Colne rounded off their run of friendlies with a close fought encounter against Premier Division Lancaster City at Holt House on Saturday. The Reds were always in the hunt but conceded twice and had to settle for a single goal in their second half fight back.
In the opening stages both sides looked for an early goal and Lancaster came close when Christian Sloan saw the ball come back off the angle of post and bar from his chip over keeper Hakan Burton.
As play switched to the other end, Reece Webb-Foster forced a good save from visiting keeper, Matthew Alexander, who pushed away his shot from a narrow angle at the near post. Webb-Foster continued to find gaps in the visitors defence and was denied by a last ditch tackle after 15 minutes when he appeared to be through on goal.
At the other end, Charlie Bailey and Rob Wilson tested the Reds defence with some good runs into the Colne third, but Anthony Williams and Tom Brown made good defensive tackles.
Colne’s attacking play always promised a goal and Webb-Foster had the ball in the net after 27 minutes only for the goal to be ruled out for a marginal offside decision.
But with half time approaching, it was Lancaster who took the lead when a through ball from midfield released Bailey for a run on goal and he found the bottom corner with a low shot past Burton. Three minutes later, Burton kept the visitors lead to a single goal with a great fingertip save to keep out a goal bound low shot from Lancaster’s striker.
Colne made wholesale changes at half time and Billy Hasler-Cregg began to open up the visitors defence with some tricky lightning runs on the left side, creating chances for team-mates in the visitors’ area. Ollie Roberts saw his shot saved by the keeper after 58 minutes and a series of corners on the hour promised an equaliser for the Reds.
But Lancaster threatened with attacks on the left wing and Liam Brockbank came close with his shot just past the far post after 63 minutes. Five minutes later, Simon Wills went down under a challenge after a good run into the Colne area. The referee waved away Colne’s protests and Rhys Turner fired the resultant spot kick into the top corner of the net to double Lancaster’s lead at 2-0.
Colne stepped up their efforts in their search for a goal and were rewarded after 74 minutes when Paul Dugdale headed home at the far post from a long corner kick to reduce the arrears to 2-1.
Colne’s next attack almost brought a second goal when Webb-Foster’s close range header was blocked by the keeper with a desperate save in the goalmouth before the ball was cleared by a defender.
Colne continued to press in the closing stages but Lancaster held firm to claim a narrow win on the day.
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