10th Anniversary Of Paul's Six Goal Haul
Tue 21st October 2014 | General | By Ian Templeman
One of the League's most prolific goalscorers in recent years celebrated the 10th anniversary of an amazing goalscoring feat a few weeks ago.
The league record for the highest number of goals in a single game is held by Peter Carty, who scored seven goals for Woodley Sports in a 9-0 win at home to Blackpool Mechanics on 7th March 1998, and the nearest anyone has come to equalling or breaking that record was ten years ago this month, on the 5th October 2004, when Paul Atherton scored six goals for Ashton Town in a 7-1 win at Darwen in a Division Two game.
Paul, pictured left, is of course a striker who has an impressive goalscoring record in the NWCFL, not just with Ashton Town, but also Atherton Collieries in recent years.
He is now on the books at Ashton Athletic, and has scored twice this season for the Yellows, although he is currently unavailable for selection due to other commitments.
Back in 2004, he was a young player who had broken into the Ashton Town team at roughly the same time as his twin brother Karl, towards the end of the 2002-03 season, and both brothers established themselves in the Ashton squad the following season.
However, in early October 2004 Paul had started eight games and scored just three goals, and while he went into the game at Darwen under some pressure to improve on that tally, no one was prepared for what was to come that night.
Paul scored twice in the first half, completed his hat trick just after the break and rounded off the double hat trick late in the game. What made the feat all the more remarkable was that all the goals came from open play, there were no free kicks or penalties, and three of the goals were created by twin brother Karl.
Ten years on, Paul still has fond memories of the night.
"Darwen was always a tough place to go, so we knew it was going to be a tough game", he said.
"I remember it being a wet night, the game started very quickly and we went 1-0 down in no time from a well taken goal. At 1-0 down so early, I'm sure I wasn't the only person fearing for the worst.
"I remember being called offside a few times and bringing a save out of the goalie from the edge of the box, and wondering if it wasn't going to be our night.
"But our Karl was playing out wide and he reads my game like nobody else, and in the space of about 5 minutes I scored 2 goals and he put a wonderful low cross in for one of my goals.
"I remember saying to Karl "get more of those balls in", and it was an upbeat talk at half time. Manager Brian Richardson wanted us to get the ball out wide more and he said "get the 3rd goal and it will kill them off".
"I completed my hat trick pretty early in the second half, and with that we started to play some class football. Even though this was a memorable night for me and I remember each of the six goals like it was yesterday, my 5th and 6th are the two that always stick fondly in my memory.
"For the 5th I broke free in the Darwen half, the last defender missed his last ditch tackle leaving me one on one with the keeper. I took it round him as he fell to the floor, and I remember looking behind me and I could see he didn't even bother getting up, so I knew I had to do it.
"I stopped the ball on the line, got onto my knees and cheekily headed the ball over the line, and I always remember Bri saying to me after the game "I can't believe you did that".
"By that point the game was turning into a rout and I really did feel like every time I got the ball I was going to score.
"For the 6th I picked the ball up just inside the Darwen half, everyone was backing off so I just kept moving forward. I got to about 25 yards out and I remember Richard Sharpe screaming for it. At 5-1 everyone wanted to score, but I just thought "hit it" and it must have been my night.
"It was a screamer that flew into the top corner, and I'll never forget just watching it leave my foot, sometimes you just know it's going in.
"Not long after that, I remember assisting Richard Sharpe to score the 7th. I passed to him and he chipped the keeper, he took it really well.
"At the full time whistle I felt like I was on cloud nine. I went on to win Player of the Month that month, and I never looked back after that.
"I had a very good time at Ashton, we had a great squad, but just never reached the goal of promotion. They were good times, and I've still got very fond memories of the game and playing for Ashton Town".
10th Anniversary Of Paul's Six Goal Haul
Tue 21st October 2014 | General
By Ian Templeman
One of the League's most prolific goalscorers in recent years celebrated the 10th anniversary of an amazing goalscoring feat a few weeks ago.
The league record for the highest number of goals in a single game is held by Peter Carty, who scored seven goals for Woodley Sports in a 9-0 win at home to Blackpool Mechanics on 7th March 1998, and the nearest anyone has come to equalling or breaking that record was ten years ago this month, on the 5th October 2004, when Paul Atherton scored six goals for Ashton Town in a 7-1 win at Darwen in a Division Two game.
Paul, pictured left, is of course a striker who has an impressive goalscoring record in the NWCFL, not just with Ashton Town, but also Atherton Collieries in recent years.
He is now on the books at Ashton Athletic, and has scored twice this season for the Yellows, although he is currently unavailable for selection due to other commitments.
Back in 2004, he was a young player who had broken into the Ashton Town team at roughly the same time as his twin brother Karl, towards the end of the 2002-03 season, and both brothers established themselves in the Ashton squad the following season.
However, in early October 2004 Paul had started eight games and scored just three goals, and while he went into the game at Darwen under some pressure to improve on that tally, no one was prepared for what was to come that night.
Paul scored twice in the first half, completed his hat trick just after the break and rounded off the double hat trick late in the game. What made the feat all the more remarkable was that all the goals came from open play, there were no free kicks or penalties, and three of the goals were created by twin brother Karl.
Ten years on, Paul still has fond memories of the night.
"Darwen was always a tough place to go, so we knew it was going to be a tough game", he said.
"I remember it being a wet night, the game started very quickly and we went 1-0 down in no time from a well taken goal. At 1-0 down so early, I'm sure I wasn't the only person fearing for the worst.
"I remember being called offside a few times and bringing a save out of the goalie from the edge of the box, and wondering if it wasn't going to be our night.
"But our Karl was playing out wide and he reads my game like nobody else, and in the space of about 5 minutes I scored 2 goals and he put a wonderful low cross in for one of my goals.
"I remember saying to Karl "get more of those balls in", and it was an upbeat talk at half time. Manager Brian Richardson wanted us to get the ball out wide more and he said "get the 3rd goal and it will kill them off".
"I completed my hat trick pretty early in the second half, and with that we started to play some class football. Even though this was a memorable night for me and I remember each of the six goals like it was yesterday, my 5th and 6th are the two that always stick fondly in my memory.
"For the 5th I broke free in the Darwen half, the last defender missed his last ditch tackle leaving me one on one with the keeper. I took it round him as he fell to the floor, and I remember looking behind me and I could see he didn't even bother getting up, so I knew I had to do it.
"I stopped the ball on the line, got onto my knees and cheekily headed the ball over the line, and I always remember Bri saying to me after the game "I can't believe you did that".
"By that point the game was turning into a rout and I really did feel like every time I got the ball I was going to score.
"For the 6th I picked the ball up just inside the Darwen half, everyone was backing off so I just kept moving forward. I got to about 25 yards out and I remember Richard Sharpe screaming for it. At 5-1 everyone wanted to score, but I just thought "hit it" and it must have been my night.
"It was a screamer that flew into the top corner, and I'll never forget just watching it leave my foot, sometimes you just know it's going in.
"Not long after that, I remember assisting Richard Sharpe to score the 7th. I passed to him and he chipped the keeper, he took it really well.
"At the full time whistle I felt like I was on cloud nine. I went on to win Player of the Month that month, and I never looked back after that.
"I had a very good time at Ashton, we had a great squad, but just never reached the goal of promotion. They were good times, and I've still got very fond memories of the game and playing for Ashton Town".
