Lowestoft Town 2, Bury Town 1: Nine man Bury Town were sunk by a Scott Mitchell 20-yard drive six minutes from time to give victory to Lowestoft Town in a feisty encounter at Crown Meadow.

The tone of the game was set in the opening minute with a fearsome tackle by Mitchell, for which he was lucky to escape with just a stern talking to.

The better early chances fell to Bury and they duly moved ahead in the 22nd minute with Danny Cunningham crossing from the right to Lee Smith, who held off the attentions of Greg Crane before laying the ball off for Sam Reed to shoot home from 12 yards.

Lowestoft started to get a grip on the game and penned Bury back for long periods but without managing to create a clear opening.

The second half continued at a high tempo but it was goalkeeper Garnham who kept Bury's noses in front – until Lowestoft levelled the scores in the 54th minute.

Mitchell took a pass from Lubo Guentchev but was impeded as he ran into the penalty area. There was a lengthy delay before substitute Dale Cockrill was able to step up to net the resulting penalty.

Just four minutes later Bury were reduced to 10 men with Bullard shown a straight red for a challenge on Michael Frew.

Despite being a man short Bury were close to regaining the lead as Reed raced clear but saw his cross shot hit the post with Reynolds beaten and Mitchell clearing the loose ball.

But Bury were reduced to nine men in the 77th minute with substitute Craig Nurse getting another straight red for a tackle on Andrew Fisk.

With a two-man advantage, Lowestoft pressed for a winner – which finally arrived in the 84th minute. Adam Smith crossed from the left and Crane laid the ball back to Mitchell to drill the ball low to the keeper's left and inside the post.

Lowestoft director of football Craig Fleming thought it was a good competitive game with Lowestoft comfortable at the back despite giving away a sloppy goal, and always looking to get forward at every opportunity.

There was a lot of incident in the game to keep the four-figure crowd entertained and a massive three points for the Trawlerboys to keep the pressure on the other sides at the top.

• Lowestoft: Reynolds, Okay (Cockrill 43). A Smith, Fisk, Crane, Gaughran, Guentchev, Mitchell, Frew, Forshaw (Onuchukwu 82), Henderson. Unused subs: Ainsley, Hodd, Jessup.

• Bury: Garnham, Short, Coulson. Kennedy (Sands 69), Hipperson, Bullard, L Smith, Clark (Nurse 69), S Reed, L Reed, Cunningham (Leabon 82). Unused Subs: Hitching, Robins.

• Attendance: 1,066