Colne grabbed a share of the points with a dramatic last gasp equaliser against Trafford at Holt House on Saturday. The Reds had trailed by two goals after the first hour but fought back to snatch a draw on a heavy pitch that was only passed fit by a late inspection.
Colne started brightly and came close after just five minutes when Oli Roberts’ free kick flashed across the face of the visitors’ goal where Enock Lusiama was inches away from making contact at the far post.
But as play swung to the other end, Reds keeper Tom Donaghy produced two good saves to keep out shots by Alfie Belcher and Tom Bentham as Trafford built some good attacking moves. And after 12 minutes, Colne had a let-off when a rising shot by Belcher struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced down in the goalmouth before being cleared by the Reds defence.
Five minutes later, Donaghy produced a great save to turn a shot by Mike Burke over his crossbar before Harry Winstanley did well to block Elliot Goldthorpe’s goal-bound shot in the Colne penalty area.
Colne weathered the storm and pushed forward before half time with Craig Carney and Paul Dugdale prompting some promising attacks. And the Reds had loud claims for a penalty waved aside when Owen Watkinson went down under a challenge in the Trafford area.
Colne made a tentative start to the second half and a misplaced pass gave Trafford the opportunity for a dangerous attack which saw Burke’s shot on the turn blocked at the expense of a corner. And from the resulting cross, Bentham stabbed the ball home at the far post to give the visitors the lead.
On the hour, Trafford worked another opportunity and Donaghy did well to block Burke’s shot in the Colne area diving at the Trafford striker’s feet, while at the other end, Roberts saw his free kick well saved by Trafford keeper Matt Cooper. But as Trafford staged a quick break on the right wing the resulting low cross was turned in by Belcher to give his side a two goal lead.
The visitors looked to be in the driving seat but after 72 minutes Carney’s chip reached Lusiama in the Trafford area and he found the net with a low shot past the keeper to reduce the arrears to 1-2. The goal lifted Colne with Lusiama making good runs to open up the visitors’ defence but Trafford defended stubbornly and looked like holding on to the lead.
But with game deep into added time, Lusiama’s strong run and diagonal low shot fell to Carney in front of goal who applied a cool finish to score the equaliser for the Reds.
Sponsors Man of The Match, Glenn Steel received his award from coach Mike Hale.
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