Simon Grayson praised the application and endeavour of his players in their first pre-season test and reserved a special mention for two-goal hero Josh Maja.
Jack Rodwell and Lee Cattermole fashioned a number of early openings from range, but the Lads were unable to take full advantage as Bury soared into a 2-0 lead inside 27 minutes.
Grayson’s side refused to lay down, though, and instead rolled their sleeves up with George Honeyman, Rees Greenwood and Luke Molyneux applying some pressure in the final third.
Rodwell halved the deficit before the break, flicking home Honeyman’s near-post corner to give the 724 travelling away fans something to cheer about.
While chances were at a premium in the second period due to wholesale changes from both sides, a late double from Maja saw him turn the match on its head to give the Black Cats and Grayson a winning start to pre-season.
Speaking post-match Grayson delivered his verdict.
“We pretty much got from it what I thought we would to be honest.
“We’ve not had a chance to do too much work in terms of the team shape; there was some decent stuff at times and there was some poor stuff at times, but I don’t think it’s any different to what I think we needed to work on and what I we need to add to the squad.”
He continued: “Ultimately, the players had a good attitude and worked hard, pre-season isn’t about winning matches but it can breed confidence and when you’ve not won for a long time it can certainly help with belief.
“I thought the tempo was a lot better in the second-half – we passed forward a little bit more, we asked more questions and defensively looked a lot sounder.
“I said the other day that Josh [Maja] is a player that’s impressed me with his work and what he’s done, so he’s got an opportunity today and he took his goals really well.
“I thought his link-up play was good as well which needs to be part of his armoury and I thought the two centre halves did well, and Ethan Robson did well in the midfield so it was pleasing for the youngsters.”