Colls Win The Bolton Hospital Cup
Tue 5th May 2015 | Atherton Collieries | By Ian Templeman
Atherton Collieries finished their season in style with a convincing 7-2 win over Turton, in the final of the Bolton Hospital Cup at the Macron Stadium.
After emerging with runners-up medals from both the Reusch Division One Trophy and the Men United Cup in the space of the past couple of weeks, Colls finally got their hands on some silverware after a fine display of attacking football in front of a good crowd of 624 spectators.
Three goals up at half time, Colls' superior pace and finishing prowess proved too hot to handle for their West Lancashire League opponents, who to their credit kept pushing forward right to the end.
Mark Truffas set the tone for the evening when he opened the scoring midway through the first half when he curled in a shot from the edge of the box, and seven minutes before half time he added a second goal with a fine free kick from 25 yards that ended up in the back of the net off the underside of the crossbar.
Two minutes before the break, Gareth Peet set up Ben Hardcastle to rifle a shot high into the top corner to give Colls a three goal lead at half time, and they picked up from where they left off straight after the break, when Mark Battersby just failed to connect with a Truffas free kick to eth back post.
WIthin a minute Battersby tested Turton keeper Josh McGreevy with a fine shot that the keeper matched with an equally good save, and ten minutes later Battersby again came close with a shot that missed the target after he was set up by a fine surging run from full back Jake Kenny.
But on the hour, Colls increased their lead further when a curling corner from Kristian Holt was headed into his own net by Turton's Rob Battersby.
To their credit, Turton kept probing for openings, and their sizable support had something to cheer five minutes later when Kieron Sisson's cross was palmed out by Colls keeper Danny Taberner, and Dave Burrows turned the loose ball into the net from six yards.
Within a couple of minutes there was action at both ends, when first Turton's Sam Brooke hit the junction of post and crossbar with a shot, and when the ball was cleared Colls immediately broke upfield and Mark Battersby made it 5-1, rolling the ball into the empty net from 40 yards past an out of position keeper.
Eleven minutes from time Battersby turned creator, setting up Ben Hardcastle to sidefoot home Colls' sixth goal, but with four minutes left Turton pulled another goal back when a free kick whipped into the box wasn't cleared by the Colls defence, and Sam Brooke shot high into the net at the far post.
But Colls wrapped up a good evening's work in stoppage time, when Wesley Bancroft drilled a daisy cutter into the bottom corner of the net to wrap up a 7-2 win.
Colls Win The Bolton Hospital Cup
Tue 5th May 2015 | Atherton Collieries
By Ian Templeman
Atherton Collieries finished their season in style with a convincing 7-2 win over Turton, in the final of the Bolton Hospital Cup at the Macron Stadium.
After emerging with runners-up medals from both the Reusch Division One Trophy and the Men United Cup in the space of the past couple of weeks, Colls finally got their hands on some silverware after a fine display of attacking football in front of a good crowd of 624 spectators.
Three goals up at half time, Colls' superior pace and finishing prowess proved too hot to handle for their West Lancashire League opponents, who to their credit kept pushing forward right to the end.
Mark Truffas set the tone for the evening when he opened the scoring midway through the first half when he curled in a shot from the edge of the box, and seven minutes before half time he added a second goal with a fine free kick from 25 yards that ended up in the back of the net off the underside of the crossbar.
Two minutes before the break, Gareth Peet set up Ben Hardcastle to rifle a shot high into the top corner to give Colls a three goal lead at half time, and they picked up from where they left off straight after the break, when Mark Battersby just failed to connect with a Truffas free kick to eth back post.
WIthin a minute Battersby tested Turton keeper Josh McGreevy with a fine shot that the keeper matched with an equally good save, and ten minutes later Battersby again came close with a shot that missed the target after he was set up by a fine surging run from full back Jake Kenny.
But on the hour, Colls increased their lead further when a curling corner from Kristian Holt was headed into his own net by Turton's Rob Battersby.
To their credit, Turton kept probing for openings, and their sizable support had something to cheer five minutes later when Kieron Sisson's cross was palmed out by Colls keeper Danny Taberner, and Dave Burrows turned the loose ball into the net from six yards.
Within a couple of minutes there was action at both ends, when first Turton's Sam Brooke hit the junction of post and crossbar with a shot, and when the ball was cleared Colls immediately broke upfield and Mark Battersby made it 5-1, rolling the ball into the empty net from 40 yards past an out of position keeper.
Eleven minutes from time Battersby turned creator, setting up Ben Hardcastle to sidefoot home Colls' sixth goal, but with four minutes left Turton pulled another goal back when a free kick whipped into the box wasn't cleared by the Colls defence, and Sam Brooke shot high into the net at the far post.
But Colls wrapped up a good evening's work in stoppage time, when Wesley Bancroft drilled a daisy cutter into the bottom corner of the net to wrap up a 7-2 win.
