Report: Colls 5-0 Oldham Boro

The Collieries faced former tenants Oldham Boro on Monday night in front of a fantastic crowd of 222. The game started off evenly with both sides having an equal amount of possession. Atherton had a header cleared off the line on seven minutes, the corner was curled in soft and slow, perfect for captain for the evening Mark Ayres to get his header directed at goal. His header however was cleared off the line by the Oldham defence. Despite that effort the game was still a midfield battle with the Oldham midfield keeping possession well and preventing Colls from starting any worthwhile attacks. However, on 27 minutes Oldham were caught off guard and the Collieries took full advantage. Atherton’s James Brooks found himself in a shooting position on the edge of the Oldham box. His shot though deflected off teammate Wes Bancroft and bounced into the goal. Minutes later and Colls had a chance to double their advantage. Mark Truffas cut inside the Oldham box and at a tight angle was one on one with Oldham goalkeeper Joshua Samberg, Truffas attempted to curl his effort around Samburg however, Samburg did well to get a hand to the shot and tip it onto the post. Not to worry as on 34 minutes the Collieries had their second. Matt Boland combined the curled and chipped shot to fire the ball into the back of the Oldham net from the edge of the Oldham box, evading the defence and Samburg in goal. Atherton had another with just five minutes of the half reaming. From the same positon as Boland’s earlier goal, Truffas curled the ball into the top hand corner of the Oldham goal. Half Time – Atherton Collieries 3-0 Oldham Boro A nice little Colls move nearly resulted in the fourth goal of the evening being scored on 13 minutes. Bancroft from the edge of the Oldham D dinked the ball forward to Boland who was surrounded in the box. Boland tuned and poked the ball at the Oldham goal. However, Samburg again saved well. Eleven minutes later, when Oldham were again proving tough to break down in midfield the Collieries nearly got their fourth. An Atherton counter attack resulted in a Bancroft shot being deflected by an Oldham defender and well saved again by Samburg who had a fine game. Despite Samburg’s best efforts, Colls had their fourth goal on 76 minutes. Ben Hardcastle ran into the Oldham box at an angle and fired his shot under Samburg. The last goal and real effort of the game was scored nine minutes before the referee blew for half time. On the edge of the box, Kristian Holt received the ball, turned and released his shot which flew into the back of the net. Full Time – Atherton Collieries 5-0 Oldham Boro Atherton Collieries: Danny Taberner, Jake Kenny, James Brooks, Nathan Battersby, Matt Grimshaw, Mark Ayres ©, Ben Hardcastle, Kris Holt, Wes Bancroft, Matt Boland, Mark Truffas – Substitutes: George Sunter, Jordan Cover, Mark Adams, Rob Swanton, Andy Heald Oldham Boro: Joshua Samburg, Steven Bancroft, Mick Cheetham, Lee Scanlon, Andrew Smith ©, Damian Schofield, James Constable, Haydan Foulds, Lee Bancroft, Matthew Knowles – Substitutes: Paul Carey, Jordan Dainy, Reece Hardie, Patrick Garmory, Gavin O’Keefe Match report by Zach Pierce