THE day after Bury's FA Cup exit at the hands of neighbours Rochdale, Bury Ladies were unceremoniously dumped out of the womens' competition 7-0 by high flying rivals Blackburn Rovers.

After conceding three early goals, two of which might have been disallowed by more attentive officials, the Bury girls never managed to threaten Rovers' robust stranglehold on midfield which saw three visitors booked.

Chances for the home side were few and far between although Krystle Johnson was always lively until forced to leave the field following yet another heavy Blackburn challenge.

Highlight of the match for the home supporters was Donna Hankinson's magnificent penalty save late in the game which rightly drew applause from both sides.

Bury coach, Mark Withington, commented: "The result wasn't unexpected but the scoreline didn't do justice to the effort we put in.

"Some of the younger players are bitterly disappointed but we are on a steep learning curve and we can take a lot of pride in this season's cup run.

"We are self-financing so it will always be difficult to compete with teams like Blackburn whose players are backed by the financial muscle of a Premiership club, but next time we play them I expect the performance and the result to be much closer".