The hosts started brightly and threatened early as a low ball flashed across the face of the Chasetown goal, begging for a finishing touch – but no one was there to capitalise. Chasetown responded with a chance of their own, Thorley firing narrowly wide from the edge of the area after a neat spell of possession.

Bury opened the scoring in the opening 10 minutes through the first half in somewhat controversial fashion. Chasetown’s Pond appeared to be bundled to the ground inside the area, but with appeals waved away by the referee, the loose ball fell kindly to Massey who slotted home calmly to make it 1–0.

Chasetown looked to respond with a lively run from Dunne down the left. Cutting inside, he had a crack at goal – but the effort went wide, with Butlin left unmarked at the front post.

Bury doubled their lead not long after. A mistake at the back saw Cameron dispossessed while attempting to play forward. The loose ball dropped to Bury’s Evans, who struck from distance. His low drive skipped past Pondy in goal and nestled in the bottom corner.

The Shakers added a third before the break, Pedro drilling in a crisp shot from the edge of the box that left Pond with no chance. Bury’s attacking momentum continued minutes later, as a sweeping move down the left ended with a low cross turned in at the back post by Kai Evans – his second of the afternoon – to give the hosts a commanding 4–0 lead at half-time.

To their credit, Chasetown came out in the second half with renewed purpose. Cameron came close early on with a whipped free kick that forced a fingertip save from Allen, the Bury keeper pushing the ball onto the bar.

Chasetown kept pressing. Evans won a strong aerial challenge and tested Allen with a shot that the keeper failed to hold. Butlin pounced on the loose ball, but in the scramble that followed, he was booked as Allen recovered just in time. Ferrier added to Chasetown’s growing threat, meeting a corner on the edge of the area and unleashing a strike that again forced a solid save from Allen.

The best chance for a consolation came late on as Butlin found himself one-on-one with the Bury keeper, but Allen stood tall and snuffed out the opportunity.

Despite a much-improved second half from Chasetown, the damage was already done. Bury’s ruthless first-half display proved more than enough to seal all three points.