Colls in the goals but left searching for win

Rochdale Town 8 Colls 6

IT was raining goals at Rochdale on April Fools’ Day.

The hosts led 4-0 after twenty minutes but Colls showed application to get back three goals before the break.

The goals came from Mitch Leece, Gareth Peet and Keiran Halliwell while Paul Atherton was denied a stonewall penalty.

The second period was as crazy as the first, Town were scored another two goals with five minutes of the restart.

Leece quickly pulled one back before Town scored again to make it 7-4.

Leece completed his hat-trick on 57 minutes.

There was time for a breather before Charlie Stoker made it 6-7 with ten minutes remaining.

Colls tried their best to force an amazing 7-7 draw but the hosts made the game safe on 90 minutes.

This game had to be seen to be believed and the Spartan crowd who witnessed the goal-fest will never forget.

It was the first ever 8-6 result in NWCFL history (formed 1982) and only the third time a team has scored six and lost in the same period.

Nelson 4 Colls 2

COLLS visited league leaders Nelson as they tried to eradicate some memory of the midweek match.

Again they started slowly and individual mistakes saw them trail 2-0 after 13 minutes.

Gareth Peet equalised with a fine free kick from the edge of the box.

A poor, bad pass led to a Nelson penalty which was converted allowing them to lead 3-1 at the break.

A Steve Pilling half-time tongue-lashing struck a chord with his charges and Colls were the best team after the break.

Peet made it 3-2 from the penalty spot after Mike Mulrooney was blocked.

Although the black and white stripes had plenty possession a match levelling chances never materialised and Nelson scored on 89 minutes to make the game safe.

A poor first half display was the reason Colls lost this game and a top two finish is now a mathematical impossibility.

On Saturday the club make their first-ever visit to Hanley Town, kick off 3pm.