Keeper Carlos twice denied Bury Town from the spot but he could not stop the 3-2 defeat

Two penalty saves from keeper Carlos Simeon were not enough to claim anything for Leighton Town as took pace-setters Bury Town the distance at Bell Close on Saturday.

The shot-stopper twice denied the visitors from 12-yards, and also suffered a potentially game-ending injury in the first-half, but left the field on the wrong end of a 3-2 reverse.

Reds boss Paul Reed lamented a poor start to the second-half for costing his side a worthy share of the spoils, with Leighton slow out the blocks and seeing their 2-1 advantage turned on it’s head as Bury netted twice in quick succession to take the lead.

Simeon was called into early on action against Bury, who arrived with a 100 per cent record at the start of the season, making a couple of important stops before the ball hit Sydney Ibie’s arm on 27 minutes. The keeper though guessed right to deny Sam Ford’s spot-kick.

But he would be in the wars just six minutes later, suffering a nasty looking injury which left him needing treatment for several minutes. With no reserve keeper available, Simeon battled on to a manic end to the first-half, which would see three goals scored.

Sam King first hit the back of the net for Leighton on 44 minutes, but Bailey Clements hit back within 60 seconds for the visitors, appearing to send the sides in level at the interval.

Leighton had other ideas though, with Tolo Ikuyinminu snatching the lead heading into the break.

Bury though would fire back with two goals in the opening five minutes of the second-half to lead 3-2 before getting another penalty with five minutes to go, denied once again by Simeon.

The hosts thought they should have had a penalty of their own at the death for a similar handball which was awarded in the first-half, but protests would be waved away at Bury claimed the nail-biting victory.

“I can’t believe we’ve lost,” said Reed afterwards. “Ultimately, we’ve come up against a team with a 100 per cent record and there was nothing between them.

“We’ve just had a crazy five minutes at the start of the second-half and we’ve given them a moment in there to make it really difficult for us.”

Reed went on to praise keeper Simeon not only for his penalty saves, but for his resilience after his first-half injury.

He added: “He’s a fantastic character. He knew if he came off, it would mean an out-field player going in goal. The two penalty saves have proven he’s a good keeper.”