Cisak pays ultimate price

Shefki Kuqi shoots at goal

ATHLETIC 0 BURY 2
WHEN Nathan Clarke and Alex Cisak individually arrived at the same conclusion that the other should deal with a long punt forward, hearts became lodged in mouths.

Andy Bishop’s finger was on the pulse. The Bury forward knows his way around a goalmouth and engineered football’s peculiar double-whammy: a touch around the goalkeeper and a tumble equalled both a penalty and a red card for Athletic’s Antipodean custodian.

The cost of the indecision was not immediately calculable. Substitute ’keeper Paul Gerrard – whose previous appearance in an Athletic shirt on the same turf was just over eight years ago, against Arsenal – quickly applied a pair of shinpads, replaced unlucky debutant Luca Scapuzzi and waltzed onto the field to save Bishop’s soft spot-kick low to his left.

It is to goalkeeping coach Gerrard’s credit that he made his entrance, and immediate impact, look like the most natural thing in the world.

But Athletic’s overall defensive instinct is not proving to be anything like as effortless.

No matter in what combination Dickov arranges his defence, the same vulnerabilities continue.

Prior to the penalty, it can be argued with equal validity that Clarke should have raced back and hacked the ball into the stand with his left foot, or that Cisak should have been more decisive in emerging from his goal to do likewise.

There is no such debate over the two goals Athletic conceded within the following 20 minutes.

Bury’s first arrived as a result of a sweet turn and cross from Lennell John-Lewis – inconsequently sent off for a second yellow card in injury time – and a near-post finish from Bishop, crossing in front of his marker, which went in off an upright.

The second goal was even more galling for Athletic’s management, arriving as it did direct from a corner.

John Sweeney swung in a left-footed cross from the right wing and Bishop stooped to head past Gerrard from six yards.

So simple, but so costly, it was the eighth goal conceded inside the last three games. Athletic simply must tighten up.

In between the goals, Kuqi stabbed one a yard wide after squeezing between Bury’s sometimes-wobbly centre-half pairing of Mark Hughes and Ashley Eastham.

At times, despite Bury’s superior possession in the opening period, Kuqi and Robbie Simpson, who dropped into a midfield role behind Kuqi following the red card, caused the visitors problems with their clever movement.

Gerrard made a couple of alert stops from crosses and shortly before half-time, Bury spurned the chance to really test the veteran when Michael Jones mystifyingly chose to go it alone with Sweeney screaming for the ball on the overlap just outside the penalty area.

Athletic needed a positive and energetic response after the break and that is exactly what they provided for their manager.

After John-Lewis hit a first-time volley high and wide, getting on the end of a slewed Sweeney effort, Dean Furman would have nodded in neatly from one of several excellent Simpson set-piece deliveries were it not for Kuqi’s instinctive poke at the ball which sent it careering over – rather than nestling inside inside the corner of the net to Belford’s left.

A half-shout against Phil Picken for handball arrived next as Kuqi flicked the ball up, but any positive decision Athletic’s way would have been very harsh on the visitors.

Athletic continued to starve Bury of the ball and were finding the aerial route effective in neutralising the extra-man advantage.

It therefore made sense to bring Matt Smith off the bench in place of Tom Adeyemi, who had a quiet game after being shifted out to the right of midfield in the early shuffling of the pack.

John-Lewis picked up his first yellow card for kicking the ball away after 69 minutes, shortly before tireless Kuqi hammered a 25-yard shot which Belford did well to push away, with the ball dipping viciously just in front of him.

Referee Paul Tierney didn’t endear himself to the home support or management when not awarding the recalled Zander Diamond a spot-kick when he appeared to be held off following a corner as the pressure continued to build.

The man in the middle also refused pleas in favour of Furman after he fell in midfield, apparently caught by a flailing arm of Schumacher, who had already been booked earlier in the contest.

Chris Taylor half-volleyed a quickly-taken effort wide of the far post and as the game entered its final four minutes of regular time, Schumacher’s cleanly-hit free-kick from 35 yards stung the palms of Gerrard.

The veteran also saved a last-gasp effort when one-on-one with substitute Shaun Harrad.

That arrived after Smith had hit the bar with a 25-yard left-footed effort which spooned up off Hughes and hit the woodwork before heading out of play.

It was that kind of day. The spirit, at least, was there . . . but Athletic must marry it with improved defensive rigidity.