A brace from Gary Brazil inspired Fulham to a comprehensive victory over Bury at Craven Cottage this afternoon – despite goalkeeper Jim Stannard suffering a serious injury five minutes both half time.
The home side’s victory in glorious sunshine sets up a potentially winner takes all local derby against Brentford, who are battling Stoke for automatic promotion from the Second Division, next weekend. Don Mackay’s side dominated the first half after Bury, who look as though they are destined for the drop, fashioned a good early chance thanks to clever combination play between Roger Stanislaus and Ronnie Mauge before the former was denied the chance to shoot at goal after he accidentally handled the ball.
It was the Whites who hit the front in the seventeenth minute when Julian Hails raced onto a through ball from Jeff Eckhardt before being brought down by Stanislaus. Brazil confidently tucked away the penalty to score his seventeenth goal of the season and the goal greatly boosted Fulham’s confidence with Mark Kelly, who had earlier created a half chance for Peter Scott, becoming increasingly prominent. When the midfielder was fouled after a clever turn, Glen Thomas guided a fine header home from Martin Pike’s precise free-kick.
It was 3-0 just two minutes later when a pretty passing move culminated with Kelly Haag finding Pike in an advanced position on the left wing and his cross was met by Brazil’s emphatic header, which flew beyond the striker’s former Newcastle team-mate, Gary Kelly. Stannard was forced off the field five minutes before half time when he twisted his knee – with Pike deputising between the sticks and immediately saving impressively from Bury’s top scorer, Ian Stevens.
Bury were more adventurous after the interval but it didn’t take long for the Whites to put the game beyond their reach. Scott played a lovely one-two with Simon Morgan and firing in a low cross that was prodded over the line by Kelly Haag. A double substitution, which saw Phil Parkinson and former Leicester City man Ian Wilson add more guile to Bury’s midfield, strengthened the visitors’ engine room and ultimately helped the Shakers restore some respectability to the scoreline.
Parkinson provided the cross for Kevin Hulme to head past Pike on 73 minutes and, after Brazil wasted the chance to complete a second hat-trick of the season by shooting straight at Gary Kelly, Alan Knill nodded in a second for Mike Walsh’s side. The late concessions were not enough to dampen the buoyant mood around the Cottage with Fulham’s promotion push gathering pace.
FULHAM: Stannard (Tucker 40); Eckhardt, Nebbeling, G. Thomas, Pike, Morgan, Scott, M. Kelly, Hails (Onwere 77), Brazil, Haag.
GOALS: Brazil (pen 17, 35), Thomas (33), Haag (54).
BURY: G. Kelly; Anderson, Stanislaus, Mauge, Hitchcraft, Knill, Hulme, Robinson (Parkinson 56), Stevens, Kearney (Wilson 71), Lyons.
GOALS: Hulme (73), Knill (85).
REFEREE: Gary Willard (Worthing).
ATTENDANCE: 4,060.
