Bury Town manager Ben Chenery not throwing the towel in on pursuit of Isthmian League North Division play-offs

Despite taking just one point from their last two games to leave Bury Town in 11th position and eight points adrift of the play-offs, manager Ben Chenery is adamant their promotion chase is far from over.

It has been a highly frustrating week for the Blues manager on their return to action, following several weather postponements and last Tuesday’s first-half abandonment at Brentwood Town.

A crowd of 568 turned out at the Denny Bros Ram Meadow Stadium on Saturday to see Bury ultimately throw away a first-half lead to lose 2-1 at the hands of relegation-threatened Witham Town.

Olly Hughes had put the dominant hosts into a 12th-minute lead in their first full game since beating AFC Sudbury on New Year’s Day.

But Witham’s number 10 Ramiah Mills went on to score in the 48th and 76th minutes to earn them a first league win in 20 matches.

“Looking back it was probably the best we have played for 45 minutes at home and the opposition couldn’t breathe and we should have been more goals in front,” said Chenery.

“We are 1-0 up and we make a mistake, it’s a ball in behind we don’t deal with and we give a gift away.

“We kept pushing and got hit on the counter-attack but we are having enough ball and opportunities to put teams to bed.

“And if it was a boxing match on points we’d probably be in the top three in the league.”

On Wednesday, without three key defenders: captain Ollie Fenn (calf), Joe Hood (suspension) and Zak Bradshaw (recalled by Ipswich Town), they found themselves 2-0 down at half-time against Hullbridge Sports on Aveley’s 4G pitch.

But a spirited second-half fightback, with goals from Hughes (67’) and Jake Chambers-Shaw (79’) ended up getting them a point in what was a 2-2 draw.

“We weren’t fluent at all in the first half and we gave away one really soft goal,” said Chenery.

“In the second half they were fantastic, that showed me we have character in the squad.

“Cemal Ramadan with a minute to go then has a fantastic chance to win it and it wasn’t to be.

“We clawed back a draw from the jaws of defeat to get a 2-2, so it was pleasing but we need to find consistency which we haven’t done enough.

“We did that against Stowmarket (1-1) and Sudbury (4-1 win) and we had a really long lay-off which I don’t think helped us as we had momentum, but we have got to get consistency in our game.”

Bury, who signed Ipswich Town striker Olla Bello on loan ahead of last weekend, with the just turned 19-year-old appearing off the bench in both games, face 13th-placed Coggeshall Town tomorrow (3pm).

But it will be another game moved to a neutral ground and a 4G pitch at Heybridge Swifts after flooding issues at the Seedgrowers’ ground.

Asked if they had too much to do to bridge the gap to the top five now, with fifth-placed Brentwood eight points ahead having played a game less, Chenery said: “No, not at all.

“We had a really good Christmas with Stowmarket and Sudbury, we came out disappointingly losing to Witham, despite playing really well in patches, and we just need to look at ourselves and keep recording results.

“I’ve been in football long enough to know if you get the wheels turning, just keep concentrating on your own house, and get results then you see where it takes you.

“There is certainly lots of football left to play; 18/19 games and teams will make mistakes and there will be odd results.

“It is a really strong league and I’d say it is the strongest it has been in terms of the resources of some clubs.

“It is hard to break in there but we just need to make sure we are doing our bit.”