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Football: Blues seek to upset leaders
BURY Town FC must put aside their midweek upset to focus on claiming an important Ryman League double at Ram Meadow tomorrow (ko 3pm).
The Blues will have to be at their very best to achieve their aim as promotion-chasing Dartford seek revenge after being defeated 2-1 by their hosts in November.
The Division One North table-toppers will also be looking for three valuable points as second-placed AFC Sudbury look to dislodge them from the top spot and automatic promotion.
"This is a massive game," said Town team manager Richard Wilkins.
"It was a very tight match at their ground and I do not expect it to be any different this time around," he added.
Since that meeting, the Kent outfit have gone on a run which has made them favourites for a rise in status while Bury Town have only recently been able to discover a consistency which has put them just outside the play-off places.
Wilkins admitted that to cause an upset, Town will have to dramatically improve the performance that resulted in their first defeat in seven outings.
"I was very, very disappointed with the first-half display and we threw the game away following three defensive errors," said Wilkins.
The Blues suffered a 3-2 home reverse against Brentwood on Tuesday, the visitors opening the scoring in the 17th minute through Carlos following a deep cross from the right.
An under-par Blues claimed an equaliser just before the break via a timely Scotchmer own goal and four minutes into the second period, a rejuvenated home side took the lead.
Sam Reed, who caused all sorts of problems to the visiting defence all match, put in a cross from the right and Steve Bugg took the opportunity well.
Less than 10 minutes later Brentwood equalised when, again, a cross was not cleared by the back line and Holmes added the final touch.
A series of free kicks came to nothing for the Blues, and a strong appeal for a penalty when Lee Smith received a hefty challenge went unheard, before the fifth goal of the night was claimed by Holmes to seal the three points for the visitors.
"We thought we had eradicated the sort of mistakes we made from our play but in this game they came back to haunt us," said Wilkins.
This result halted Town's seven-game unbeaten run which has seen only three goals conceded.
"Our defending in midweek was naive. We now have to dust ourselves down and fight back," said Wilkins.
"We would like to make it a double over Dartford and we are capable of doing that," he added.
Wilkins expects to add to his squad with the return of Scott Chaplin, who joined the Blues from university for their 2-0 win against Potters Bar Town on Saturday.
The Town chief is also hopeful that midfielder Lee Reed will make a return following an ankle injury.
"Adding those two to a stretched squad gives us further options and that will be useful," said Wilkins.
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Weather for Bury St Edmunds
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North east
