Bishop and Hurst save sorry Shakers

Final Position: 21

Top Goalscorer: Andy Bishop (14+6 cup)

Bishop...16 league goals

Bishop and the ex-Notts man built a potent partnership which laid the foundations for survival this year.

The pair scored twenty league goals between them and both scored some crucial winning goals. Goals keep sides in the division and these too scored more than their fair share in a campaign of little success for Chris Casper's men.

Against Notts: It was honours even between the two sides. Bury sneaked a 1-0 win at Meadow Lane courtesy of an Andy Bishop goal just after the half hour mark.

The Magpies then crept to a much needed win at Gigg Lane by the same scoreline. Tcham N'Toya got the games only goal.

Both games left a lot to the imagination in two fairly dour affairs.

Defining Moment: The Shakers 3-1 away win at Shrewsbury marked their survival in a campaign that always looked as if Bury could be the unexpected side to be dragged to relegation. Bishop netted twice and Hurst the other as Bury took advantage of their game in hand to ease their relegation worries.

The Shrews were desperate of the points as they looked to hunt down a play-off place at the time. It was a massive win against all the odds. The win stopped a Bury rot and will be remembered as the night they put a halt to their downward slide.

Highlight: A run of six straight league wins from the end of September throughout October had the Shakers in amongst the play-off mix. Wins over Lincoln, Notts County and Rochdale had the side from Greater Manchester in with a great shout of play-off contention.

Lowlight: Bury were thumped 4-0 at home to Wycombe Wanderers in the middle of a run of fifteen league games without a win. Two goals in each half from the Chairboys sealed their fate on an awful afternoon for the Shakers. Bury fans had to wait until the final day of March for their first win in 2007.

Hurst...ex-Notts man doing the business

Mad Verdict: Bury have had a poor season, it cannot be denied. Their front pairing however is one of the best in the league, they just struggled in every other area.

Again Bury narrowly beat the drop and after a fairly positive start they must wonder how they ended near the bottom come May.

Their match-up's with Notts offered very little. They lacked fight and creativity and really must improve if they are to compete at the top end of the table.

They showed little resilience this term, suffering too many bad slumps of form. Between Christmas and April they were the worst side in the division bar Torquay and deserved to go down. Good results against Shrewsbury and Walsall ultimately kept them in the league but fans will expect a lot more next season.

What's Next? Bury must look to move onto the next level. Again they narrowly escaped relegation and they look like a club lacking ambition.

Casper has done a fairly good job in keeping them in the Football League but it is about time they push onto the next level and stop making up the numbers in League Two.

The summer will be crucial for the Shakers as they need to invest in the club to reach the next level. Surely, next season they will be looking to show a bit more consistency and a claim a mid-table finish rather than languishing towards the foot of the division.