on Adrian Littlejohn, which earned him a 26th minute yellow card.

But two minutes later Bailey went from villain to hero when he cleared Chris Swailes' header form a Reid corner off the line.

A further two minutes after this, Darren Bullock was inches over with a drive before Littlejohn missed the best chance of the first period on 37 minutes.

Paul Barnes' flick header from Nick Daws' long throw looped on to the top of the crossbar and dropped into the six-yard box, where the striker forced the rebound woefully wide.

However, Fletcher, looking a cut above Division Two class, almost broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time when, as in the first game, he latched onto a Bury mis-kick.

Defender Danny Swailes was the embarrassed party this time but Kenny, the culprit from a week and a half ago, got the better of Fletcher this time by saving with his legs.

Although the vociferous Vics supporters were screaming their loudest to put Kenny off his kicks in the hope of him repeating his nightmare clearance from the Gigg Lane game, it was becoming clear here that that mistake didn't reflect his true quality.

He had to save from Fletcher again five minutes into the second half when the 19-year-old dispossessed Dean Barrick and sprinted half the length of the field before being denied by Kenny.

Almost an identical move led to an even better chance for Fletcher on 54 minutes, this time running 30 yards to find a shooting position. But just as he was about to pull the trigger, full back Lee Unsworth slid in to nick the ball off his toes.

Kenny had to hold a 20-yard shot from Fletcher before Adie Mike showed Northwich weren't a one-man team as he also went for goal, but Bury's stopper was on hand to save once more.

But he could do nothing to prevent Mike swooping on 72 minutes and Bury boss Andy Preece, in a bid to save his team and probably his job, brought himself into the fray immediately.

It was Paul Barnes who had the best chance to equalize four minutes from the end, but he couldn't keep a cool head and fired over form 10 yards.

Tempers came to the boil towards the end of this tie, but nothing could spoil the evening's entertainment for the loud and proud Vics army of supporters, who more than answered skipper John Robertson's call to repeat their Gigg Lane frenzy.

The Drill Field may be on its way at the end of the season, but the noise the Greens fans made throughout the game, and at the final whistle, must have helped to shake it from its foundations.

And it's time for the demolition work to continue when Leyton Orient visit in the second round a week on Saturday.