Lower Breck manager Gary Moore insists their win over Bury AFC must be the benchmark for their standard of performance for the remainder of the season.
Goals from Tom Williams and Jamie Menagh sealed a win over the Shakers, handing them just their second defeat of the season.
The win made it two league wins from two, after beating Winsford United 3-2 last weekend, and three straight victories in all competitions after their penalty shoot-out win over Daisy Hill in the FA Vase.
Although, it wasn’t plane sailing for the Breck as they had to withstand pressure from Bury throughout the first and second half. Theo Roberts was on hand to make a number of saves and important interventions as Stuart Crilly made a brilliant goalsaving clearance just after the hosts doubled their lead.
Speaking after the win, manager Gary Moore gave his initial feelings after the win.
“Elated, exactly what we’ve been asking for and we’ve got it for 90 minutes, haven’t we? Everything,” he told Off The Park.
“Hunger, desire, what we class as a proper Breck performance, that’s what we’ve just got out of them lads tonight.
“When they’re like that, you’re kicking every ball from the touchline, you’re not sitting there flat or moaning, you just trying to encourage and encourage because that’s what they deserve, bit of encouragement and a bit of support goes a long way when you put performances in like that.
“We’ve had glimpses, we haven’t set the world alight [so far], far from it. We just said then, you’re getting clapped off by all the supporters, their team and that,” he added after he was asked about the performance.
“Once you put in performances like that and get beat, it’s acceptable, you’ve got to accept that but the manner some of them [the performances], the lads know that. It’s three wins on the spin, you’ve got to take it, two in the league, one in the Vase.
“We set a target going into September and we said as long as we’re still in one of the cups. League’s aren’t won or lost in August, September so the lads know that and they’ve just responded with a massive performance.”
Breck defender Ricky Ager picked up man of the match for an assured display at the back for the hosts. But it was a difficult decision for Moore and his management side.
He continued: “I thought they [Bury] were a very good side, neat and tidy, the way they move the ball is quality. They’re a fit side but it’s when they move the ball you think, right they’re coming out second-half, they went a little bit more direct and we just dealt with it.
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“Ricky Ager, he’s winning the first header then the second header, that desire, that’s what you need when a teams putting it on you like that.
“We were saying over there, ‘who are you picking as your man of the match?’ there was loads of names but Ricky [Ager] got it. He’s just dominant, he’s had a good battle with their number nine – who is quality by the way.
“We said to them at half-time, that’s a game of football there, you’re in a game of football. It’s how you come out second-half and they came out and won the half. We said, don’t get beat.”
With the win making it six points from their last two and their performance against Bury being the standard required going forward, the Lower Breck manager was in no mood to dwell on the triumph too much.
“We said to them at the start, we said we go into September in full focus. We knew where we were going wrong, doing wrong and we can say as much as we want, it’s a new bunch of lads.
“We’ve moved lads on, a couple have come in, we’ll find ourselves but individuals as well, they start stepping up individually, as a team, you’ll start getting performances like that.
“Listen, Thursday nights should always be like that in front of a very good crowd but you’ve also got to bring it on a Saturday – a lesser one. As you say, they’ve set the tone, that’s the benchmark now, we’ve got to move forward with those performances week in, week out.”
