Bury Town chairman Russell Ward has apologised to Andy Reynolds for the chants directed towards the Lowestoft Town goalkeeper during Tuesday night's Alan Boon Cup semi-final between the two sides.

Reynolds was subjected to personal abuse from a section of the home supporters in both halves as Bury secured their place in the final of the competition after a 2-0 win.

Ward said: 'There were chants directed at Andy Reynolds during the course of the game. I spoke to him about it last night and again today because I felt it was over the top.

'I had a long chat with him and Andy was more than happy about it.

'He is not an 18-year-old who has just started playing – he has been playing a long time.

'He knows it was a small minority of supporters, but he accepts that there was some banter which was perhaps over the top, but that is part and parcel of football.

'Having apologised to Andy and to Lowestoft Town I hope that is now the end of the matter.'

Meanwhile, Lowestoft joint boss Ady Gallagher insists he is not concerned by his side's performance on Tuesday evening despite seeing his side now go three games without a win.

Gallagher believes the award of a controversial penalty against Sam Gaughran for pulling a Bury shirt set his side on the back foot and they never recovered.

'It's frustrating because it's (the penalty) in the first minute of the game,' he said. 'The ball has gone in the box and no-one has appealed, no-one has done anything and the referee points to the spot – I just think it was unbelievable. Two of their players came off saying that it wasn't a penalty and if it was then there should have been another 20 throughout the game. I just find it harsh that a decision like that can be made in the first minute of the game. But referees are human and they make mistakes.'

Gallagher insisted there is enough quality in the Lowestoft squad to ensure they bounce back from recent disappointments and reiterated that promotion remains their sole objective.

'I would have cashed this game in weeks ago,' he said. 'This competition is great to blood some of the young players – we were in a semi-final and of course we want to win it but it doesn't change our belief that we wanted to protect a couple of players that have got knocks.

'The league is our priority and we'll go again this weekend at Hendon. This was just a bit of a blip, which all top sides have and we've got a fantastic squad that we fully believe can take us to where we want to be.'