Match Report
On paper the standings were lopsided — Bury 3rd with 79 points, Port Vale 20th with 49, 30 apart. Bury had been under-performing their position — 7th on five-round form against 3rd in the table. Scoring rates set the scale: Bury 1.78 scored and 1.22 conceded per game, Port Vale 0.85 and 1.2, with the league averaging 1.28.
The head-to-head ledger counts 10 games: 3 Bury wins, 4 for Port Vale, 3 draws, at 1.9 goals per meeting. The fixture trends low-scoring: over two goals in just 30% of the meetings.
Gigg Lane in Bury, capacity 11,840, hosted the game. It was 1-1 at the break — the second half brought no more goals and it finished 1-1.