Preview: Colls v Marine (FA Cup)

The Emirates FA Cup lands in Atherton this afternoon, Marine the visitors in what could be a historic Third Qualifying Round tie. Colls have had to see off the likes of Bridlington Town and Witton Albion to get to this stage of the competition. A dramatic afternoon unfolded at the Skuna Stadium in the last round, Cooke’s lads eventual 3-1 winners against Albion thanks to goals from Danny Lafferty, Gaz Peet and a last-minute box-to-box attack from Ben Conway. After the game, Cooke reflected on the magic of the Emirates FA Cup, “I’m absolutely exhausted after that, it was a proper FA Cup tie. For large spells we were excellent, we limited them to very little and I would have been absolutely devastated had we not won it in normal time. I said after the Bridlington game (in the FA Cup) about the amount of chances we created – we’ve scored three today and hit the bar three times.” Marine come into this year’s Emirates FA Cup buoyed by last year’s success in England’s most prestigious footballing competition. Every supporter of non-league football willed them on in last season’s historic tie with Tottenham Hotspur. The Mariners seems just as dangerous in the 21-22 carnation having progressed with victories over Workington, Dunston and a convincing 3-0 thrashing of Warrington Town. After that impressive victory against Warrington, gaffer Neil Young highlighted the hard work his team showed to secure the victory, “It was never comfortable, it was always a tough game – Warrington were very direct. I thought the effort and commitment from our players, considering the amount we had missing, was unbelievable. Overall, I thought our lads were outstanding.” The Collieries have never made it past the Third Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, Cooke’s lads have already made history having matched the Club’s record. Get down and support the black and white stripes as they look to break take one step further and make Colls history. On Sunday afternoon, the Club were devastated to hear of the passing of supporter, friend and Treasurer Paul Humphreys. Paul may have been born a Toffee but he very much departed a Colls Mon – he will be missed by supporters, players past, players present and everyone associated with Atherton Collieries. Before this afternoon’s game there will be a minutes applause in memory of Paul as our thoughts remain with Jean and his family at this very difficult time. RIP Paul. Date: Saturday 18th September 2021 Time: 15:00 Address: The Skuna Stadium, Alder Street, Atherton, M46 9EY Admission: Adults – £10 Concessions – £6 Under 18’s – £4 Under 11’s – £1 (FA ruling)