Bury 0 Swansea City 1

Last updated : 08 May 2005 By Footymad Previewer
Swansea had plenty to savour as they secured promotion with victory in a last chance saloon showdown with Bury.

The Swans were forced to soak up a barrage of pressure, but an Adrian Forbes strike after just 27 seconds guaranteed there were special celebrations at the final whistle.

But in the 87th minute the match was stopped for over five minutes by referee Colin Webster after Swansea supporters swarmed the pitch before the final whistle.

Angry scenes followed, and Bury boss Graham Barrow was involved in a heated altercation with Swansea substitute Kevin McLeod. Once the melee had died down, Swansea hung on for their dear lives and celebrated promotion to the Coca-Cola League One.

Kenny Jackett's team knew the play-offs were guaranteed, but a draw or a victory gave them the chance of gaining automatic promotion, albeit it depended on how fellow promotion-chasers Southend United faired away to Grimsby.

Southend, thankfully for Jackett's team, only managed a draw and three points for Swansea was enough to take them up to the delight of 4,608 fans who had made the trip from South Wales to support their side.

The Swansea supporters were so overjoyed with their triumph they spilled on to the pitch again at the end of the match to rejoice with the players.

Forbes' strike was enough to end inflict only Bury's second loss in their last 10 outings, but the home side had plenty of chances in the second half to at least grab a share of the spoils.

David Flitcroft saw a long-range shot well-saved by Swansea keeper Willy Gueret, while Simon Whaley was desperately unlucky not earn a penalty for the home side, having looked to have been tripped in the box.

Colin Kazim-Richards also went close, but fired over from just outside the six-yard box with the goal at his mercy.

Earlier, it was Forbes' clinical strike in the first minute which shell-shocked Barrow's team. Colin Woodthorpe was caught napping in defence, and striker Forbes raced on to a long ball from skipper Robert Martinez and fired past Garner.

But the Shakers dominated possession and were unlucky not to equalise through Whaley. The midfielder's free-kick deflected agonisingly wide of the right-hand post. Then Whaley saw a long-range shot saved at the end of the first half.

However, the best chance of the first-half fell to Ricky Shakes, but his header from a Whaley cross was somehow saved by Gueret, who stopped the ball on the line with his feet at point-blank range.