Luis Tibbles delighted with first clean sheet of the season as Bury Town shut out leaders Basildon United

Bury Town will head back into Essex tomorrow to face Julian Dicks’ Heybridge Swifts (3pm) with renewed confidence, having come away from early Bostik League North Division pacesetters Basildon United with a 0-0 draw.

There was no-one more happy with the shutout on Saturday than goalkeeper Luis Tibbles, who celebrated his call-up to represent an England FA XI side in the Falkland Islands next month with his first clean sheet of the season.

“I was delighted to get my first clean sheet of the season,” he said, having missed the 2-0 FA Cup victory at Waltham Abbey and the following game’s 1-0 home win over Soham Town Rangers in August after being involved in a car accident.

He added: “It was a good result on Saturday against a team flying at top.

“It was really tough conditions but we showed we are capable of doing both parts of the game; playing nice football and digging in when it counts.

“Neither team created many clear goal-scoring opportunities but we probably had the better of the play and could consider ourselves unlucky to not get all three points.”

He feels the introduction of former Cambridge United professional Ian Miller in front of him has helped to provide a more solid base alongside experienced captain Ollie Fenn.

“He has been massive for us really,” he said.

Ben Chenery’s side are in ninth place in the table after seven games and two points off the play-off places.

Heybridge were considered title favourites after finishing last season strongly before being beaten in the play-offs, but they are currently 15th and have had a change in manager.