Wrexham 0, Bury 0

THE first goal-less draw at the Racecourse this season brought the inevitable reaction from disgruntled home fans at the final whistle on Saturday, Denis Smith's players leaving the field to a chorus of disappointment.

And the Dragons' boss was among the first to admit that his young side had not played as well as he would have liked before pointing out that anyone who had anticipated an easy ride against a Bury team fighting to pull away from the League Two relegation zone was sorely misguided.

Under the circumstances it was no great surprise that the visitors set out from the start to take at least a point from their visit and their blanket defence - on more than one occasion demanding every player behind the ball - proved highly effective..

But even as Wrexham were struggling to come up with the answers, their efforts to keep possession drew little or no encouragement from sections of the crowd who seemed to forget that it takes two teams to make for an entertaining match.

So it was not until the second half when the Dragons began to take a few more risks, Andy Holt in particular pushing up on the left flank, that the game opened up to any extent and provided Bury with the opportunity to hit their opponents on the break.

But in the continued absence of injured strikers Jon Walters and Lee McEvilly, Smith had few, if any, options on the bench to make the sort of changes that might have offered an alternative approach to the task of breaking down a solid back line.

Visiting boss Chris Casper was delighted with his team's performance, which followed a midweek 1-0 defeat at the hands of fellow-strugglers Stockport County.

"I thought we passed the ball better on a difficult surface and created the better chances and we are probably a bit disappointed we've not won the game," he said afterwards..

"After Tuesday we could have felt sorry for ourselves or we could have come here and given it a good go. To be fair the players exceeded my expectations in the composure they showed and their workrate.

"If you look at the stats we probably had more possession and the better chances, which shows there's not a lot of difference between the teams in this division.

"It was more than a good job and I'm hard- pushed to think when the keeper has had a shot to save.

"We have kept a good team at bay and that speaks volumes for the back four who've worked ever so hard during the week and that really paid off today."

It might have been a very different afternoon had referee Mick Fletcher taken an alternative view of the 23rd minute incident in which home striker Matt Derbyshire latched onto a woefully underhit back-pass from Paul Scott.

The on-loan Blackburn Rovers teenager reached the ball just ahead of goal-keeper Kasper Schmeichel before tumbling over when his foot was apparently clipped. The official, however, decided that Derbyshire had dived and produced a yellow card as punishment.

To be fair to Mr Fletcher it was not an easy call, but in giving the benefit of the doubt to Schmeichel, whose famous father Peter was watching from the stands, he ensured that Bury remained on level terms and could maintain their defensive posture.

And both Derbyshire and Sam Williams struggled to break off the shackles imposed on them by the visitors, who by and large restricted the home side to efforts from distance.

Only one of them, a 25-yard shot from Mark Jones after eight minutes, tested Schmeichel, who responded with a full-length save to turn the ball behind for a corner.

But Jim Whitley and Matt Crowell were unable to make the most of what were at best half-chances and the match developed into a slugging contest confined largely to the 60 yards dividing both penalty areas.

Bury mustered only one first-half opening worthy of the name, when David Flitcroft's looping cross was met by Tom Youngs, whose diving header flew more or less straight at Mike Ingham.

But it was a different story after the break and Wrexham were grateful to defender Shaun Pejic for a last-ditch tackle on Colin Marrison, which was immediately followed by a goal-line clearance from Danny Williams, who came to the rescue after Ingham's poor punch had given Youngs a chance to break the deadlock.

It was evidence that the visitors had enough about them to have made more of a game of it from the beginning and as the home side hit a nervous patch, Dwayne Mattis should have scored, instead firing over the top from 10 yards following more good work by Flitcroft.

The sudden injection of pace and urgency at last woke up the crowd and Bury were desperately unlucky in the 68th minute when Ingham dropped the ball under Marrison's challenge and Mattis saw a close-range shot hit his team-mate's body and ricochet wide of the unguarded goal.

Immediately Wrexham broke forward and Sam Williams beat

Schmeichel at his near post, only for defender John Fitzgerald to head the ball away from the goal-line. Two minutes later Holt's deep cross was met at the far post by Dean Bennett, but his well-struck volley flew straight at the Bury keeper.

And the Dragons finished the stronger of the two sides, although without any great conviction.

Jones created an opening for Derbyshire, whose header failed to trouble Schmeichel, the young midfielder also thrashed a first-time effort wide and in added time substitute Matty Done got on the end of Levi Mackin's cross to head the ball back into the danger zone but there was noone in a red shirt close enough to take advantage.

Wrexham boss Smith, who prior to the game had predicted a

tough battle, declined to criticise his side for their efforts and said Bury had stuck to their task well.

"They set themselves up to make things difficult for the opposition and that's why we were trying to be patient in the first half and keep the ball moving," he said..

"But the crowd didn't appreciate that and their reaction got to a few of the young players and we stopped doing it.

"But I think that is what you need at times. When teams try and frustrate you, you need to keep the ball and try to tire them out in the hope that the longer the game goes the mistakes will come.

"But Bury did their job very well and even when I brought (Matty) Done on they brought on someone to double up on him.

"So it was frustrating but it could have gone either way."