Atherton Collieries will aim to put further daylight between themselves and the relegation zone when City of Liverpool visit the Dreams2Reality Stadium on Friday night.
The Colls issued another significant statement as to their credentials last time out as Danny Lafferty, Joe Piggott, Aaron Dwyer and Tom Bentham each got on the scoresheet in a 4-0 dismantling of a Trafford team who were previously five unbeaten having won four of those matches.
That result saw Michael Clegg’s men climb out of the bottom four once more and with this latest round of fixtures seeing them play ahead of the majority of the league, the gap to 19th-placed Kidsgrove Athletic would (at least until Saturday evening) grow to six points with another win here.
Friday’s visitors, meanwhile, are already far more certain as to what their fate will be come the end of the season, with a 2-0 defeat at Newcastle Town last weekend officially marking their relegation from the Northern Premier League Division One West.
That confirmation compounded what has been a difficult campaign for City of Liverpool, who have so far collected 15 points from 34 games played, amassed via three wins, six draws and 25 defeats.
The most recent of those victories came against fellow strugglers Hanley Town back in early January, with the nine games since having yielded just a single point.
Some may be inclined to pencil this one in as a relatively routine home win, then, but if November’s reverse meeting between these two sides is anything to go by it could well prove anything but.
Colls were ultimately able to emerge victorious from that game, but only after surrendering a 3-0 lead and needing an 85th minute winner to definitively settle things in a seven-goal thriller.
A more stress-free route to victory this time around would likely be appreciated by Cleggy and Co., but with this representing a big chance to potentially pull further clear of any danger, three points would be very much welcome however they may arrive.
For those planning on attending Friday’s fixture, entry will be available via our cash and card turnstiles, priced as follows:
Adults: £10
Concessions/students: £7
Under 18s: £4
Accompanied Under 11s/1916 Club members: Free.
