Atherton Collieries 3-0 Widnes FC

With only one defeat all season so far, the away side were looking to come here and make a statement. The last meeting between the two sides ended in a thrashing for Widnes as they were beaten 5-1. Goals from Matthew Boland, Bradley Cooke and Nathan Battersby sealed an emphatic win for the home side.
Ronnie McCarthy had the game’s first chance but he fired his shot well wide. Soon after Atherton had their first chance when Kristian Holt made a clean connection with the ball but debutant keeper Thomas Nelson palmed his shot away. The opening goal of the game came after some sloppy play in the Widnes defence, centre back Tom Mitchell’s loose pass was picked up by Matthew Boland who fired the ball past Nelson.
The away side responded well since going a goal down but were unable to create any clear cut chances. They committed numbers forward as they tried for an equaliser, but good possession build play was cancelled out by poor finishing and a poor final ball. Atherton soon had a chance to add to their one goal lead when Boland tried to turn home a driven cross. It wasn’t long until the second goal did come, Bradley Cooke profited again from poor Widnes defending to find the bottom left had corner of Nelson’s goal.
Ben Tollitt had a chance to pull one back just before half time but his shot went high and wide.
The second half started as tight affair before Tollitt cut inside on a scintillating run only for the keeper to claw his shot away. As the half went on Atherton began to look for a third goal, they got it through a Nathan Battersby tap in from a corner. Grimshaw had a header saved by Nelson soon after before Widnes had one last attack through Joel Douglas but Atherton seen the game out to remain the only side in the North West Counties First Division with a 100% record. Widnes manager Steve Hill was unhappy with the manner of the defeat and the way his team played. “I think the standard we were playing at today wasn’t good enough for where we need to be, especially when playing a team like Atherton Collieries who are a decent side. They have definitely not seen the best of us today, I think that is the worst we have played this season but if we are going to do well in this league then we need to be coming to places like this and getting something out of the game.” He was also upset with his sides defending “It was disappointing because the goals we gave away were cheap.”