Ryan Lowe hails Bury’s long-suffering fans after long overdue win

Posted Sunday, April 29, 2018 by PA

Boss Ryan Lowe hailed Bury’s long-suffering fans as his relegated side earned a 1-0 home win over Portsmouth.

Pompey had a slim chance of sneaking into the League One play-offs but the Shakers won it through George Miller’s 68th-minute strike.

That was Miller’s seventh goal since returning on loan from Middlesbrough in January and rock-bottom Bury held on for a first win in 11 games.

“It’s nice to get three points in the last home game,” said Lowe. “It doesn’t change anything but it sends the fans away with a smile, which they haven’t had often this season.

“That win is for them because it’s been tough for them as well as us. I asked the players to give them a performance and they did.

“We gave the ball away too cheaply in the first half. In the second we changed shape a bit to get more support to George and the wingers, and it paid off.

“We wanted to press, we knew they would take chances at the back, and George’s goal came from a bit of pressure and a bit of attacking.

“The quality was still lacking a bit, but for a young lad like Saul Shotton to keep someone like Brett Pitman quiet for 90 minutes shows how far he’s come, and how far he can go.”

Pompey are now five games without a win, and manager Kenny Jackett said: “The goal is a mistake from Luke’s (McGee) point of view. It was the wrong pitch to take chances on, and the wrong position.

“He tried to turn out but Miller read it and it was a key goal. We had a lot of the ball and were on top in both halves.

“We kept winning the ball back and were getting into Bury’s half quickly but we didn’t create enough, we didn’t test their back four, and in the end I felt we let them off.

“We recycled the ball well but we just had too many people who were lacking the energy they had a month ago, and lacking form.

“As much as we’ve talked about finishing the season strongly, we’ve been poor in recent weeks and today, despite having the lion’s share of the ball, despite being on top, we didn’t do enough and then the mistake cost us.”