Bury (A)
NWCFL Premier Division
Matchday 35
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Preview
West travel to Bury on Saturday afternoon with the aim of completing a league double over the side who currently top the Premier Division table. It comes only six weeks after the sides met at Brookburn Road on an afternoon where West recorded a resounding 4-0 win.
The Shakers have however won all five of the matches they have played since then, and they have re-taken their place at the summit with only ten games left to play. Whilst some of the chasing pack do have games in hand, it is looking increasingly like the battle for the NWCFL title will be a two-horse race between Bury and their local rivals Ramsbottom United. Both sides have now played the same amount of games, but Saturday's hosts do have a one point advantage as things stand with significantly better goal difference. A good run for 3rd place Lower Breck could also bring them back into contention, however.
It therefore goes without saying that a trip to Bury will be one of the tougher propositions that West will face during their remaining 12 matches. The Shakers remain unbeaten at home this season and haven't dropped a point at Gigg Lane since being held 1-1 by Ramsbottom on Boxing Day.
Bury have continued to strengthen their squad in recent weeks and they have just signed left-back Reece Kendall from Matlock Town. Kendall was a member of the 2023/24 NPL Premier Team of the Season (Step 3), and he has arrived alongside Tyler James who has scored 21 goals this season for fellow promotion-chasers Padiham. In addition, Louis Jeanne and Aiden Walker have both left Step 4 clubs to join the Shakers. The former was a regular in the Wythenshawe Town defence that conceded the fewest in the Premier Division last season.
West have also recently brought in reinforcements of their own, and last weekend saw debuts for Jake Dunford and centre-back Curtis Jones. It was a stellar debut performance from Jones in particular as he ended up scoring West's fourth goal of the afternoon at Charnock Richard. That said, if he retains his place then he is likely to have a far tougher time this Saturday against the strongest attack in the divison. Bury have scored over 100 goals already and they have hit the net 15 times more than any other club in the division.
Whilst Bury will be formidable opponents, West have won 5-2, 6-1 and 2-0 in their last three away league games. These came at Charnock Richard, Chadderton and South Liverpool respectively.
In terms of what's going on elsewhere, 6th placed Padiham play Longridge Town for the third time in 16 days, whilst 7th placed Irlam host AFC Liverpool and FC Isle of Man in 8th welcome Barnoldswick Town at 6pm. The three other teams who currently join West in the playoff places - Ramsbottom United, Lower Breck and Chadderton - are all in Macron Cup action this weekend. West will therefore go above Chadderton and into 4th with a win.
West fans are reminded that they need to purchase tickets in advance for the trip to Gigg Lane and the details are above.
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Form Guide
Bury
Position: 1st
Form position: 2nd
Home position: 9th
Last six overall: WWWWWL
Last six home: WWWDDW
West
Position: 5th
Form position: 6th
Away position: 13th
Last six overall: WLWDWL
Last six away: WLDWWL
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Bury At A Glance
Home colours: White / Royal Blue
Change colours: Yellow / Blue
Pitch surface: Artificial
2023/24 position: 3rd, NWCFL Premier
2024/25 average attendance: 2,898
Travelling distance: 17 miles
West away season round trip: 1,610 miles
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Head to Head
Overall:
P6 W2 D1 L3 F9 A11
At Bury:
P2 W0 D1 L1 F3 A4
West have only played Bury at Gigg Lane once. Bury ended up as 4-3 winners on an eventful afternoon at Gigg Lane. Our match report from that afternoon is HERE.
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Browse through our wonderful match galleries, from club photographers:
Nathan Ashmall, Chris Michell, Jack Todd and Christina Bowett.
