Westley takes an ugly point

Stevenage boss Graham Westley praised his side for a dogged performance that saw them hold Bury to a 0-0 draw at the Lamex Stadium.

Looking to bounce back from a three-game losing run, Boro never looked like breaching the Shakers' rearguard with the visitors creating the best of what few chances there were while Chris Day pulled off several important saves at the other end. But, despite losing ground on some of the sides above them, Westley insisted he was pleased with a hard-fought point. "You've got to play in a certain way to deal with the surface and we had to play with the players that were available and try to find a way to win," said Westley. "We obviously have got a lot of dynamism in the team but we can't play that type of game without key players available, we've got to play a much more resilient and dogged game, and I thought the fight, the will and the spirit to work was great; there was terrific determination from everyone against a very good side. "I've tried to deal with the absentees and replace them like-for-like and giving the younger lads the chance to come in and give us that attacking dynamism that the senior boys have given. "But it hasn't worked, so I've had to ask these lads to play in a certain way, not the way we want to play, we don't want to be dogged and counter attacking at home, we want to go and win games but I think we grinded out a very hard earned clean sheet." Danny Rose's attempted backheel from a Danny Mayor cross was the closest either side came to a goal before the interval. Ben Kennedy had a fantastic chance to put the hosts in front on the hour mark but his shot from outside the area was well wide. Rose thought he had put the Shakers in front shortly after only for the offside flag to ruin his celebrations. Andrew Tutte had the best chance of the game with 15 minutes left but his free-kick was well-saved by Day, who pushed out another free-kick late on from Chris Hussey. "In tricky conditions we have probed, we have tried to move the ball well," said frustrated Bury manager David Flitcroft. "The home team have got 10 outfield players behind the ball, they got a round of applause from having a shot in the 78th minute. "So we've had to try break that down and not been successful in that but we've certainly had moments to win it. "The keeper will get man-of-the-match, he's pulled off two world-class saves that on another day would have gone in. "We've tried to win the match, I don't believe Stevenage tried to win the match. But we have certainly earned a point. "The gulf in the two performances in what they have tried to do and what we have tried to do was massive."