Atherton Collieries rounded off their pre-season preparations with a hard-fought draw at Liversedge. The West Yorkshire side took the lead in the second half but late equaliser from a trialist saw the game finish all-square. Following last weeks’ win at Glossop, Colls were on the road again, making the trip to Yorkshire and to the Clayborn Stadium in Cleckheaton. Despite being the first week of August, it was bucketing it down for most of the afternoon with the wet pitch lending itself to a tough-tackling, physical game between the two sides. Colls took the lead inside the first thirty seconds at Glossop last week and almost got off to the perfect start again, Dylan Glass breaking through the Sedge defence and rounding the keeper inside the first minute, only for his shot to be blocked on the line by the defender. It was the first in a series of heroic goalmouth blocks, with the defenders showing their keepers how it was done. Ben Conway has enjoyed a solid pre-season campaign in black and white and looked dangerous once again out on the right-hand side. After surging to the byline, he was unlucky no-one was in the box to convert his low drilled cross on ten minutes. A few moments later, his floated delivery onto the headband of Luca Hansen flew harmlessly over the bar from the American. Making his debut between the sticks, Luke Hutchinson was called into action after 20 minutes, the young stopper acrobatically punching a cross clear before making an unorthodox from a curling Liversedge free-kick. At the other end Eliott Rokka came close, beating his man in the box with a nice bit of trickery before firing over. Liversedge grew into the game as the half went on and a defensive mix-up from Colls almost handed the hosts the lead on the half-hour mark. With the Sedge striker bearing down on goal, Hutchinson beaten and the goal gaping, it was Clive Smith who was on-hand to stop the tame effort. With the second-half underway in monsoon-like conditions, it was Liversedge who struck the first blow in the 52nd minute. A scramble in the box saw the wet ball squirm away from Hutchinson’s grasp and poked towards goal by the striker - it looked as though Dylan Glass had hacked it clear, but the linesman's impressive eyesight spotted the ball centimetres over the line. The black and whites spent the rest of the second half pushing for an equaliser with Lewis Doyle enjoying an attacking role through the centre of the park. On 65 minutes, the midfielder made an impressive run from deep and slipped in Ben Conway, but the winger skied his first-time effort well over the bar. With Colls heading towards defeat, it was Doyle again who provided a late spark for the equaliser with five minutes left on the clock. His cut back from the by-line evaded the clutch of the 'Sedge keeper and came to the infamous Trialist, who dispatched the ball into the roof of the net to earn Colls a deserved draw. In the end a fair result against a tough opponent and Colls fans will no doubt be pleased with how Brad Cooke's team looks to be shaping up ahead of the league opener at Hyde next Saturday 14th August. We'd like to thank Liversedge for their warm welcome and hospitality on the day and also wish them the best of luck for the upcoming season. Atherton Collieries: Luke Hutchinson, Clive Smith, Gaz Peet (C), Danny Lambert, Luca Hansen, Joel Amado, Ben Conway, Jack Lenehan, Dylan Glass (Trialist 60'), Lewis Doyle, Elliot Rokka Report: Danny Brown Photo: Dave Featherstone
Report: Stafford 2-0 Colls
November 29, 2023
Stafford Rangers captain Ethan Stewart led firmly by example on Tuesday night, scoring both goals as Atherton Collieries were beaten 2-0 at the Stan Robinson
