Just three days after the Collieries welcomed Holker Old Boys to Alder House, they found themselves entering Holker into the Sat Nav for the reverse fixture. The aforementioned Wednesday night game ended in a 3-1 triumph for the Colls, goals from Mark Battersby, Nathan Battersby and Jordan Cover. Atherton arrived at a very windy Rakesmore Lane in the hope of adding another three points to the table as they look ahead now to the League title. The Collieries made a good start to the game. After they had won a corner, Truffas swung the ball into the box. The ball continued to swing right into the goalmouth and Holker goalkeeper Oliver Bell had to be alert to tip the ball over the bar. There was very little action for a large period of the first half as the Colls found it difficult to adjust their play in order to be competitive in said windy conditions. On 29 minutes, the game sparked to life. Kris Holt won the ball deep on the left flank of the field. Holt noticed teammate Mark Truffas compile his run into the Holker area. Holt crossed the ball in the box for Truffas who fired well over the bar. Seven minutes later, Atherton took the lead. The ball was pinged across the field from left back Keith Wedge to winger Ben Hardcastle; Hardcastle brought the ball down and cut inside to the centre of the pitch. Now a few yards off the edge of the box, Hardcastle released his shot at goal. The ball fired into the top left hand corner of the goal. However, the Collieries couldn’t go in at half time with the advantage. As a Holker free kick was sent into the area, Holker’s Mike Rushton was adjudged to be fouled in the box. From the penalty kick that followed, Rushton sent Danny Taberner the wrong way to equalise for Holker. Half Time – Holker Old Boys 1-1 Atherton Collieries It was more of the same for the first period of the second half as the Colls again found it difficult to put any sort of forward move together. However, seven minutes after the re-start, Jordan Cover had a great opportunity to put Atherton back in the lead. The ball was played onto Cover from midfield; Cover controlled, turned and fired his shot at goal. Unfortunately for Cover and the Colls, Bell dived down towards the left hand corner and made another good save to prevent the ball from going in. With the game 70 minutes old, the Collieries were again denied the advantage with another fine Bell save. Boland sent his free-kick into the packed Holker box. With the free-kick being that of a low one, it looked as if it would amount to nothing. Holt, however, did very well to get his head on the ball and head towards the bottom left hand corner of the goal. Again, Bell was there to collect the ball into his palms. The Colls gained energy and momentum when Mark Battersby was substituted onto the field on 82 minutes. Just six minutes after he entered the field of play, M. Battersby had his goal. The ball was sent down the right wing for Jake Kenny to run onto. Kenny collected and sent a low and hard cross into the area. It looked as if this was another Bell save as he looked to collect the ball, but somehow Battersby got his head to the ball, just ahead of the keeper, to head the ball into the back of the net, at some pace too! Three minutes later, and M. Battersby had his second of the game - this time from the penalty spot. M. Battersby capitalised on a defensive error from the Holker back line. The striker ran onto the ball and into the area, one-on-one with Bell. The goalkeeper, in an attempt to win the ball, was adjudged to have brought M. Battersby down and conceded a penalty while also earning himself a harsh red card. With an outfield player taking up the gloves for the few seconds that remained, Battersby hit the ball low and hard to make it 3-1 to the Collieries. Full Time – Holker Old Boys 1-3 Atherton Collieries A very good three points for the Collieries, not many teams will or have won at Holker Old Boys this season – their tough play combined with the afternoon’s playing conditions made it a very difficult afternoon for the Colls – but, the three points are now in the bag and they go again Monday, welcoming Irlam to Alder House. The Colls have a very busy fixture list this week and it can be found bellow: Monday – Atherton Collieries v Irlam – 19:45 Wednesday – Cheadle v Atherton Collieries – 19:45 Thursday – Atherton Collieries v Eagley – 19:45 (Hospital Cup – Subject to change) Friday – AFC Darwen v Atherton Collieries – 19:45 Saturday – Ashton Town v Atherton Collieries – 15:00 Of course, keep up-to-date via the usual means: Facebook, Twitter and the website.
Match Preview: Morpeth (A)
December 1, 2023
Atherton Collieries head to Morpeth on Saturday 2nd December, aiming to break a duck which has led to the Colls so far never recording a
