In a day where the Anfield weather treated spectators to a truly torrential downpour, Atherton Collieries were punished with a 4-0 defeat against play-off hopefuls Lower Breck.
The Colls started off bright, Chinedu Uche picked up the ball on the left-hand side in the 8th minute and dribbled past a couple of opposition players before hitting the ball firmly at former Stripes keeper Theo Roberts.
Soon after, Danny Lafferty’s side thought they had made the breakthrough through Kielen Adams flicking home a Dom Richmond cross, only to be denied by the linesman’s flag.
The hosts opened the scoring moments later, Lewis Buckley converted after Sam Burns’ shot had deflected off the post. A tough pill to swallow with the goal being the hosts first real sight at Jack Dallimore’s goal. A second came minutes later, Burns providing the assist for Alex Cherrea. To add insult to injury, two became three straight from the restart; Burns added his own name to the scoresheet.
With the Breck still fighting to secure a Northern Premier League West play-off place, whilst the Colls have been comfortably mid-table and out of the conversation for either promotion or relegation for some-time, it was perhaps all-too-simple for the hosts to capitalize on the disparity in motivations between the two sides.
The Colls did show their fighting spirit and battling prowess to weather the storm, and towards the end of the first-half, Freddie Gordon replaced the injured Samuel Olawumi and provided a bright spark for the remainder of the game. Chinedu Uche also had a great effort skim the bar.
The second half saw the Stripes instill some pride back into the performance, before the hosts perhaps harshly added a fourth. Andrew Buah and David Mayamona were given opportunities to impress from the bench as the Black & Whites generally controlled play but couldn’t find a killer break-through, whilst Rodney Ajayi came closest with a fantastic long range effort.
Attention now turns to Good Friday, as the Colls are back at the Dreams2Stadium against Newcastle Town, looking to bounce back at the first opportunity. The game will also likely see the final opportunity for Atherton fans to buy tickets for the final day of the season clash with Bury, which nears a sell-out.
Report: Zach Scott-Maloney – Photo: David Featherstone
