Preview: Clitheroe v Colls

On Tuesday night the Collieries make the short journey north to take on close rivals Clitheroe at their Shawbridge ground. Over the summer break Clitheroe have lost several key players to their side, Ian Rowlands obviously joining the Colls, Alex Newby making the switch across to Chorley, and Kurt Willoughby now donning the red and white of FC United. Keen to bolster his weakened squad, Manager Stewart Melish signed forwards Jake Glendenning and Declan Daniels from Wrexham and Winsford Town respectively. Their most recent outing saw the Blues bow out of the Emirates FA Cup as they received quite a hammering by fellow Evo-Stik West outfit Mossley. Back-to-back victories stand for nothing in 90 minutes of England’s most loved competition, as Micahel Clegg’s men well know, a 5-2 away victory for Mossley in this game, Jacob Gregory scoring both goals for the Blues. Atherton are also looking to recover from FA Cup disappointment following their 2-1 defeat at home against Kidsgrove Athletic, Luke Giverin – who returned fresh from injury – scored the only goal of the game for the black and whites as they pressed late on. A rather uninspiring performance may see Clegg make a change with Vinny Bailey joining Giverin as available for selection. Though, injuries still blight the Colls with Matthew Grimshaw, Adam Farrell, Josh Messer, Tom Bentham and Greg Hartley all still carrying knocks. The last time both Atherton and Clitheroe met came in January of this year, a bad day at the office for the black and whites as they went down 5-2 at the Skuna Stadium. Chris Lynch and Darrhyl Mason grabbed the goals for the Collieries, George West (X2), Alex Newby (X2) and Kurt Willoughby the scorers for Clitheroe. Both sides look to make amends following poor results over the weekend, attacking football will be the order of the evening at Shawbridge come 19:45. Date – 11/09/18 Time – 19:45 Postcode – BB7 1LZ Admission – £8 adults, £5 Concession