Craig Nurse came off the bench to fire Team Bury into the next round of the FA Vase at the expense of visiting Mildenhall Town at Ram Meadow.

Substitute Aaron Turner looked to have won the game for the visitors from close range, but a stoppage time equalizer from Elliot Hunter forced the tie into extra time before Nurse scored early in the second period.

Mildenhall started the brighter and two corners in quick succession caused havoc in the home box. First Steve Best headed over from six yards then John Sands rose well, only to see his effort strike the post. It wouldn’t be the last time Mildenhall’s leading scorer hit the woodwork.

Up the other end Josh Pope produced great acrobatics to deny Andrew Wood with 24 minutes played, but just four minutes later Wood found the net. A deep cross split Mildenhall’s centre back pairing and with Pope rushing out, Wood calmly guided his header beyond the keeper’s reach.

Mildenhall’s response was positive and on the stroke of half time Chris Barrett should have equalised. The quick striker rounded goalkeeper Nick Pope before tamely shooting straight at Hunter who had got back on the line.

The away side enjoyed large spells of possession during the second half and finally made it count just past the hour. David Cooper’s cross was cleared only as far as James Paterson and the midfielder took one touch before drilling a left footed effort beyond Nick Pope with the aid of a slight deflection.

Mildenhall now had their tails up and would have taken the lead but for a smart save from the feet of Nick Pope to deny Steve Harley’s low effort.

However, the pressure finally told with 20 minutes remaining. Harley released Ryan Foster whose cross fizzed in at the near post. Turner, who was making his first appearance since an ankle injury on the opening day of the season, was first to meet the ball with an intelligent run and he turned it home from six yards.

Harley then had a headed effort cleared off the line before Hunter glanced in a long throw with 93 minutes gone to send the game into extra time.

Sands, who had been uncharacteristically quiet for the majority of the afternoon, raced onto Foster’s lofted pass with 101 minutes gone and lifted the ball over Nick Pope. Luck wasn’t on the striker’s side however as his effort crashed against the crossbar and rebounded to safety.

Substitute Nurse dealt the killer blow three minutes into the second half of extra time. The forward was given time and space on the edge of the box and he fired past a helpless Josh Pope with the hint of a deflection.

Mildenhall pushed for the goal which would have meant a replay on Tuesday evening and Harley went agonizingly close to getting it, but his free kick struck the outside of the post before going out for a goal kick.