Colne had to settle for a point in their first League game of the season at Droylsden on Saturday. The Reds took a two goal lead in the first half but were pegged back by a spirited second half fight back by the home side.
In the opening stages, Colne opened up the Droylsden defence with some great attacking moves with Aiden Chippendale supplying crosses from the left wing and Tony Donaldson tested Bloods keeper Chris Thompson with a good shot after only two minutes. The Reds had loud claims for a penalty waved aside by the referee when Chippendale was brought down by a late tackle in the home penalty area after nine minutes.
But two minutes later, Colne took the lead when Chippendale’s cross found Sefton Gonzales in front of goal and his powerful header gave Thompson no chance.
Max Hazeldine threatened with a good run into the area as Colne looked for more goals but Thompson blocked his shot to clear the danger. At the other end, Droylsden looked dangerous on the counterattack and snatched an equaliser after 20 minutes when Rhys Clooney forced a great save from Hakan Burton to push away his goal-bound shot but Liam Caddick seized upon the rebound and fired home an angled shot to level the scores at 1-1.
Three minutes later, Colne regained the lead at 2-1 when good work by Gonzales gave Chippendale the opportunity to side-step a defender before finding the bottom corner of the net with a diagonal shot past the helpless Thompson. And the Reds went further ahead after 25 minutes when Thompson’s desperate lunge brought Hazeldine down on his run into the home penalty area and Chippendale put Colne 3-1 up with a firmly struck spot kick.
Droylsden again threatened at the other end and Burton made a vital point blank save from Domaine Rouse to safeguard Colne’s lead. But the Reds came close again with half time approaching when Connor Hughes’ 25 yard free kick just cleared the bar with Thompson beaten.
In the second half, Droylsden emerged in a more determined mood and reduced the arrears to 3-2 after 50 minutes when Clooney met a high cross from the right wing with a glancing header to send the ball just inside the far post of the Colne goal past a helpless Burton.
Droylsden continued to push forward and on the hour levelled the scores at 3-3 when the Reds defence were opened up by some good attacking runs and Caddick finished the move by stabbing the ball past Burton as he came out of his goal.
Colne needed to defend and fought hard in midfield to regain some control. The Reds pushed forward at every opportunity as the half wore on and created rare chances but failed to find a good finish that might have brought them all three points in a game of highs and lows.
Colne Team
Hakan Button
Marcus Poscha
Lee Pugh (C)
Connor Hughes
Matty Makinson
Andy Hollins
Tony Donaldson
Brad Knox
Sefton Gonzales
Max Hazeldine
Aiden Chippendale
Substitutes
12 Alex Coleman (Used)
13 Mamadou Djabi
14 Joe Rothwell
15 Billy Hasler-Cregg (Used)
16 Richard Baker (Used)