Atherton Collieries will be looking to follow a first league win of the season with three more points as they travel to take on Hanley Town on Tuesday.
Calen Gallagher got the only goal of the game in Saturday’s victory against Mossley, with his last-gasp header securing a first win in the league since another 1-0 success against Stafford Rangers back in April.
And that result capped a productive three-game stretch at the Dreams2Reality Stadium, in which Michael Clegg’s men picked up four points and registered back-to-back clean sheets in the latter pair of those fixtures.
Such an upturn in form has helped the Colls claw back the distance between themselves and those immediately above them in the table, and another triumph on Tuesday would see them move from the bottom of the early-season table, leapfrogging their opponents in the process.
As that permutation would suggest, Hanley have had a slightly difficult start to the season, with their sole league victory (which also came against Mossley in the form of a 3-0 win back in August) coming amidst three draws and five defeats.
That return is only good enough for 20th in the Northern Premier League Division One West table at the time of writing, and any future improvement in that standing will likely be influenced by the output of veteran striker Tom Pope.
Pope, now 39, has already scored four goals this season (including two in the FA Trophy against Basford United last time out) and will be best known to most for his three separate spells at Port Vale, over which he scored more than in 100 goals whilst playing in Leagues One and Two.
Another familiar name on the opposition team sheet will be that of fellow forward Ethan Beckford, who spent a brief period playing in Atherton at the back end of the 2023/24 campaign.
With successive shutouts under the belt, however, the Colls will have confidence of keeping that pair quiet on Tuesday, and of extending their unbeaten run to three matches.
Any support in roaring the lads on towards that goal would (as ever) be hugely appreciated, and for those looking to make the trip to Staffordshire, official club travel (departing the Rope and Anchor pub at 5pm) can be secured by contacting the club or supporters’ club through social media, or emailing robcollsmedia@outlook.com.
Meanwhile, match tickets will be priced at £5 for adults, and free for concessions/under 18s.
