Paul Musgrove felt Bury Town were ‘lucky to get a point’ as winless run continues at home to mid-table Maldon & Tiptree

Bury Town missed out on the chance to return to the top of the Pitching In Isthmian League North Division table as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to mid-table Maldon & Tiptree with assistant manager Paul Musgrove saying they were ‘lucky to get a point’.

The second-placed Blues had been looking to get back to winning ways back at the Getaway Cars Stadium, following last Tuesday’s 4-1 defeat at third-placed Brentwood Town being followed by a 1-1 draw away at Walthamstow on Saturday only thanks to an 88th-minute goal from Joe White.

And they looked to be on their way to recording a big three points at the interval with Ipswich Town under-18s forward Jamie Mauge, who had signed on a work experience loan ahead of making his debut off the bench last Tuesday, having fired them into a 31st-minute lead.

But poor defending from a 48th-minute corner from Cole Skuse and Musgrove’s side saw former Colchester United youth player Kai Redgrave given time and space to fire the ball home.

It served to change the momentum of the game with the Blues rarely threatening thereafter and being indebted to goalkeeper Charlie Beckwith, who made a string of fine saves to keep The Jammers at bay.

A late penalty claim, when substitute Cemal Ramadan - the 19-goal top scorer having been left out in favour of giving Mauge his first start - went down under challenge from Samuel Kuffour was waved away by the referee on a night where Bury were far from their fluent best.

The result did see Bury move to within a point of leaders Felixstowe & Walton United after Stuart Boardley’s side lost 3-1 at Grays Athletic.

But for assistant manager Paul Musgrove, it was definitely a missed opportunity with the second-half display particularly troubling him ahead of preparing the side for the visit of third-placed Brentwood on Saturday (3pm) as they look to avoid succumbing to a quickfire double against the Essex side.

“Most definitely two points dropped,” he said, “Forget about Felixstowe, that was two points dropped.

“We were in control first half, I think it’s fair to say, and the half-time team talk was exactly that if you control the ball and you make sensible decisions, stop putting the ball at risk, stop trying to skip patterns of play that we’ve done for quite a while, then you can go on here and have a positive result.

“Then three minutes into the second half, bizarre decision-making and the lad has slipped through two tackles and scored.

“So it’s two points dropped and it’s frustrating.

“And it’s hard to be angry and upset with the boys for the fact that they’ve been so good for us long but we have been off it and that second-half performance wasn’t good enough.”

He added: “I’ll be honest with you, I think we were lucky to get a point in some respects.”

One positive on the night was Mauge’s angled finish form inside the area from an excellent throughball from Max Maughn in front of his proud father, former Plymouth Argyle and Trinidad & Tobago international Ronnie Mauge.

“Congratulations to him, he’s got his first goal for Bury Town and that is a positive and he did really well for 60 minutes.

“He’s come out of Ipswich to come and play for us, he’s still doing his bit (training) in the day and he’s been really positive in his attitude and his desire and understanding to take information on, so full credit to him.”

Musgrove, who had been disappointed nobody ‘took the game by the scruff of the neck’ in the second half, also reserved praise for the performance of their number one, who was their standout player.

“As he was Saturday,” he said of Beckwith.

“When we do invite pressure on there’s one thing for sure, Charlie stands up tall and keeps us in the game and it’s just a shame it gets that far in the final third.

“But yes, exceptional, Charlie’s been very good.”

Bury: Beckwith, Parr, White, Upson (Williams 46’), Curry (cpt), Pinyoun (O’Malley 76’), Maughn, Mayhew, Mauge (Ramadan 67’), Brown (Canfer 67’), Jolland (Davis 60’).

Booked: Williams (84’).

Attendance: 422.

SuffolkNews Man of the Match: Charlie Beckwith. Another big display from Bury’s number one with his second-half saves ensuring his side got the point from the game.