Wingate & Finchley rejoined the Ryman League in the worst possible manner, coming away from newly promoted Bury Town without any points to show for their efforts.  The Blues were the dominant team in terms of possession for the majority of the match, helped in part by the sending off of the Bury Town goalkeeper, but failed to create enough clear cut opportunities and were duly punished. The sending off came about in controversial circumstances in only the 10^th minute. With Dean Williams chasing down a long ball, Paul Barber in the home goal came out to collect the ball in his arms on the edge of the area. However once he collected the ball he took one extra step that took him outside the box. With no defender in sight, the referee deemed that this handball offence had denied a goalscoring opportunity and a red card resulted.

This deficit put Bury Town on the back foot and they were reduced to keeping men behind the ball and launching the ball into the far corners of the pitch just to relieve the pressure. Whenever Bury did manage to mount an attack, the solid Wingate back four - marshalled by new signing Ahmet Rifat - held out superbly. Where Wingate & Finchley did falter was in raising their tempo when in possession. Too often the attacks failed before testing the home defence. The first shot of note came form Craig Ellis in the 30^th minute. His 35 yard effort was well tipped over by Richard Butler who had taken over the goalkeeper duties. Darren Spinks also tested Butler with his fizzing low drive from distance but again the deputy was up to the task with an excellent diving stop. Ed Thompson was called into action in the closing minutes of the half when Stephen Bugg sent a spectacular looping shot destined for the top left corner which Thompson had to tip over the bar.

At the start of the second half Simon Patterson was presented with a few half chances from distance, however he was pressured into taking his shots early and only troubled Paul Butler on one occasion. After the hour mark, at a time when Wingate & Finchley seemed comfortable in terms of defending solidly, the home side broke the deadlock. A quick throw in was taken on the right flank, and the ball was instantly crossed in towards Bugg who clinically headed home. As the half wore on, Wingate began to up their urgency as Bury Town sat deeper and deeper. Spinks had another shot saved by Butler after an excellent improvised short corner with Daniel Stanton, and Patterson had a volley from an acute angle which went over. Bury did threaten on the counter attack and could have sealed the match in the 80^th minute when Michael Steward broke free into the box, however his curling shot was inches wide of the top corner. The Blues peppered the home goal in the closing stages but it was too little too late as time ran out and Bury Town closed the game out for their win.

Manager Adam Lee was surprised at the lack of fluidity in the team, and admitted that his side played too slowly once the opposition keeper had been dismissed. However he was happy with the way the side defended throughout the match, and barring one costly lapse in concentration never really looked in danger of conceding.

Wingate & Finchley host Canvey Island on Tuesday night at home with a 7.45pm kickoff.

Wingate & Finchley: Ed Thompson 7, Jon Ellis 7, Joe Faulkner 6, Craig Ellis 7, Guy Helman 7 (Jirka Houdek 64th 7), Ahmet Rifat 9, Jon Nichols 5 (Dan Stanton 75th 6), Danny Berg 6 (Adam Stolerman 60th 6), Dean Williams 7, Simon Patterson 6, Darren Spinks 6. Subs not used: Darren Assiamah, Craig Scotcher.