To plagiarize the Colls twitter feed, ‘the stats tonight will certainly tell one story, but balls in the net are the number that matters’.
Padiham visited the Dreams2Reality Stadium for a first time in a decade following their NWCFL play off success and a mixed start to life in Step 4. This was the final Collieries home game in the seemingly longest home stand in history.
The Stripes were at it from the get go. Chinedu Uche, Liam Sheppard and Louis Potts had decent efforts before Sheppard smacked one against the crossbar with young Storks stopper Harry Grimshaw totally beaten.
Colls were dominant but then came the gut punch. Defence was turned clinically to attack and Jack Price sprinted clear and fired home. A goal from an absolutely nowhere. Rodney Ajayi had a couple of attempts to quickly regain parity.
Danny Lafferty’s boys continued their almost total dominance after the break. The effervescent Potts smashed a couple narrowly wide as was Essa Janneh’s set-piece header.
It was wave after wave of Collieries attack as Sam Sheridan’s free-kick was smartly saved by Grimshaw who was putting in a virtuoso of a performance. When Luke Nock headed just wide at the far post, everybody of a home team persuasion realised that their number was finally up.
Colls had created more chances than they had done in years and years but full credit to the East Lancashire outfit. They put their heads and bodies on the line in undoubtedly the finest rearguard action seen in downtown Atherton for many a campaign to realise an against all odds 3-pointer. To lift from twitter again Colls had been ‘pecked by the storks’.
As Lafferty stated in his after game interview, there is no need and certainly not time for the players to sulk. Evening though the scorer hadn’t ultimately been troubled it was truly the best attacking stint of the season thus far. A fact the Colls faithful certainly acknowledged at the end of the game.
The balmy August schedule continues on Saturday and Monday. Its trips to Congleton Town (FA Trophy) and Stalybridge Celtic respectively, both KO’s 3pm.
Rama Spice Man of the Match: Louis Potts, sponsored by MCIS Integrated Services
