New Bury recruit looks ahead after 26-minute blitz at Linnets sees Shakers go four points clear

Those three goals were all that separated Anthony Johnson’s side from Michael Ellison’s Linnets, who could have gone two points behind the league leaders with a win themselves.

In the end, Runcorn are now eight behind Bury, who are starting to truly hit their stride heading into the final stages of the campaign.

“I thought, to a man, we were absolutely outstanding, both on and off the ball,” Lazenbury said after the game.

“They couldn’t get near us, and every time we went forward, it felt like we were going to score. We were unbelievable.”

The 31-year-old was one of the later arrivals at Gigg Lane ahead of the registration window closing, coming in from Step 5 side West Didsbury & Chorlton, where he’d netted 50 times in 94 games.

A couple of those goals came against Bury at Gigg Lane, and the wide man admits he is looking forward to his next goal at the ground being much more well-received.

“I’ve played against them a couple of times and always seem to do well against them,” he said. “I scored twice, so I’m used to all sorts of insults!

“I always knew they were great, so to be part of it is a different class. Singing from minute one today, even in the warm-up, they were non-stop, absolute class.”

The Shakers return home on Good Friday to continue their run-in against Congleton Town. 

Results elsewhere on Saturday mean they head into the final five matches with a four-point cushion ahead of Avro in second, who were beaten for the second straight game against Bootle on Saturday.

However, while it can be easy to get carried away at the prospect of back-to-back league titles, Bury aren’t running before they can walk.

“[We've got] two, well, five massively important games ahead,” Lazenbury said when asked about the coming Easter weekend of fixtures.

“That starts Friday, and we just need to keep ticking them off one by one and not look too far ahead.”