Grant McCann's 67th minute penalty was enough to secure Cheltenham a 1-0 win against Bury at Whaddon Road.
The penalty was awarded by referee Andy Penn for a push by Bury captain Dave Challinor on Cheltenham striker Steve Guinan. Although the infringement was not obvious to most in the crowd, referee Penn was clear with his hand signals as to what had happened and McCann despatched the penalty with the minimum of fuss.
Both sides had earlier hit the woodwork during a pulsating first half that should have provided at least one goal.
Cheltenham almost took the lead in the first five minutes when a close range shot from John Brough was blocked by the legs of newly-signed Bury goalkeeper Andy Marriott.
At the other end Shane Higgs was called into action to make two good saves. First, he tipped a dipping shot from Terry Dunfield over the crossbar then he darted off his line to make a point-blank save from Dwayne Mattis.
Cheltenham were the first to hit the woodwork when striker Guinan headed a cross from JJ Melligan against the bar on 23 minutes. Only four minutes later the visitors returned the compliment when David Nugent met a cross from Lee Unsworth with a stinging volley against the post.
Cheltenham's Brian Wilson was next to hit the frame when his 25-yard free-kick smacked the post and Robins captain Brough, following up for the rebound, was unable to keep his shot down.
The second half failed to live up to the quality of the first, although Cheltenham could have gone ahead before the penalty when defender Shane Duff met a corner from Martin Devaney only to see his powerful header cleared off the line by Colin Woodthorpe.
Bury's best chance of the second half arrived shortly afterwards when Nugent took advantage of some defensive hesitation to reach the ball before Higgs. He tried a controlled lob shot but the ball landed on top of the net instead of inside it.