The Black n White stripes first leg of the festive double header was up in East Lancashire and they suffered a narrow odd goal in three defeat, writes Emil Anderson.

Michael Clegg shuffled his pack from the Avro game with Danny Lafferty and Will Riding returning to the starting line up as Calen Gallagher and Aaron Dwyer nursed niggling injuries.

The first half never quite lit the blue touch paper as both sides showed each other big respect, the games heat map must surely have centred around the middle of the park. The real surprise was that each team scored.

The Blues took the lead on the quarter of a hour mark, Leon Creech ghosted into the box to beat Sol Honor all ends up from close range. The equaliser came from nowhere. The Collieries had huffed and puffed without really making much progress in the final third before Keilen Adams took matters into his own hands. He took possession well outside the box, powered forward and unleashed a sumptuous effort which nestled into the far corner. What a goal!

It was all to play for after the half time de brief and Colls started with a lot more vim and pep. The fifty-second minute winning goal was against the run of play. A calamitous Colls coming together enabled Vernon Parny to tap home from yards out. Again, Honor was given no chance whatsoever.

Clegg’s side didn’t buckle as they took the game to their hosts. The rather excellent Adams fired over, Will Riding manoeuvred himself into a good position but his strike lacked bite.

The same two players teamed up for Adams to peel off his marker and finish cheekily but the lino had chalked it off for offside. The limbs in the away end hadn’t seen the flag. Where is VAR when you need it?

Clitheroe managed the game well as their opponents manically chased a point and Honor had to be on his mettle on numerous occasions.

They becalmed proceedings beautifully late on by holding the ball in the corner for what seemed like an age and it was ultimate disappointment for the Atherton players management and faithful.

On New Years Day, Wythenshawe make their first ever trip to the Dreams2Reality Stadium, Ko 3pm.